Language barriers.....

So I don't speak vietnamese, tag, spanish, and you don't want to hear my french.... What does your community do when you are presented with language barriers??????

· L'information importante écrite en anglais, la langue de ce pays, ont traduit svp.

· La información importante escrita en inglés, la lengua de este país, ha traducido por favor.

· Die wichtigen Informationen, die auf englisch, die Sprache dieses Landes geschrieben werden, bitte haben übersetzt.

· De belangrijke informatie die in het Engels, de taal wordt geschreven van dit land, gelieve te vertalen.

· Важная информация написанная на английском языке, язык этой страны, пожалуйста переводила.

· A informação importante escrita em inglês, a língua deste país, por favor traduziu.

· 英語に、この国の言語は書かれる、重要な情報翻訳した。

· 重要信息被写在英语, 这个国家语言, 请翻译了。

· Οι σημαντικές πληροφορίες που γράφονται στα αγγλικά, η γλώσσα αυτής της χώρας, παρακαλώ έχουν μεταφράσει.

· 영어로, 이 나라의 언어는 쓰는, 중요한 정보 번역했다.

Courtesy of http://babelfish.altavista.com

“Important information written in English, the language of this country, please have translated .”

Why worry about it? That person can find a translator, perhaps the teacher of his English language class.

Jan - I could not agree with DonnaS more on this.

Interesting topic. Our association was advised by our attorney that we open ourselves up to complaints or maybe even litigation. If our association uses everyone's funds to translate for one non-english speaking group, it may be perceived we have to do it for all languages. We have 10%-15% Korean speaking families in our association and there was a very very lengthy and heated debate whether or not to translate amendment documents to help capture the korean community's vote. If only our Board would devote that much time to reserve account discussions, but that's another topic, for another day.

The decision I believe will be to offer a translation or assistance with the language if requested. Of course if there really is a language barrier, that offer might not be able to be understood!! LOL.

Personally, I don't buy into the need for a translation from the association to the owners. People need to adapt to the language of the country where they reside.

I will say if you live in CA, it will be acceptable to have document in both English and Spanish. Most of the government document in CA are in both English and Spanish.

For other languages, I do suggest 'get a translator' or ask a friend to help. We can't be liable for all the translating.

If you do decide to have a(ny) translations done, pay for a professional translator, especially if you do not know the intricacies of the other language. You need to be assured that the translation reflects both spirit and intent of your docs. If an error is made, you have a professional to go back to.

(one person who worked with first generation kids had another adult in the same setting write translations of most of the reports generated, so parents had much better understanding of what was being reported. It worked beautifully in that setting. But here we're talking of adults, who, as one person said, made it through the forest of paperwork to buy the house, so should either be able to read the newsletters or find a translator.)

Thats where the problem lies, within the governing groups.
It all started sometime ago with lawyers who felt English was not the official language of United States.
I beg to differ, OUR Constitutio is written in ENGLISH our BILL OF RIGHTS IS written in ENGLISH,WE Sing OUR national ANTHEM in ENGLISH and PLEDGE allegiance to OUR FLAG in ENglish.
I thought that everybody who tried to enter this country toke an OATH
to learn the language of our nation??
I know for a fact my Father=in-law had too.

Hi--I am new to this site but read about your Language Barrier problems. I live in Florida, am a BOD Director for an HOA with a Mobile Home Park that rents the land and we own the homes. We follow FLA Statute 723. The community I live in has now reached 80% Hispanic and the majority of them say they do not speak English. Even though many have joined the HOA, they did not attend meetings because they could not understand what was being said. We then had volunteer interpreters and what a mess. Now the English Speaking cannot keep up on what is going on. Our membership is falling. We now have three out of five bi-lingual speaking on the Board and it is still a mess. Now they are suggesting two different meetings--One for the Hispanics and one for the English Speaking..I say NO! We are in a pickle. I agree they should learn our English language but most just do not want to and I can see why. I have been trying to learn Spanish and it is very difficult for me. Any suggestions out there for us?