A school notice in Yiddish and English, from one English draft
Friday’s early-dismissal notice has to go home in Yiddish and English. Paste the English into TachlisAI with a line about who reads it, then adjust the Yiddish draft in the same chat. A Yiddish notice you receive works the other way, from a photo.
From the English to a bilingual notice
Yiddish is written differently in different communities, so the request says who will read it, which spelling they see in school letters, and that parents are addressed with איר, the polite “you.”
The notices below are illustrative drafts for a fictional school.
The English
Early dismissal this Friday
Children will be dismissed at 12:30. Please pick up your child by 12:45.
For more information, call the office at 845-555-0142.
The request
Translate this for parents at a Chassidish school in Brooklyn. Use the spelling they see in local school letters, and address them with איר. Copy the times and the phone number exactly, and keep it as short as the English.
The Yiddish draft
דעם פרייטאג גייט מען פריער אהיים
די קינדער ווערן ארויסגעלאזט אום 12:30
ביטע קומט נעמען אייער קינד ביז 12:45
פאר מער אינפארמאציע רופט די אפיס 845-555-0142
The follow-up
Our letters always say ערב שבת קודש for Friday. Put the Yiddish on top and the English underneath, so it fits on half a sheet.
The bilingual version
דעם ערב שבת קודש גייט מען פריער אהיים
די קינדער ווערן ארויסגעלאזט אום 12:30
ביטע קומט נעמען אייער קינד ביז 12:45
פאר מער אינפארמאציע רופט די אפיס 845-555-0142
Early dismissal this Friday
Children will be dismissed at 12:30. Please pick up your child by 12:45.
For more information, call the office at 845-555-0142.
The second version uses the school’s phrase for Friday and puts the Yiddish first. Copy it into the school’s usual letter, and before it goes home with every child, have one fluent reader from the school read it.
Let last month’s notice set the style
An earlier notice your readers already know gives TachlisAI their wording and spelling to follow. Paste it into the chat, or photograph the printed copy, and ask for the new notice in the same style. Photos need an account. Take one in the iPhone or Android app, or upload a picture on the web.
Keep the chat. Next week’s notice can start with “Same readers, same style as last time,” and Search chats finds the conversation by a word from an earlier notice. If the parents’ WhatsApp group writes Yiddish in English letters, ask for that version as well.
When the notice comes home in Yiddish
If you read English more comfortably, photograph the notice and ask what it says and what you need to do.
The notice in the photo
טייערע עלטערן
מארגן גייט די קלאס אויף א טריפ צום פארק
ביטע שיקט מיט א סוועטער און א פלאש וואסער
די קינדער קומען צוריק 3:00
You ask
What does this say, and what do I need to send?
The answer
The class is going on a trip to the park tomorrow, and the children will be back at 3:00. Send a sweater and a bottle of water.
Questions about the details can follow in the same chat. For a handwritten note, ask for the Yiddish typed out line by line first, so you can compare it with the page before relying on the English.