Working with someone from a foreign country – how do you deal with the language barrier?

I work in childcare (in a daycare situation) in Canada. The two other ladies I work with are not originally from here. They are both quite new to the country...one of them immigrated from Congo almost a year ago now and the other from India only about 6 months ago. These ladies are both very nice and I love that I am getting the opportunity to work with interesting people of different cultures and backgrounds.

As you can imagine, however, there is somewhat of a language barrier and that's something that I haven't quite adjusted to yet. Although I've been working with these women for about four months now and am slowly getting used to everything language-wise, I still have quite a few issues with it as they both have VERY thick accents and are not AT ALL fluent in english. I am finding that to be quite challenging, as I'm sure anyone would when in any work environment, but it seems like it's especially difficult in the field of work that I am in. We work mostly with very young kids and toddlers. It's not very often that we get kids older than 3 years of age. Most are just learning to talk, and lot of times they don't know what you're saying at the best of times, let alone when the person talking to them is very poor at speaking english. I'm the only childcare worker that speaks their language fluently and as a first language, therefore I am the one having to deal with most of the typical children things like fighting, not sharing toys, tantrums, etc. They have a difficult time communicating with the children. They try, but most often the kids have no clue what they are saying. Sometimes I don't even know what they're saying, let alone a child who is just learning to talk! Like I mentioned, I am the one who has to deal with the not-so-fun aspects of looking after little kids, like when they are throwing a tantrum for example. Sometimes it's easy to calm a child down by distracting them with a toy or something, but a lot of times you have to actually talk a child through it by saying things like “it's okay, calm down, your mom will be back in a few minutes, don't cry, etc etc etc”. These ladies are never sure of what to say to make the child calm down. This also happens when children fight with each other. While they do try, my co-workers cannot ever successfully handle a situation like that because whenever they try to discipline the kids, the kids don't understand what they're saying! For example, when telling the kids to use their manners and say please when they want something, you would normally say “Use your manners! Say please!” The lady from Congo always says “must to speak please” which is fine, but she says it in a VERY thick accent. I have never, in my four months working with her, ever seen a child respond to that phrase when she says it. They just look at her with a blank stare. Whereas when I say “say please!” they immediately do as they're told.

It's even gotten to the point where the parents, when dropping their kids off at daycare, won't even go to the other two with instructions anymore. They'll make a point of waiting until I have a free minute so they can talk to me, even if the others are standing right in front of them empty-handed. I don't mean to make it sound like anybody is racist or anything, because nobody is. The parents will always try to make conversation with the women and everything, but will save the important stuff for me because they don't want anything to get lost in translation, so to speak. When it comes to your child, any parent would want to make sure the daycare workers are fully aware of everything from their eating habits to their sleep patterns. We've had quite a few instances in the past where instructions have been given to the non-english speaking women and they have misunderstood and have wound up making mistakes.

I just find it challenging, because it's always go-go-go-go-go-go for me since I am the only one who knows perfect english. I am the only who can successfully break up fights, console kids who are upset, discipline them, communicate with the parents, etc. I feel like everything always rests on my shoulders, and it's hard for my co-workers to take much of the weight off when they don't understand nor can they communicate well enough to do so. And don't get me wrong, these women are very lovely and pleasant people and I have absolutely nothing against them on a personal level. I feel like the worst person in the world for complaining about this, because it's not their fault at all and I know they're trying, but it's just a bit of a struggle at times. Working with children is my passion, and I wish I could really and fully enjoy my job rather than being stressed all day, ya know?

If anyone has any advice on how to make this situation work better and run more smoothly, I would very much appreciate hearing it! Thanks so much :