Help Please - Do you speak Spanish or Vietnamese?

FIRST General Forum
#1

Hello. I mentor FRC team 1725 out of Worcester MA.

We’re having a small problem within our team. About half of the students on my team have parents who do not speak English as a native language. I have sent informational letters home to the parents about regionals and the team in general to try to keep them up to date.

I am now finding out that those letters have not been read because the parents can not read English. I have asked the students on my team if they would translate the letters for their parents but they have not been able to. They tell me that their English vocabulary and the vocabulary of the language they speak at home does not match up (and this is very believable seeing as they commonly switch back and forth between languages at practices).

We have done OK so far but it really is getting to the point where I need to communicate with the parents. We are competing in the upcoming Boston Regional and the parents need to know what is going on.

If anybody would be willing to volunteer to translate a letter into Spanish or Vietnamese for me I would be very thankful.

Thank you for your time
Katy Levinson

#2

Hi Katy,

I’m decently fluent in Spanish. If you’d like to send me the letter via email, I’ll take a shot at it. My email is bethsweet-at-gmail.com

~Beth

#3

I can also speak good Spanish. I’m also a member of the Boston Regional planning committee if these parents have additional questions/need a contact at the event.

email is mikell dot taylor at students dot olin dot edu

#4

One more for Spanish, if you still need my help :slight_smile:

#5

Katy,

I may have a lead on someone who can translate into Vietnamese for you. Please PM me if you still need help.

#6

oh this is wonderful! Thank you all so much! You have no idea how much this means to me and how much this will help my team!

Here I’ll just put the letter in here…that way for the Spanish one if somebody does it before another it doesn’t get accidentally done twice…

To the Parents:

First allow me to apologize for not getting this letter to you sooner. My name is Katy Levinson, a computer science major at WPI, and I am mentoring FIRST (For Innovation and Recognition of Science and Technology; www.usfirst.org) FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition) robotics team #1725 in which your daughter has been enrolled.

FIRST is a robotics-based program to teach young people about technology.

FRC (www.usfirst.org/robotics) is an international competitive robotics league with over 1000 teams from five countries. Thirty-three regionals will be held and teams that do well enough will compete in the International Championships in Atlanta Georgia. Each year a game challenge is released. You can find this year’s challenge at robotics.nasa.gov/events/2006_kickoff.php, click ‘Aim High Animation’. Teams have six weeks to design and build a robot to play the game. This hands-on approach allows students to gain experience in problem solving; project management; building and mechanical concepts; electrical wiring and testing; and program design, development, writing, and testing. The structure of a team also gives experience working with a group, marketing and public relations experience, and a chance to work with professionals in a friendly sports-like environment. Experience in FIRST also reinforces and brings to life many subjects the girls are learning in school, including geometry, algebra, physics and calculus.

FIRST FRC is a widely respected program. It is sponsored by many respectable entities such as NASA, FedEx, Delphi, Autodesk, Microsoft, TYCO Electronics, Fisher-Price, and Texas Instruments. Over six million dollars are given every year in college scholarships to students on FIRST teams.

Team 1725 is an all-girls team with girls coming from all over Worcester. It is an attempt to break the stereotypes of the traditionally male-dominated engineering field.

For questions pertaining to the relationship between the schools and the team I would recommend you contact Dennis Ferrante, the Director of Business and Community Partnerships at Worcester public schools. His office phone is ####NUMBER.

This is my fifth year in FIRST and while this is the first time I have mentored a FIRST FRC team I have mentored four FIRST FLL teams (FIRST Lego League, a middle school equivalent). As mentor I am absolutely dedicated to this team. I have taken some time off from my work-study job in order to make more time for the team and I truly want to see each girl on the team succeed.

I understand many of you have been concerned about the large number of practices our team has been holding each week. If you would like to monitor your daughter’s attendance, we keep a sign in sheet for practices at the build space. We have also started running a number of online meetings through instant messengers. You are always welcome to contact me to see if a meeting really does exist or if your daughter is just not getting off the computer. Although the hours have decreased since ship the team still stands as a very large time commitment, and if your daughter has time conflicts or needs to leave early, come late, or miss a few hours in the middle of practice that is alright. I also firmly believe academics come first. A program that furthers your daughter’s chances in the future is useless or flatly counterproductive if it comes at a cost to her grades. Please tell me if your daughter’s grades begin falling either during FRC season or the normal year. I would love to help her if the need arises. I just graduated high school last year so all the material is fresh in my mind.

On February 21st FedEx took the robot away to a storage location outside of team control. This is done on every team in FRC to ensure all teams have the exact same amount of time to work on the robot. This is why the number of practices has decreased on our team. I am sorry the current practice times are rather haphazard. The purpose of them is primarily to practice our Chairman’s presentation, work on team spirit materials for competition, pack for competition and test out potential gripping materials for our rollers which we will install at competition (our current rollers are temporary and use tape which is illegal).

