DS7 is a huge Star Wars fan, and so are DH and myself, so our day at HS will be all about Star Wars. DS7 would love to do JTA, but he does not speak English. He is worried that the “training” will require that he understands English, and that we will not be there to translate for him (like we do on other attractions).
Do you think he will be all right, or does JTA require a knowledge of English to be enjoyable? I should add that he is an extremely verbal kid in his mother tongue (Norwegian), and he would really hate it and feel stupid if he were to misunderstand something on a stage like that, in front of all those people. That could potentially ruin his HS day. That is why I ask this here. If they explain visually what he is supposed to do, though, he will be all right.
My guess is he’ll be fine. Just make sure he doesn’t go first - maybe tell a CM as you line up to ensure he’ll have a chance to observe. I know one session my son did, he didn’t really pay attention to the instructions, but watched a kid who went before him and did fine.
Basically there’s a set sequence the kids need to hit to fight the bad guy. Parry Low - Parry High - Jump type stuff - same sequence for each fight. So if he can just follow that he will be fine.
If you still have worries, I’d suggest signing up for a somewhat later show that gives you the chance to watch a show with him before his session and you can point out the sequence to him. You should also be able to hear the Jedi instructor’s commands in English if close and translate them to him in Norwegian so he could recognize the commands during his session.
Thank you so much, this is very good to hear! I guess it is time to tweak my TP again - I must definately make sure DS7 gets to do JTA. I am confident now that he will love it!
I have a video of my kids doing it from July. I can email you the file if you think it would help to watch it in advance and tell him what they are saying. I agree that he ought to be able to follow along without understanding the words being spoken, but he might not understand the “plot” of the little show (wouldn’t result in anything embarrassing, just less fun).
I agree with @Damavs suggestion about giving the CM a head’s up on the language barrier.
For sure there are kids who only speak Spanish or Portuguese or Japanese who have participated. Being located in Florida (and one of the world’s biggest tourist destinations) I would think that this is not an uncommon situation for the CMs.
I’m sure he’ll have a fun time!
