Language Line Services' - Cross-Cultural Update for June 2010

Useful Cultural News, Tips and Timely Information 

Professional Interpreting, A Promising Career:

According to a survey of 1,135 interpreters throughout North America, professional interpreters are a highly educated and well-paid group.

More than three quarters (78.9%) of respondents reported having a bachelor’s degree and nearly half (44.7%) had a master’s or doctoral degree. They were found to earn between US$43.14 and US$65.96 per hour on average, depending on their location and specialization.

However, according to Katharine Allen, co-founder of InterpretAmerica, which commissioned the study, “Interpreting is a vastly under marketed, under publicized profession, especially within younger generations.”

Nataly Kelly, the lead author of the study conducted by Common Sense Advisory, also states that the interpreting market is growing at a fast pace. Leading interpretation provider Language Line Services, which continues to look for new interpreters to work in its U.S. call centers or in one of its at-home interpreter positions, agrees.

As America’s population of limited-English speakers grows, so too does the demand for its over-the-phone/video interpretation, document translation and face-to-face interpretation services.

A Language Line Services representative is available to comment on the study’s findings following their release at the 1st North American Summit on Interpreting, which takes place in Washington, DC, on June 17, 2010. For more information, contact Shawn Yanan at 305-962-1768 or shawn.yanan@rbbpr.com.

 

Failure to Provide Sign Language Interpreters Leads to High Risk of Lawsuits:

The Connecticut Police Department and a Jacksonville Hospital have recently faced law suits for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to provide qualified sign-language interpreters.

In the New Haven, Connecticut case, a deaf couple claims that Derby police did not provide them with a sign language interpreter during a car accident investigation last year (read more here). 

Similarly, seven hearing-impaired emergency-room patients claim that Baptist Health Systems in Jacksonville, Fla. failed to provide an interpreter to facilitate communication with their medical staff (read more here).

Language Line Services provides video and face-to-face interpretation services in American and Mexican Sign Language for hundreds of government institutions and hospitals across the country. It is also a co-founder of the National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters, which serves as a certifying entity to evaluate and assure the competency of medical interpreters in hospitals.

If this is a story topic you’d like pursue, representatives from Language Line Services are available to discuss how they help these institutions across the country better communicate with the hearing-impaired using their cost effective over-the-video and face-to-face interpretation services. For more information or to arrange interviews, contact Adriana Infante at 305-461-5794 or Adriana.infante@rbbpr.com.
 

ABOUT LANGUAGE LINE SERVICES

Language Line Services, the world’s leading provider of language-based services, is a trusted partner to thousands of organizations whose focus is to effectively serve the rapidly expanding market of limited English speakers.

The company delivers a dynamic suite of solutions spanning translation, transcription, phone and video interpretation, interpreter certification, localization and localized software and devices, enabling clients to communicate with customers in their preferred language.

Through its leading-edge technology infrastructure, Language Line Services provides support for more than 170 languages to its industry-leading portfolio of clients across markets including health care, financial services, government, telecom, manufacturing, insurance, entertainment, travel, and more.

For information on how Language Line Services is helping clients achieve their strategic multicultural marketing and regulatory compliance objectives, please call 1-800-752-6096