Our team is going to attend the Boston regional from 3/23/06-3/25/06. We are still working out if we are going to be staying in Boston or if the team and another three teams for Worcester will be renting a bus to drive us up and back each day. Since our team has less than 10 active students currently it is imperative that every student attends regionals each day. There is a lot of work to be done and we are going to be very short hands already. I will be sending permission slips home soon (they may be in English. I’m sorry about this.) /** (Spanish copy only) If you would like more information about the regional feel free to contact Mikell Taylor of the Boston Regional Planning Committee at ##EMAIL. He speaks Spanish. */

The first day of regionals (Thursday) is a day when final changes are made to the robot, the students get to practice with the robot under real conditions, and scouting data is collected on other teams. Friday is the first day of the ranked matches. Teams will be randomly grouped for each match into ‘alliances’ of three teams. Alliances will compete against other alliances, however, alliances change every match, so one team may be competing against their former allies at any time. Several awards are also given out on Friday. On Saturday morning the last of the ranking matches finish and on Saturday afternoon the top eight teams draft two more teams apiece into a permanent alliance. These eight permanent alliances enter elimination rounds and the winning alliance, along with the winner of the Chairman’s Award, are the four regional winners. The rest of the awards are also given out on Saturday. The entire event is open to the public and there is no admission fee. I invite any parent friend or family member with the time to come and cheer us on. Our team colors are pink and blue and our team name is I².

My cell phone is the best way to reach me. The number is ####NUMBER. Please feel free to call at any time of the day or night with any questions; I would be thrilled to meet with you.

Sincerely,
Katy Levinson

#7

You’ll be hard pressed finding someone who can translate vietnamese =) It WAS my native tongue…but then I can barely make a coherant sentence with only vietnamese words now…but good luck! sorry I can’t help, I’m only verbal…can’t do that written stuff.

#8

Katy,

Ok, I’m workin on it. One quick note, FIRST stands for “For **Inspiration ** and Recognition of Science and Technology”, I’m sure you just threw in a typo.

#9

We have a foreign exchange student on our team from North Vietnam this year and I think that she may be able to translate this letter for you. I will get this letter to her and see what we can do!

#10

Origionally posted by Beth Sweet
One quick note, FIRST stands for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology”, I’m sure you just threw in a typo.

Jesus Christ I need more sleep! Thanks for catching that…

And thank you again everybody for your very kind help!

#11

Hi Katy,

Ok, here’s what I have. If anyone notices grammar errors, please correct them.

Por los padres,

Primero, le permito a dice lo siento porque no recibe este carta más rápido. Me llamo Katy Levinson, una estudiante de la ciencia computadora de WPI y trabajo con FIRST (Por Inspiración y Reconocimiento de las Ciencias y Tecnología) FRC (FIRST Concurso de Robóticas) equipo numero 1725 en cual su hijo esta una participa.

FIRST es un programa de robótica para enseñar los jóvenes de tecnología.

FRC (www.usfirst.org/robotics) es un concurso competitivo de robóticas internacional que incluye más de 1000 equipos originan de 5 países. 33 eventos locales ocurrirán y equipos que competirán la más bien podrán ir al concurso internacional en Atlanta, Georgia. Todos los años, FIRST creara una nueva partido. Puede a ver el partido de este año a www.robotics.nasa.gov/events/2006_kickoff.php y clic en “Aim High Animation.” Los equipos tienen seis semanas para diseñar y crear un robot que puede a jugar el partido. Este método les permite los estudiantes a tener experiencias de resuelva problemas, administración de proyectos, los conceptos mecánicos y construíos, alambrado eléctrico, y la diseñas, desarrollo y escribido de programas. También, la estructura de un equipo le da la experiencia de trabajando con un grupo, vendiendo, las relaciones publicas, y un oportunidad a trabajar con los profesionales en un ambiente amistoso y de deportes. A tener experiencia en FIRST también crea muchos tópicos que sus hijas son enseñando en la escuela, incluyendo geometría, álgebra, física, y cálculo.

FIRST FRC es una programa que tiene mucho respecto. Compañías como NASA, FEDEC, Delphi, Autodesk, Microsoft, TYCO Electronics, Fisher-Price, y Texas Instruments le da dinero para la programa. Hay más de $6,000,000 de becas para estudiantes en los equipos de FIRST.

Equipo 1725 es un equipo solo por las chicas y tiene chicas del todo Worcester. Es una tentativa a cambiar los estereotipos tradicionales de ingeniería.

Por preguntas de las relaciones entre las escuelas y el equipo, recomiendo que hable con Dennos Ferrante, el Director de Negocios y Asociaciones de la Comunidad a las escuelas publicas de Worcester. Llame (insert phone number here).

Este es mi año quinto en la programa y pero solo es la primera vez de trabajo con un equipo FIRST FRC. Trabajé con 4 FIRST FLL (FIRST Liga de Legos) equipos. Porque estoy un mentor en el equipo, soy dedicada al equipo. Toma un poco tiempo sin trabaja para a tener más tiempo por el equipo y me gusta que todas las chicas en el equipo tienen éxito.

