Language Line Services’ "Cross-Cultural" Update for Tues, July 8 through Monday, July 21, 2008

Useful Cultural News, Tips and Timely Information

For a list of May 2008's top language requests for all states, visit http://languageline.com/page/topten

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Language barrier’s role in the housing crisis:

In a survey by the California Reinvestment Coalition (CRC), California mortgage counseling agencies reported that more could have been done to keep families in their homes, citing abuse of immigrants as substantial concerns. Nearly 60% of responding groups reported that non-English speakers were sold loans in their native language, but provided English-only documents.

This is a recipe for abuse, and flies in the face of California state law requiring translation of certain documents in certain transactions.

A Language Line Services representative is available to speak about innovations being made to break language barriers in housing and other business transactions. For more information, contact Tracy Belcher at Tracy.belcher@rbbpr.com or 305-445-7043.

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When Language is a Barrier to Due Process:

On August 5, Jose Lopez Meza of Nampa, Idaho will be sentenced in the case of his infant son’s death.  Originally facing the death penalty, Meza may now only serve three to 15 years on a manslaughter charge because court-certified interpreters found that parts of Meza’s interview with his local police department had been misinterpreted. 

With the increasing number of limited-English speakers in the United States, law enforcement agencies are struggling to employ the proper staff to meet the language needs of victims and criminals, who are all entitled to a fair trial.  An alternative to hiring bilingual staff, which is nearly impossible depending on the number of languages spoken in any given community, is to hire an over-the-phone interpretation service to help translate calls quickly and effectively.  

A representative from Language Line Services, the leading provider of over-the-phone interpretation to 9-1-1, fire, police, and other first responders throughout the U.S., is available to speak to you about the importance of providing language assistance.  For more information contact Julie Jimenez at 305-461-5794 or julie.jimenez@rbbpr.com

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Disaster Response in Any Language - Big Sur Fires and Importance of Interpretation:

Nearly 1,000 Monterey County, CA residents were forced to flee over the weekend due to blazing wildfires, and more residents may be under an evacuation order soon.

Many of the current, or soon to be evacuees, speak little or no English. As a result the Red Cross has called upon Language Line Services to provide 24-hour interpretation services to help Red Cross staff and volunteers answer questions for the non-English speaking residents that come to area shelters for assistance. 

A Language Line Services representative is available to discuss this multilingual disaster relief effort in Big Sur and why it is important for municipalities throughout the country to have similar protocols in place as part of their natural disaster preparedness plans. Contact Jeanine Karp at 305-448-3754 or Jeanine.karp@rbbpr.com to arrange interviews.

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The following information is provided by LanguageTrak™.

 

LanguageTrak delivers timely alerts on emerging language trends in your market areas... before your competitors learn of them.

The following data reflects the languages most requested by emergency services, government agencies, health care facilities and businesses in May 2008.

For a list of this month’s top language requests for all states visit http://languageline.com/page/topten.

Quick Facts

• Haitian-Creole went from being unrequested last year, to being in the top 10 list and becoming the 8th most requested language in Louisiana.

• Massachusetts is the state with the most requests for Portuguese in the entire nation.

• Massachusetts has the 3rd most requests for Haitian-Creole behind Florida and New York.

• Maryland is the only state to receive a request for Kikuyu.

• Kikuyu is a Bantu language, spoken in Kenya.

• Maryland is one of only three states to receive a request for Norwegian. The others are Montana and Connecticut.

Top Ten Foreign Languages Spoken in Louisiana, Massachusetts and Maryland

Louisiana         

1. Spanish
2. Vietnamese
3. Portuguese
4. Mandarin
5. Russian
6. Arabic
7. Cantonese
8. Haitian-Creole
9. Romanian
10. French

Massachusetts         

1. Spanish
2. Portuguese
3. Haitian-Creole
4. Vietnamese
5. Mandarin
6. Russian
7. Arabic
8. Cantonese
9. Albanian
10. Hindi

Maryland

1. Spanish
2. Mandarin
3. Vietnamese
4. Korean
5. French
6. Russian
7. Portuguese
8. Amharic
9. Arabic
10. Haitian-Creole

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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 multi-cultural marketing and regulatory compliance objectives, please call 1-800-752-6096.