Parent-Child Mistranslations: What a Child Actually Hears when a Parent Speaks

Many years ago I had the opportunity to travel to Kenya with my sister. As we visited a small village and got to know some of the people there, we tried to learn bits and pieces of their native language. At one particular home, the matriarch of the family left and one of us tried to say, “Goodbye Grandma.” What was heard (and what was probably actually said) was “Goodbye pee-pee.”

Everyone took the honest mistake very kindly and laughed it off as nothing.

Sometimes in our home, the same type of mistranslations occur. What is heard by the children is interpreted much differently than what was meant by us parents. We may all be speaking and learning English around here, but often it does not feel like it.

I have not figured out yet if the fault of these mistranslations is on the part of the speaker or the hearer.

Here are a few examples, so you can tell me what you think.

 

Sometimes when I say, “Please go take a shower.”

…My children hear, “Please go create a hurricane in the bathroom, forget to use soap, and then track water across the wood floor to your bedrooms.”

 

Sometimes when I say, “I’m making dinner.”

…My children hear, “Start crying, arguing, and whining to me about how starving you are.”

 

Sometimes when I say, “Time for bed!”

…My children hear, “Go jump back and forth between you and your brother’s beds until you bump into each other and one of you is crying.”

 

Sometimes when I say, “Ssshh. The baby just fell asleep.”

…My children hear, “Go walk right by the baby’s bedroom door and at that exact moment suddenly yell something unintelligible.”

 

Sometimes when I say, “Get in the car. We’re going to be late for school.”

…My children hear, “What homework did you forget to do last night?”

 

Sometimes when I say, “Please just be kind to one another. You know that’s the most important thing to me.”

…My children hear, “Please bug your sibling until the other one retaliates and you are in tears.”

 

Sometimes when I say, “We need to leave now.”

…My children hear, “Run off in the other direction and pretend you did not hear me.”

 

Sometimes when I say, “Little #1, please go practice the piano.”

…My children hear, “Little #3, go play a diddly on the high notes while Little #1 sits there and neither one of you practices but you both get frustrated.”

 

Sometimes when I say, “It is time to clean-up.”

…My children hear, “Crickets chirping.”

 

BUT, every time I say, “Let’s go for a walk. Tell me about your day.”

…My children hear, “I love you.”

 

So, what do you think? Are these speaker or hearer errors? Does this language barrier exist at your house too? I’d love for you to share your opinion in the comments.

The great news is that while these mistranslations do occur, they seem to ever so slowly get fewer and further between. So if you are having the same language issues in your home, keep up your valiant communication efforts. We are all bound to get on the same page eventually. Until then, let us each learn from our Kenyan friends: please take the honest mistakes very kindly, and laugh it off as nothing. Patience and laughter go a long way in overcoming parent-child mistranslations.

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