Growing up, Lisa wanted her parents to be her heroes — the ones she could go to for help whenever she needed. Instead her parents have relied on her to be their translator since she was a kid.
Content warning: This article discusses mental health, anxiety and depression.
New Zealand-born Lisa, who asked us for her real name not to be used for privacy reasons, said she’s been translating for her South Korean parents to help them navigate matters in healthcare, finance, business and education.
She said her parents used to run a business and her dad would ask her to explain legal documents at the age of eight.
Child language brokers are children or young people who translate and interpret cultural differences for their parents, siblings, or friends who don’t speak the local language.
There is limited research in New Zealand about the impacts of language brokering on children but a 2014 US study looked into its mental health risks and 310 bilingual undergraduate students participated in the study — 74 of whom were language brokers.
The research found that overall, language brokers had higher levels of depression compared with the bilingual students who weren’t language brokers.
The study also found that bilingual young adults who served as language brokers, particularly during their pre-adolescent years, had higher levels of anxiety than those who didn’t.
When the child has to parent
Lisa said she would look things up on Google to help her dad understand complex business concepts, but she would not have the words in her mother tongue to explain it to him.
The 26-year-old said she still helps her parents, and she’s still grappling with her perception of them.
“Because of society’s standards of what competence is, I can’t help but be influenced by that and perceive my parents to be less knowledgeable, less intelligent, less able because of their language.
“It’s a really sh***y position to be in … There will always be this part of me that will never be able to forget I’ve had to be a parent.”
A change in family dynamics
Cross-cultural psychologist Rita Chi-Ying Chung (鍾賜英) said in these situations, the child can also become the adult in the family which can change family dynamics. This can manifest in different ways.
She said parents might feel like they’re losing power and feel frustrated because of that reliance.
For example, when a child has to deliver difficult news, like being denied a mortgage or telling an older family member they have cancer, she said parents may end up taking their frustration out on them.
“The child is put in the situation where they have to tell their parents that news. The parent will obviously be upset. And they scream or shout or raise their voice at the child saying, ‘You’re saying it wrong’ … [It’s] a difficult situation for everybody.”
Chung, who’s also an adjunct psychology professor at Victoria University, said parents’ expectations can be so high, children may feel guilty or inadequate when they can’t translate complex ideas.
“The demand, the mental health issues, that depression and anxiety, distress continues for some [well into adulthood because] the parent [may have] a lifelong dependency.”
Some may look back at their lives feeling like they’ve lost their childhood and may grow to resent their parents, she said.
Chung said each case is different and not all child language brokers will experience psychological distress.
Children are being expected to enter an ‘adult world’
Auckland University senior lecturer Angel Chan, who researches identity and language, said child language brokers are expected “to enter into an adult world” and be part of conversations that aren’t always appropriate.
“Parents will rely on the children to do all sorts of application forms, or even going to the doctor’s and some of these conversations can be hard for children and they may not have the terminology as well.”
Chan hoped the professionals in these situations will make the right call by finding an adult translator.
But she said there are positives to being able to speak their native language, such as a healthy sense of identity, knowing their heritage, and being able to communicate with loved ones in their home country.
Chan said research has also shown bilingual people think more flexibly and are able to negotiate cultures and languages easier.
‘They’re trying to do the best they can’
Maria, who asked for her real name not to be used for privacy reasons, is a 1.5 generation Filipino immigrant who has helped translate education and workplace matters for her parents since she was eight.
“I remember being quite … like, frustrated [as a kid] that I had to do it because it’d be late at night.
“But it felt like it was just a thing that we do … It just felt part of what it meant to be a part of this family.”
The 28-year-old said she wonders how it made her parents feel having to ask for their children’s help.
“I don’t think my parents would have asked me unless they had to … They’re also trying to do the best they can, not saying that … it excuses some of the things we have to do.”
Maria said that as she gets older, she’s realised she won’t have to rely on her child and it makes her grateful for her parents’ sacrifice.
“I think it just makes me feel a little bit more aware of the realities of what it took for my parents to migrate to a new country.”