Ya comprendo que muchas de las padres tienen concierne en los grande números de practicas que nuestro equipo tiene todos los semanas. Si le gusta a saber la asistencia de la hija de usted, tenemos una papel de firmar por todas las prácticas. También, empezamos citas online con mensajeros instantáneos. Siempre, usted puede a hablar conmigo para verificar si hay una cita. Aunque las horas ha disminuido después de mandamos el robot, el equipo ahora necesita mucho compromiso de tiempo y si la hija de usted tiene conflictos de tiempo o necesita a salir temprano, entra tarde o no esta por un poco de horas en el medio de una cita, todos son buenos. También, creo que la escuela es la más importante. Una programa que ayuda su hija en la futura no es una cosa bien si no ella saca buenas notas. Por favor, dije a mí si las notas de su hija empiezan a ser malas entre el tiempo de FIRST o el resto del año. Me gusta ayúdale ella si hay una necesidad. Solo gradué de la escuela secundaria en el año pasado así que ya lo sé toda la materia.

En el 21 de febrero, FEDEC tomó el robot a un lugar para almacenarlo. Este es un requisito de todos los equipos en FRC para asegurar que todos los equipos tienen el mismo tiempo. Es la razón que el número de citas ha disminuido en nuestro equipo. Lo siento porque no hay un horario típico por las citas. La razón para estas es mayor para practicar para un presentación se llama “Chairman’s”, trabajar en creando cosas para promover nuestra equipo, prepara por el concurso, y proba materias para el robot.

Asistiremos el concurso de Boston en 23/3/06 entre 25/3/06. Nos pensando en los arreglos de viaje, si permaneceremos en hotel en Boston o si viajaremos con 3 otros equipos en autobús. Puesto que solo tengamos 10 estudiantes, es muy importante que todas asistan todos los días. Hay mucho trabajo para ser y no tenemos bastante gente que nos gusta. Mandare los resbalas de permiso a sus casas (hay un posibilidad que será en ingles, lo siento). Si le gusta más información del concurso, hable con Mikell Taylor de el Boston Regional Comité de Planificación a (inserte mail here). Él habla español.

El primero día del concurso (jueves) es un día cuando hace los cambios finales al robot. Los estudiantes practican con el robot un los condicionales reales, y los datos de los otros equipos esta creado. Viernes es el primero día por los juegos con marcas. Equipos trabaja en grupos de 3 y son aleatoriamente escogidos. Grupos de equipos competen con otros grupos, pero puesto que cambie todos veces, es posible que competimos con equipos que en el pasado fue en nuestra grupo. También en viernes, hay premios por unos pocos de equipos. En la mañana de sábado los finales juegos terminan. En el mediodía, la primera 8 equipos escogen con quien le gusta jugar por el final del concurso. Estos 8 grupos entran juegos de eliminación y hay un grupo ganador. El resto de los premios les dan a los equipos en el sábado. El evento no cuesta dinero y el publico puede asisten. Invito todos los padres, familias y amigos quien tiene tiempo a asiste el evento y apoya nuestra equipo. Los colores del equipo son rosa y azul y el nombre es “I^2.”

Mi teléfono celular es la vez mayor para hablar conmigo. El numero es (insert cell number here). Por favor llámame si tiene preguntas. Me gusta mucha para encuentra todos.

Katy Levinson

#12

Thank you everybody very much! I now have a translation in both languages.

Once again thank you all a ton! If there is anything I can ever do in return please tell me.

#13

Please forgive the double post I just wanted to say thank you again and tell you guys how it all turned out.

I really think the letters helped. On Thursday parents permitted five students to attend and on Friday we had six. Saturday we had four. This was really wonderful because we had been afraid not enough students would be allowed to attend for us to have a full drive team. I think the letters really made the difference because once the parents received them I started receiving phone calls from the parents for the very first time.

Thursday went well and on Friday we bounced between 11th and 2nd place to end the day seeded 8th. Saturday our rollers broke, transmissions broke and a speed controller broke when another team accidental knocked the backing off, drove partially into the robot and over our electronics board and robot controller. (At that point the robot became a bit stubborn and unpredictable). Around that time the workload per person per minute became difficult. (Team 1100 helped us a lot and we are really thankful to them.) We dropped down to end the seeding rounds ranked at 15th. Our team was then chosen to be on the 7th alliance and beat the 2nd ranked alliance to continue to semi-finals. In semi-finals we put up a fight we are proud of to be beaten in the third round.

Thank you so much for your help and offers of help I really believe it made the difference in the outstanding attendance we were able to have. The girls had a wonderful time and are really looking forward to next year.

Thank you all so much again. If there is anything I can do in the future to repay you please do not hesitate to ask.

#14

Katy,

Glad everything turned out well! Please don’t be afraid to ask for more help in the future!

#15

Sorry I caught this thread so late, I was at So Cal Regional. Katy, if in the future you need any translations, please contact my students (Team 812). The majority of them are fluent in Spanish or Vietnamese and would be more than happy to help out.

#16