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Sunday, August 8, 2010

¿Zona de besos y despido?

 

The sign above was spotted in an entry window at Plainfield's Washington Community School.

For those who can't remember their musical cues (say, from Bésame mucho), a handy English translation appears in the adjacent window.





Or is it the other way around?




-- Dan Damon [follow]

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10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fist of all, HUH???

Second, "Despido" means "employer's decision by putting an end to the employment relationship between him and an employee"...(Real Academia Española)

Whoever translated this sign needs Spanish lessons as well as English.

But I still don't get this story...what was the purpose of it?

Dan said...

It's a lazy Sunday in August -- most folks are doning other stuff (I can tell how many are reading), so I do something easy -- for the reader, for me.

I'm not going to challenge the school, you can if you want to.

But the handy multi-language dictionary I use (it's Dutch) lists 'dismiss' as a meaning before those that have to do with 'firing' or 'sacking'.

See here --
http://www.woordenboek.eu/vertaling/Spaans/despido

So maybe 'Kiss and Diismiss Xone'?

Anonymous said...

What it saying is what Dan said "kiss and dismiss zone. Meaning u as a parent are not allow to enter in the school with ur child. This does go with me. That sign needs to be taking it out. Not cool at all. As a parent i have the right to go to my child school in at any time and if i want to drop my child in the class room i also have the right. Thank god my kids dont go there i wouldnt take that crazy sign.

Anonymous said...

Parents can go into that school anytime if they enter through the front of the school and sign in. Its a safety measure and a good one too!

Anonymous said...

An article in the Times talked about how Latino children are having problems with English in the schools.

I believe it is important that children learn not only English, but also Spanish. However, I believe it should be relegated to a classroom. While we do not have English as the official language of the US, are we really helping our non-English speaking children by not impressing upon them the importance of learning and speaking English, and making it easy for them to not have to learn the English language?

This is not a value judgement, rather an item for discussion.

Anonymous said...

Why didn't you just ask Maria P what it says? I think it simply says "kiss and say goodbye", which is a sweet thing for a school to suggest.

Anonymous said...

Well, the sign in English makes sense, but my point was, the sign in Spanish has no meaning was so ever.

Yep I Said It! said...

The library has classes to learn English, but there should be classes to learn Spanish as well. I would attend. Anybody else?

Anonymous said...

This notice was put in place to address the issues we had been experiencing with parents/custodial parents escorting thier children to the classroom and attempting to hold a conference with thier child's teacher, thus taking away valuable instructional time. Additionaly, unidentified visitors in the building for long periods. This posed a big problem that needed to be addressed. In no way should this be interpreted as a parent not being allowed into the building. We do not reserve the right to do this unless court ordered. However, there are rules for visiting the building during school hours. YOU as a parent/visitor have the right to enter the school at anytime and request a meeting with your child's teacher. This can be done by simply visiting the main office (entrance Darrow Ave), signing in and making your request to meet with the teacher. The office staff will ensure that a mutual time to meet can be arranged.

During PTO meetings we explained the reason for this notice and we were met with positive feedback. This rule is in place for the safety of ALL the children in the building.

As far as the language, it could have been translated in a variety of ways and dialects to satisfy the diverse latino population in Plainfield; but we were able to get the point across with no problem. ~Until Now~ LOL If someone out there has a better translation that is succint, please submit it. We are a Community School and welcome any constructive feedback the community has.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Estevez, Principal Secretary

Dan said...

Thank you, Mrs. Estevez!

Who knew a little post on a little sign in a window would kick up such dust?

Thanks to all at Washington School and all they do for the kids -- and the community!