Lost in Translation

A number of years ago now, as a native English speaker, I started learning Cantonese. I thought I may have an advantage being a speech pathologist having studied the way language and speech develops and the analysis of it.

I couldn’t have been further from the truth! Cantonese, like some other languages, rely very heavily on tones that can completely change the meaning of a word. A word may have the same pronunciation as another word but if the tone (almost like the high or low or rising or lowering of a note in music) is changed, you have a totally different word.

English doesn’t use tones to choose a word that conveyed my desired meaning, so I was not at all tuned into these subtle differences speaking in Cantonese. I often struggled to even distinguish the difference between two words that, to me sounded the same, but in fact were being said with different tones.

Even now, after several years of struggling to communicate in Cantonese, I realise that I may well be completely misunderstanding what another person is talking about. In fact, if a native Cantonese speaker is listening to our conversation and asks what I think the topic of conversation is, they are often completely bemused and amused!, at the discrepancy between what I think we’re talking about and the actual content of the conversation. 

All this to say - reading or hearing something in your native language drastically reduces the chances of a misunderstanding. This could not be more important in supporting those with swallowing issues. 

The IDDSI (International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative) has translated the following resources into a large number of languages other than English, to help support those caring for or with a swallowing difficulty.

Please find links below to help you access them.

IDDSI Levels

https://iddsi.org/Translations/Available-Translations

IDDSI Posters

https://iddsi.org/Resources/Posters

Advocacy Posters

https://iddsi.org/United-States

Testing Cards

https://iddsi.org/Resources/Testing-Cards

Asian Rice Porridge

https://iddsi.org/News/Special-Features/Rice-Porridge