7 Quick Tips for Successfully Working Around a Language Barrier

Working in a setting with a diverse population has it’s challenges, especially when there is a language barrier!  I work in a children’s hospital where some of my clients are non-English speakers, but that doesn’t stop me from providing services!  Often people will even recommend music therapy over other modalities because music is universal and doesn’t necessarily require a whole lot of words! Where words fail, music speaks.                                 -Hans Christian Andersen Here are some 7 quick tips for working around a language barrier! 1. Keep it simple  – Keep your intervention simple so they don’t require a lot of explanation.  Let the music do the work instead of the words. 2. Learn the basics – Working in an area where Spanish is prevalent?  Learn to say hello, how are you, music, goodbye, and some of the other basics you know you will need! (stay tuned we will cover this more in an upcoming post!) 3. Let them know – Don’t pretend to know what your client Read More