The (N.Y.) Queens Courier Online
Editorials And Letters

A Great Call!

Thursday, July 20, 2006 2:06 PM CDT

In our city, where 138 languages are spoken, being understood by our neighbors and trying to understand them is seemingly a task for Sisyphus.

The good news is that at least two city agencies, the New York Police Department (NYPD) and the Department of Education (DOE) have found a way to better serve our incredibly diverse population. They both subscribe to a translation service that handles no fewer than 150 languages.

As we revealed in last week's Queens Courier cover story, Language Line Services is available in the complaint rooms of all of the city's police stationhouses. It is even available to supervisory NYPD personnel in the field. The best news is that it works and works well.

The DOE found in a survey of city public school parents that in 43 percent of student homes, the primary language spoken is not English. The most widely spoken languages they found, in descending order, are Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Bengali, Haitian Creole, Korean, Urdu and Arabic. Schools Chancellor Joel Klein said the DOE would translate documents into those languages, which with English, would cover 95 percent of the city's school parent population.

The DOE's Translation and Interpretation Unit, headed by Director Kleber Palma, said they signed on with Language Line Services in September 2005. In addition to document translation services, which Palma says can take anywhere from a day or two to as long as a week to complete, Language Line has successfully handled 1,100 phone calls from approximately 100 schools out of the 1,400 which comprise the public school system. We say bravo to the DOE and NYPD for their use of this language service. To the other governmental agencies, bureaus and departments who have the need to understand and communicate with our polyglot population, we say look at Language Line Services.

Original Article