North Carolina Children Learn Folk Stories in Spanish

North Carolina Children Learn Folk Stories in Spanish

The Cult News • October 2014 
By G.Cocozza

Children gathered at the Frank Porter Graham Bilingüe School

 library for some reading time during a book fair. 

Many children at the Frank Porter Gra- ham Elementary School, North Carolina, soon, will find within their Spanish booklets a collection of short stories written by Maria Leach, and trans- lated into Spanish by undergraduate students of the B.A of English, currently enrolled at the
University of Costa Rica.
The translated pieces resulted from the course of Translation II, which was taught during the second term, 2013. Pro- fessor Geanette Soto, member of the Trans- lation Studies Depart- ment, explains that the idea emerged from the particular fact that de- spite Leach had found
in the Latin American lands an inspiration for her writing, a Spanish version had never been issued before. “I thought that it would be interesting to have them available in our mother tongue,” she adds.

Maria Leach was raised in Brooklyn, New York, and later she became a Barrington, Nova Sco-

tia based folklorist and editor. Her most distin- guished work includes a large number of chil- drens’ stories, which usually discuss themes about the traditional life aspects of the de- scendent Latin Ameri- can and American tribes. Also, her role as an ed- itor in the creation of a dictionary, named Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictinary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend, greatly contributed to her fame. This book first published on September, 1984 compiles a valu- able source for all those interested to deepen be- neath a folk story.
Professor Soto has led this initiative, together with an ESL instructor established in this bilingual and public institution. Both have coordinated from distance in order to include those readings within the Arts & Language Program.

Yet the project is on the way, the most important task is complete. During class time, the professor assigned the short sto- ries as a portion of the final grade. Considering that after two months of translating texts with similar length, the main challenge this time for students was that they were required to con- template actual readers.

In this instance, the short stories were translated into Spanish for children who learn it as a second language. The folk stories portray the innocence of children, and the parents’ methods to instill values and beliefs, through the tell- ing of scary and charm- ing narratives of mythological creatures and supernatural events.

The past November 2013, the FGPB held a Book Fair. 

The Spanish staff welcomed the little ones to its books stand. 

Just like the popular lo- cal myths and legends of La Llorona and La Cegua, most of them were prac- ticed orally, and their continuing existence de- pended upon the tellers. However, having the op- portunity to read a sto- ry set in a Guatemalan aboriginal context, and told by the perceptions of a foreigner represent a fascinating experience. It is not only an input to

the work of literature or the preservation of their traditions, but also an example of an individ- ual who has discovered distinct, but particularly appealing forms of life.

So far, Frank Porter Gra- ham instructors have en- couraged their students to read in Spanish, but this will be the first expe- rience reading translated Latin American folklore literature. Meanwhile the teaching body moves forward to the arrange- ment of syllabus, Prof. Soto has shown her in- terest in publishing this work in the Letras mag- azine. As for a long-term goal, she aims to seek for an editorial so that the stories will be avail- able at stores.