CHICAGO -- The playground at St. Nicholas Cathedral School was a cacophony of voices speaking a mix of English and Ukrainian on a recent weekday, as kids swung from monkey bars and splashed in several little plastic swimming pools, a reprieve from the August heat.
One preschool student in a blue and pink swimsuit flitted from pool to pool, seamlessly switching from English to Ukrainian, depending on the native tongue of the child she was playing with in that moment.
“That’s a little translator,” said Principal Anna Cirilli, marveling at how kids seemed to find a way to play and communicate even when they don’t speak the same language. “In order for them to interact, they have to speak to each other. But you know, kids just talk to each other in their own language, it’s really weird how it happens.”
