A recent survey by the California Reinvestment Coalition (CRC), reports that more could be done to keep families in their homes, citing that language barriers are leading to foreclosures that might have been prevented if limited-English speaking homeowners were better informed of options.

Similar research from around the country shows the same conclusions.

To help financial institutions save mortgages, increase dept collection and assist their limited-English speaking customers with more favorable payment terms, Language Line Services has launched Language Line Direct Connect, a turn-key outbound and inbound mortgage counseling and debt collection service available in more 170 unique languages.

To learn more, see the Language Line Direct Connect information page here.

For those of us who speak a language other then Spanish, the translated title to this article is "Sometimes, the police and Latinos speak Spanish".

Originally published earlier this month in the Charlottesville, VA website "C-Ville.com", it tells some funny, and not so funny, stories about Albemarle County (VA) and their struggles to communicate due to a language barrier and their solutions to correcting the problems.

No matter what role you play in serving limited English speakers, you will find this useful.

BY CHIARA CANZI

A group of local police officers, guns pointed, raided a migrant home in search of a homicide suspect. After securing the house, they entered the bathroom. An officer threw back the shower curtain, found a man curled in hiding, and said, "Feliz Navidad!" It was the only Spanish that he knew.

Lt. Todd Hopwood, spokesman of the Albemarle County Police Department, used that story during a panel discussion last week to underscore the language barrier between local police and Latinos.

Creciendo Juntos, a group focused on the Latino community in Charlottesville, Albemarle and surrounding counties, organized the panel to explore and improve the relationship between the two groups.

"Those are funny little stories of how it used to be, and we probably have still some of those funny stories happening now," said Hopwood, who has worked with the department since 1991. These, he said, were the first encountered between law enforcement and the Latino population. Read the rest of the story here

Scrabble: 60 facts for its 60th birthday

December 16th marked the 60th anniversary of the most popular word game in history: Scrabble.

The Daily Telegraph has compiled a list of 60 pieces of trivia to mark the event.

Here are just a few. The rest can be found by clicking on the link at the bottom of this list:

• Over 150 million games have been sold in 121 countries around the world.
• Scrabble is currently produced in 29 different languages. The latest is the Welsh language Scrabble introduced in 2006.
• 53 per cent of all homes in Great Britain have a Scrabble set.
• Scrabble can be played by email and post.
• Each hour, at least 30,000 Scrabble games are started.

Read the rest of Scrabble trivia here.

December has been a busy month at Language Line Services.

• Despite slump, interpreters flourish in U.S. Babel. "Every 19 seconds an individual needing language assistance arrives somewhere in the U.S."
• New Online Resource Center Now "Live" - Emergency Resources, Surveys & Research, Multicultural Marketing, Demographic and Census Data, and more to come
• Language Line® University Partners with PSI Services LLC to Develop a National Medical Interpreter Certification Program
• "Language Access - A Matter of Equity & Fairness". Speech to International Medical Interpreters Association by Louis Provenzano, President & COO
• Language Line Services Launches Language Line® Direct Connect. New Offering Connects Financial Counselors with Limited-English Clients to Help Save Homes.
• Language Line® University Launches International Registry of Certified Medical Interpreters (IRCMI), a Free Online Clearing House of Medical Interpreter Qualifications. Visit IRCMI here.

For earlier news, visit our News Archives.

As a Language Line Services client, you have access to a variety of training tools that help you communicate with your limited English-speaking customers.

Some we've designed to train your staff on how to access and efficiently work with interpreters.

Others are designed to let your limited English speaking customers know they are valued and will be served by an interpreter.

The Language Line Phone is one of the latter group. And perhaps the most versatile (pictured above).

Among the benefits of The Language Line Phone:

• There is no special training needed
• You simply use the phone to access your interpreter as you always have
• A single button dials the toll free number and your client ID number
• Use of dual handsets make the exchange more confidential and hygienic

You'll find several more useful training and customer service tools here.

For more information, either contact your Language Line Services representative or...

Customer Service at 1-800-752-6096 option 2, or CustomerCare@languageline.com.

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A holiday quote from the poet John Greenleaf Whittier.

Where you see "Christmas", please insert the holiday of your choice.

Everyone here at Language Lines Services and "In Other Words" wishes you and your family a very happy holiday season and a healthy and prosperous new year.

Cheers!