Translator

My Best Friend Speaks a Different Language
Katie Rucky; Upper Marlboro, MD
Second Place, Grades 9-12

I moved to America in August 2020, just before school started. I do not speak any English but can speak to whoever I want to. I am 16 years old. I go to regular public school and speak to all of the kids. But I am the only one who knows my language. I have been going to this school for three weeks and I already have a best friend. We tell each other everything, down to the smallest detail of our day. We share our secrets and our crushes. We laugh together and comfort each other when one person is down. However, I speak in my language and she speaks in English. We both wear a sort of hearing aid that lets us understand each other’s languages. So when we speak to each other it seems like we are speaking in the same language. The hearing aid has a tiny computer in it that translates the language for us. A lot of people at the school do not have these hearing aids so I carry around a small device that is like a palm pilot. The hearing aid transmits the language I am speaking to the handheld device and changes my words into the language of the other person. This device also has access to the Internet so I can look up whatever I want at any time and translate anything I want to. I even can instant message to people who speak in a different language. The hearing aid works almost as an internal translator. The tiny computer inside has technology that makes it seem like everyone is speaking in my language. This computer also has the ability to transmit what I am speaking to the handheld device. This works as an external translator for the other person. Because I have the hearing aid it still sounds as if they are talking in my language. But the person without the translator hears their language from the handheld device. Without the device I do not know how I would get along without knowing English. The device makes it a lot simpler for me to make friends and do well in school. It also helped my parents find jobs easily. I have seen people who have moved from other countries who do not know English, and they have a lot more trouble doing things and talking to people. The translator makes me fit in with everyone and be able to understand everything. It even makes it seem as if I am not the new girl in town.