Language Line Services’ "Cross-Cultural" Update

Cultural News, Tips and Info for May 27 to June 9, 2008

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

Improved Language Access in Airports Becomes a Necessity as Spectrum of International Residents, Visitors Widens:


Airports’ interpretation needs used to be adequately served by visitor centers and some on-site interpreters assigned to specific flights, but they are now seeing a much wider spectrum of international visitors than before.

Distraught and unable to speak to Vancouver International Airport staff in English, Robert Dziekanski’s erratic actions were left to speak for him, with an ultimate and devastating effect when he was tasered by airport staff.

The Vancouver Airport Authority quickly introduced new tools to improve communication with limited English speakers, including mobile access to translation services for airport patrons and guests, as well as new double handset telephones that connect to 24-hour customer care in more than 170 languages.

Seattle Tacoma International Airport was the first to use this dual handset phones to broaden language capabilities, and has found it has enabled them to improve customer service, expedite passenger processing and even enhance security and enforcement.

For more information about how airports are bridging a growing linguistic divide, please contact Tracy Belcher at (305) 445-7043.

Domestic Violence Victims Have More Help on Their Side:


More than 2 million women are the victim of domestic violence, with close to 1,200 dying during or as a result of the crime.  Besides the emotional and physical trauma of being the victim of domestic violence, limited-English speaking victims face an even greater challenge – the inability to communicate with the police about what has just transpired.

In an effort to ensure more victims come forward and report crimes no matter what language they speak, the San Francisco police department has provided their officers with cell phones equipped to connect them with a Language Line Services interpreter in seconds.

The program was originally piloted in New York City, and during that time officers utilized the phones for thousands of calls in dozens of languages.

If you would like to speak to a Language Line Services representative about the domestic violence phones program, please contact Julie Jimenez at (305) 461-5794.

One Size Does NOT Fit All:


The Joint Commission recently released a report entitled, “One Size Does Not Fit All: Meeting the Health Care Needs of Diverse Populations,” which urges health care organizations to assess their capacity to meet patients’ unique cultural and language needs.

The report is based on successful practices now being used in hospitals, and underscores the need to move away from a “one size fits all” approach that negatively affects the quality and safety of care for diverse patients.

Language Line Services has a long-standing history of assisting hospitals and other health care providers in adapting to the needs of changing patient populations, from policies and procedures development and demographic assessment to staff training and the provision of language services.

For more information, please contact Shawn Yanan at (305) 962-1768.
Would You Have Guessed?  Languages Spoken in Florida, Georgia and Hawaii


The information below is provided by LanguageTrak™, a service offered by Monterey, CA-based Language Line Services, the leading provider of language-based services.

This data reflects the languages that interpretation services were requested for in April 2008 by emergency services, government agencies, health care facilities and businesses.

Quick Facts:

  • Florida had more requests for Haitian Creole and Krio (or Creole) than any other state.
  • Florida was the only state with a request for Kanjobal, a Mayan language spoken in Guatamala, and Kashmiri, spoken in India.
  • Georgia is the only one of the three states with a request for Ga, the official language of Ghana in West Africa.
  • Requests for Spanish interpreters in Hawaii has risen 134% since April 2007.
  • Hawaii is one of only three states with Tagalog in its April top 10 list. The others are Alaska and Nevada.

Top Ten Foreign Languages Spoken In… Florida, Georgia and Hawaii

Florida


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

Georgia


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

Hawaii


   1. Spanish
   2. Korean
   3. Japanese
   4. Marshallese
   5. Mandarin
   6. French
   7. Cantonese
   8. Farsi
   9. Tagalog
  10. Vietnamese



Language Spotlight… States that had the most Chinese-Language Interpreter Requests?

Mandarin requests

   1. New York
   2. California
   3. Pennsylvania
   4. Virginia
   5. Texas
   6. Minnesota
   7. Florida
   8. Connecticut
   9. Illinois
  10. Missouri

Cantonese requests

   1. New York
   2. California
   3. Kentucky
   4. Pennsylvania
   5. Minnesota
   6. Connecticut
   7. Florida
   8. Washington
   9. Illinois
  10. Arizona

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