Then she has to confirm with neighbors that no one lives there anymore. Both Neemeyer and Partridge said they have run into language barriers in their stops around the city. But the differences have been easy to remedy. Often a child can act as an interpreter, they said. One child who was only 4 or 5 helped her Spanish-speaking mother understand the questions Neemeyer was asking.
Kids are wonderful.
One Spanish-speaking worker is among the census workers in Adams County. If workers visit someone they can't communicate with, then they can bring him along with them, Partridge said. The census workers also have forms in a variety of languages in case the head of the household is not fluent in English, she said. Clemens said many of the people he visited just had no interest in returning their forms. Once he explains how important the census is to the community, people cooperate.