1. What Shika’s Letters Convey – More Important Than Language Accuracy

Starting a discussion on translanguaging with this topic may seem unexpected.
Are you familiar with the letters of Shika, the mother of Hideyo Noguchi?
These were letters she wrote to her son, Hideyo, after he had moved to America.
The letters contained uneven handwriting and sentences that twisted and turned.
They were simple yet filled with her sincere and unembellished words, overflowing with a mother’s earnest feelings.
When reading these letters, one can strongly feel her deep longing to see her son again.
Even if the grammar and vocabulary contained mistakes, the letters were profoundly moving.
This reminds us once again that what truly matters is not the correctness of words but the emotions embedded within them.

2. Listening to the Feelings Beneath Words – Person-Centered Therapy and the Iceberg Model

Carl Rogers’ Person-Centered Approach emphasizes the importance of listening not just to the “words themselves” but to the “true feelings behind them.”
Children, in particular, often find it difficult to express their emotions in appropriate words and may struggle to speak logically like adults.
Thus, instead of taking words at face value, it is crucial to embrace the feelings and wishes behind them.

For example, suppose a child says, “I don’t want to go to school.”
If we only consider the literal meaning of these words, we might conclude, “Does the child dislike school?” or “Is studying difficult?”
However, beneath these words, the child may actually be feeling, “I’m anxious because I can’t get along with my friends,” “I’m afraid of being scolded by my teacher,” or “I just want to spend more time at home with my mother.”
By listening to the underlying emotions, we can create an environment where the child feels safe to express their feelings.

Rogers proposed three core principles of counseling: Unconditional Positive Regard, Empathic Understanding, and Congruence.
Counselors do not judge a client’s words as “right or wrong” or “good or bad,” nor do they criticize or reject them.
They also do not offer direct suggestions on what the client should do.
Instead, by empathetically understanding the client’s emotions, counselors help them feel safe enough to express themselves.
As a result, clients feel, “I won’t be blamed even if I make mistakes. I don’t need to worry. I can just be myself.”
This, in turn, allows them to explore their inner thoughts and gain deeper self-understanding.

Furthermore, Edward Hall’s Iceberg Model reinforces the idea that it is crucial to understand the emotions beneath spoken words.
According to this model, visible expressions like words and actions are merely the tip of the iceberg, while beneath the surface lies a vast structure of values, emotions, and unconscious thoughts.
In other words, what someone truly wants to communicate is not only found in their words but also in their tone of voice, facial expressions, and body language.

For instance, if a child says, “I’m fine,” one might interpret it as an expression of agreement.
However, if the child lowers their gaze and mutters it in a small voice, they might actually be feeling, “I want you to understand me,” “I’m sad, but I’ve given up,” or something similar.
The spoken words are just one small part of the whole, and it is essential to pay attention to the deeper emotions beneath them.

Thus, rather than focusing solely on the literal meaning of words, we need to observe voice tones and facial expressions to understand what feelings truly lie behind them.
This is especially crucial for children, who may struggle to articulate their emotions, making it all the more important for adults to notice and respond to these hidden signals.
By shifting our focus from “what is being said” to “what the speaker truly wants to express,” we can foster an environment where children feel safe to share their emotions and build trust.

3. My Own Mistakes – Overemphasizing Accuracy and Overlooking What Matters

In fact, I myself once strongly believed, “I must teach correct Japanese.”
Because of this, I often said things like:

• “No, that’s not right.”
• “What do you mean?”
• “Is this what you’re trying to say?”
• “You should say it this way!”
• “What exactly are you trying to say?”

I was too focused on correctness.

Even when a child was trying to speak in their own way, my excessive insistence on “speaking properly and correctly” meant I overlooked the importance of valuing their emotions.
As a result, the way they spoke changed.

Before I realized it, the child only shared simple topics like “It was fun.”
While age and developmental stage may have played a role, they gradually stopped talking about mistakes, sadness, troubles, or difficulties.

Was it because they felt they couldn’t explain things properly?
Or did they realize that if they only talked about fun things, they could avoid inconveniencing me, keeping the conversation smooth and trouble-free?

By prioritizing linguistic accuracy too much, I may have created an environment where the child became overly cautious about speaking and too selective about what they said.

4. Communication in Families with Multicultural Backgrounds and Translanguaging

The same applies to communication within multicultural families.

What matters most is respecting the feelings one wants to express.
Instead of fixating on grammatical correctness, fostering a child’s ability to make full use of their available expressions and creatively convey their thoughts leads to richer communication.

This is where the concept of translanguaging comes in.

Translanguaging refers to the practice of bilingual and multilingual speakers seamlessly switching between two or more languages, utilizing all their linguistic resources to communicate.
Unlike the traditional view that languages should be kept separate, translanguaging embraces the idea that one’s entire linguistic repertoire can be used for thinking, learning, and self-expression.
It represents a natural way for bilingual children to freely combine their available languages to express what they want to say.

For example, imagine a child who speaks both Japanese and English saying,
“I don’t want かたづけ (katadzuke)!”

From this, we can infer:

• “They don’t want to clean up.”
• “They still want to play.”
• “They feel reluctant to destroy what they made.”
• “They want to continue playing tomorrow.”

Even though the sentence is not grammatically complete, its meaning is clear and fully conveyed.
Such flexible expression is a crucial step for children in using language to develop self-expression and learning.

A supportive environment where children feel free to express their emotions nurtures their self-esteem, social skills, and identity development.
By freeing them from the pressure of “speaking in a specific language” or “not making mistakes,” they can naturally engage with the world in a way that feels most authentic to them.

Thus, translanguaging is not simply about mixing languages—it is a powerful tool that allows children to maximize their linguistic abilities, learn, grow, and express themselves.

5. Conclusion: The Importance of Embracing the Feelings Behind Words

So, grammatical mistakes are okay. Limited vocabulary is okay. Mixing languages is okay.

Even if we don’t fully understand everything at that moment, what truly matters is embracing the feelings behind the words.

This is what “Translanguaging That Values the Feelings One Wants to Convey” is all about.

Rather than overcorrecting or focusing too much on accuracy, we should listen not just to “what is being said,” but to “what the speaker truly wants to express.”

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References

Books

• García, O., & Wei, L. (2014). Translanguaging: Language, bilingualism and education. Palgrave Pivot.
• García, O., Ibarra Johnson, S., & Seltzer, K. (2024). Translanguaging Classroom: Teachers’ Practices Utilizing Children’s Multiple Languages in Schools (A. Sano & K. Nakajima, Eds.). Akashi Shoten.
• Hall, E. T. (1993). Beyond Culture (N. Sato, Trans.). TBS Britannica. (Original work published 1976)
• Morotomi, Y. (2021). Carl Rogers: The Origin of Counseling. KADOKAWA.

Webpage

• Hideyo Noguchi Memorial Foundation. (n.d.). Exhibition on Hideyo Noguchi’s Letters. Retrieved February 19, 2025, from https://www.noguchihideyo.or.jp/about/exhi05.html