Multilingual parent communication: overcoming the language barrier at school

One class may bring together families who speak the local language, English, Arabic, Russian or Persian. In big cities, international schools and tourist regions, this is no longer the exception. Children from these families pick up the language quickly in class, but their parents may struggle to understand the school's announcements, messages and newsletters.

A language barrier quietly reduces a parent's involvement in school life: they don't come to meetings, don't fill in forms, and hesitate to ask questions. In this article I explain ways to make multilingual parent communication easier.

The problem isn't just translation

When people think of multilingual communication, translation comes to mind first, but on its own it isn't enough. Three layers need to be considered together:

• Interface: Are the menus, buttons and notifications of the app the parent uses in their own language?
• Content: Are the announcements and messages the school writes easy to understand?
• Context: Are concepts specific to school culture (parent meeting, re-enrolment, theme week) familiar to the parent?

Interface: an app in the parent's own language

Letting parents use the app in their own language is the first and easiest step. Funikid's multilingual support offers several language options to different user groups, aiming to reduce communication barriers by giving both children and parents information in their native language. A parent who understands the app's menu can find on their own where an announcement is and how to reply to a message.

Content: plain language helps everyone

For the texts the school writes, the most effective method is plain language. An announcement written plainly is easier to understand both for a parent whose first language is different and for every parent in a hurry. Practical rules:

• Short sentences: One piece of information per sentence.
• Concrete wording: "Trainers and a tracksuit" instead of "suitable clothing".
• Clear dates and times: The day of the week together with the date.
• Avoid idioms and figures of speech: Expressions like "keep an eye out" lose their meaning in translation tools too.
• One action: What the parent needs to do goes at the very start, not at the very end.

For detailed advice on writing announcements, see our article on how to write a school announcement.

Visual support

Images are a language that doesn't depend on words. In a multilingual class, make use of the power of visuals:

• Add an image showing the type of event to an event announcement.
• Show the materials to bring in a photo.
• Support the weekly meal menu with small pictures of the dishes.
• Photo sharing is universal anyway: a photo of a child's day says the same thing in every language. See photos and gallery.

Context: explaining school culture

For a parent coming from another country's education system, some concepts are unfamiliar. Preparing a short "a year at our school" guide at the start of the term goes a long way: what happens in which months, what a parent meeting is, how to give attendance confirmation. Sharing this guide as a newsletter and also sending it separately to newly arrived families eases the worries of the first weeks.

In face-to-face communication

• If a staff member speaks the parent's language, involve them in enrolment and first meetings.
• For important meetings (such as a development review), suggest interpreting support from the family or their community if needed.
• Remember that parents may hesitate to say they didn't understand; instead of "did you understand?", ask "what is the most important question for you?"

A small habit for teachers

In a multilingual class, a teacher re-reading every text and asking "would someone just learning this language understand it?" noticeably improves the quality of communication. Over time, this habit spreads to the whole school's writing style.