Language Barrier in Pandemic Time

The outbreak of the respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus, disease that was first detected in China, is now a top concern for governments all over the world and there is not a single day when news about this topic are not broadcasted. There is plenty of information on the Internet about the effects of coronavirus. One of the subtopics that are emerging amid the spread of the disease is how the language barrier is making more difficult the job of different authorities when they need to communicate.

There are different instances where a language barrier is present: We have multiethnic countries where there is the main language of communication in an area shared by different ethnic groups, each with their own language. China, the centre of this issue, is a good example. Then we have countries like Canada, where immigrants bring their language making it part of society.

China is a multiethnic country with 56 recognized ethnicities. Almost 92% of the population belongs to the Han ethnic group. Each group has its own language. But the Han majority is not uniform in terms of languages. Mandarin, the official language, is based mainly on the northern Chinese dialects, where specifically the speech of the capital city functions as a reference. But there are a lot of dialects classified in 7 groups that are considered themselves as languages. In 2017 I wrote an article about this topic and you can read it here. 

Chinese government promotes the use of standard Mandarin or Putonghua for education, information, courts, and any official use. After the outbreak of coronavirus, the language strategy changed and now not only minority languages are used to spread information but also local dialects. Now it is possible to see brochures and listen to the information in Hubei Mandarin, the main dialect in use in Wuhan, centre of the virus outbreak. Then, the information in other minority languages and dialects started to be issued. You can read more information supported with examples of different material edited in Hubei Mandarin, and languages such as Tibetan, Korean, Mongol and Yi. You can find links to videos in different versions of Tibetan about the COVID-19. But not only internally has changed the strategy of the Chinese government. Its policy toward foreign languages has also changed. Before, it was assumed that if we needed to provide information to foreigners, it was enough to publish it in English. With a large group of directly and indirectly affected international students, the Chinese government is now publishing brochures in languages such as Vietnamese, Arabic, Italian, and Burmese.  But it is remarkable to see that minority languages and dialects in China are now part of the strategy.

Countries with high population of immigrants are aware that the best strategy to disseminate the information among the different communities is to speak in their language. This involves also the use of the most common mother tongues of those communities. Canadian government, as of March 14^th 2020 has information available in English and French. But my province, Ontario, has information available in 29 languages, including 4 local indigenous languages. The government of New Zealand has information about the coronavirus available in 20 languages, including some videos in New Zealand sign language. 

Unfortunately, I have read some pages about public health and diseases published in multiple languages where information about coronavirus is not available in all of them.

But in an interconnected world, there is another front for the language barrier that is attracting more attention: International travel. Tourists visiting foreign lands, especially those who chose the option of a cruise trip, have been caught in the midst of this crisis dealing with immigration or public health officials who lack knowledge in foreign languages, including English which is supposed to be the lingua franca for international tourism. Well! ... It might be a kind of international language when you travel or book a room in a hotel. But when our own health and well being are in danger, not everyone is prepared to communicate properly.

There were important examples like what happened to a couple of British honeymooners traveling in a cruise ship that was docked and quarantined after arriving in Japan, where they were mistakenly issued a diagnose of COVID-19, and all of this happened due to a mistranslation. In a different story, an American tourist in Egypt was left in quarantine after by mistake tested positive for the disease. While in the hospital, he had a hard time communicating with staff due to language barriers. The visitor tried even to use online resources to get the translation to what he tried to say, but the quality of internet connections wasn’t good.

Israeli news reported the case of a health ministry officer who traveled to Japan to try to repatriate Israeli passengers who were in a cruise ship docked in that country and tested positive for the virus. Attempts to seek collaboration between both governments failed due to language barriers. 

News about Japan, including those in which language barriers are the protagonists, are concerning considering that Tokyo, its capital, will host the next Summer Olympics this same year.

During this chaotic time, online solutions for those things that we do in our daily lives like work or shop for groceries have become more popular. But the IT industry is not only assisting with online health care solutions. They are working to provide apps that can translate between different languages to help people who require medical care. As an example, during my research, I found that in early March, Cloudbreak Health launched a free app that allows communication between patients and health care providers. This device is easily sanitized and can be moved between quarantine rooms and other less critical areas in hospitals. It has been already tested with COVID-19 patients whose first language is not English. 

In my opinion, to see that the Chinese government is using minority languages to spread information about coronavirus it is a sign that they could benefit from this crisis. There is no Lingua Franca when it comes to dealing with this pandemic or any other disease that threatens our health anywhere in the world. All languages are important.

Everyone should be able to understand the existing risks and actions to take. Patients need to be aware of the treatment they are about to receive and what is expected of them.

Nelson Mandela said: “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.”  What a better way to reach someone who needs health and care!!!