More than 1,000 medical interpreters participated in the national job analysis survey conducted by Language Line® University, the globally recognized interpreter testing, training and certification division of Language Line Services, with the support of the International Medical Interpreters Association (IMIA) and PSI Services, LLC.

Survey responses will directly impact the form and content of the national certification program Language Line University and IMIA are jointly launching this year.

"The medical interpreter community really stepped up to the plate through its enthusiastic participation in this survey," explains Louis Provenzano, President and COO of Language Line Services.

"The overwhelming response reaffirms the desire among medical interpreters across the nation, performing all modalities of medical interpreting, for a national certification that recognizes the professional achievements necessary to provide quality language assistance in health care settings."

Read the latest news on the progress of National Medical Interpreter Certification here >>

Editor's Note:

If, like many of our readers, you have job responsibilities that include marketing to audiences of different cultures and in non-English languages, this book review from InfoZine.com is for you.

In fact, for any of us seeking a more effective way to communicate with our clients, patients and fellow residents, this book is worth considering.

Hoboken, NJ - infoZine - With the marketplace having gone fully global, salespeople must venture beyond traditional marketing and selling strategies in order to maximize their exposure and sales potential.

For those looking for expert advice on how to communicate with people from diverse backgrounds, the recently published Cross-Cultural Selling For Dummies® (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; 978-0-470-37701-7; $21.99) offers a range of useful strategies and tips-from tailoring marketing materials for more global appeal and incorporating multiculturalism into the workplace, to bringing in new products that appeal to a target market.

Authors and sales experts Michael Soon Lee and Ralph R. Roberts state in the introduction,

"Cross-cultural selling is nothing more than adjusting your sales practices, presentation, and products to meet the unique needs of multicultural customers.

"Although it may sound simple, you must be constantly aware of how culture affects your interactions so you can continuously adapt to your buyers."

Cross-Cultural Selling For Dummies helps readers reach out to multicultural customers by mastering specific business practices-from the different ways to hand out a business card, to the correct distance to stand from a client, to the use of specific idioms.

In addition, readers will learn how to:

• Identify generational differences and customer motivation
• Overcome language barriers
• Adapt your sales presentations and techniques
• Negotiate effectively
• Maintain a diverse sales team
• Generate referrals
• Avoid cultural conflicts

For the rest of this story, please click here >>

February 2009 News Items:

Language Line Services Reveals Latest Trends in Emerging Languages. Leader in telephone interpretation adds record numbers of language interpreters to serve new populations;

"The Case for Bilingual Self-Administered Health Questionnaires" by James E. Huizenga, M.D. Language Line Services' - Cross-Cultural Update for February 17 to March 2. Useful Cultural News, Tips and Timely Information.

United Way of Monterey County Launches 2-1-1 Information and Referral Line. Sponsored by Language Line Services

Greater Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation® Partners with Language Line Services to Grant Wishes in 170 Languages

Language Line Services' - Cross-Cultural Update for February 3 to February 16. Useful Cultural News, Tips and Timely Information.

See all the news here in Language Line Services' "News Room"

The world has lost Manx in the Isle of Man, Ubykh in Turkey and last year Alaska's last native speaker of Eyak, Marie Smith Jones, died, taking the aboriginal language with her.

Of the 6,900 languages spoken in the world, some 2,500 are endangered, the UN's cultural agency UNESCO said Thursday, February 19th, as it released its latest atlas of world languages.

That represents a multi-fold increase from the last atlas compiled in 2001 which listed 900 languages threatened with extinction.

But experts say this is more the result of better research tools than of an increasingly dire situation for the world's many tongues.

Still there is disheartening news.

There are 199 languages in the world spoken by fewer than a dozen people, including Karaim which has six speakers in Ukraine and Wichita, spoken by 10 people in the US state of Oklahoma.

The last four speakers of Lengilu talk among themselves in Indonesia.

Prospects are a bit brighter for some 178 other languages, spoken by between 10 and 150 people.

More than 200 languages have become extinct over the last three generations such as Ubykh that fell silent in 1992 when Tefvic Esenc passed on, Aasax in Tanzania, which disappeared in 1976, and Manx in 1974.

India tops the list of countries with the greatest number of endangered languages, 196 in all, followed by the United States which stands to lose 192 and Indonesia, where 147 are in peril.

For the rest of this story, click here >>

To download UNESCO's Map of the World's Languages in Danger, click here >>

To learn more about the world's languages, visit Ethnologue.com here >>

Language Line Services, the leader in over-the-phone interpretation, is seeking to increase its interpreter team in many languages.

If you have excellent proficiency in English, with strong listening and comprehension skills as well as good customer service skills, you can become an interpreter for Language Line Services.

If you would like to work from home and are proficient in English and a Second Language this job is for you!

We also have corporate positions available to start right away. We are currently seeking a Payroll Manager, an HR OnBoarding Manager, an HR Compliance Manager, an Accounting Manager, a Marketing Intern and a Telecommunications Administrator.

If you are bilingual, or know someone who is, or you are seeking a corporate career, visit www.languageline.com/careers

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