May has been Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, a celebration of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States.

A rather broad term, Asian-Pacific encompasses all of the Asian continent and the Pacific islands of Melanesia (New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji and the Solomon Islands), Micronesia (Marianas, Guam, Wake Island, Palau, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru and the Federated States of Micronesia) and Polynesia (New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Rotuma, Midway Islands, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, French Polynesia and Easter Island).

Like most commemorative months, Asian-Pacific Heritage Month originated in a congressional bill. In June 1977, Reps. Frank Horton of New York and Norman Y. Mineta of California introduced a House resolution that called upon the president to proclaim the first ten days of May as Asian-Pacific Heritage Week.

Twelve years later, President George H.W. Bush signed an extension making the week-long celebration into a month-long celebration. In 1992, the official designation of May as Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month was signed into law.

The month of May was chosen to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. The majority of the workers who laid the tracks were Chinese immigrants.

Read the rest of this article from AsianPacificHeritage.gov here >>

If you are looking to break ground in fresh new markets, you've probably by now realized the importance of multilingual marketing. But while you're expanding your business abroad, are you forgetting the domestic foreign-language market?

The 2009 U.S. Census found that a fifth of the U.S. population speak a language other than English at home, with the majority of those (34.5 million) being Spanish speakers.

Does your domestic marketing strategy reflect the cultural diversity inland? Are you really catering for the needs of the U.S. consumers whose first language is not English?

The Growing Hispanic Community

Promoting your business only in English may seem like the right approach. But, in fact, it fails to reflect the U.S. non-English cultural landscape, which is overwhelmingly dominated by the Latin-American community - a powerful and fast-growing yet largely untapped online consumer market.

Let's look at the facts:

• The population growth of Hispanics is the strongest in U.S. demographics;
• In 2008, the spending power of the Hispanic population in the U.S. outweighed the GDP of Mexico and Canada, standing at $870 billion, according to the U.S. Census;
• The purchasing power of the Hispanic community is expected to hit $1.3 trillion in 2014, according to University of Georgia's Selig Center for Economic Growth - available here as a PDF;
• By 2009, the total online Hispanic population had grown to 11 percent of the total U.S. online market, according to comScore, the Internet tracking firm.

These figures are self-evident. The natural step to striking a chord with Spanish speakers and boosting your e-sales at home would be to create a Spanish version of your website.

Read the rest of this PracticalEcommerce.com article here >>

To learn more about Web Translation/Localization, consider our subsidiary's quality services at www.LingoSystems.com here >>

A move to deflect criticism following the death of Robert Dziekanski at YVR has turned out to be a home run for the airport.

VP of Operations and Engineering, Son Ehrenholz, says the Language Line system providing translation services for travelers is now being used hundreds of times a week.

He says it's had rave reviews from passengers with four languages standing out as most-requested, "Korean, Spanish, Mandarin and, I think, Japanese, are the four highest-use languages. "But, we have all kinds of interesting people with very different languages. Urdu comes to mind as one that we do get used from time to time."

About 50 translation (Language Line) phones are scattered throughout the airport and are facilitated via YVR staff and a few kiosks and flight counters.

To learn more about Vancouver International Airport, click here and here.

To learn more about The Language Line Phone, visit this page on Language Line Services' website.

Courtesy of CKNW News, P. Daflos

Immigration is an indispensable piece of any strategy to boost economic growth and prosperity.

Alongside investments in education and workforce-training systems, research and development, public infrastructure, and thoughtful regulatory policies that reduce barriers to employment, immigration policy can contribute directly to innovation, technological progress, and rising human-capital levels.

While the United States has a natural advantage in attracting the world's most talented workers, employment-based immigration makes up too small a proportion of overall permanent immigration in the United States' even though it admits the country's most highly skilled foreign workers and serves as the most direct channel through which policymakers can shape the economic impact of immigration.

In this latest Migration Policy Institute (MPI) report, 'The Role of Immigration in Fostering Competitiveness in the United States", MPI President Demetrios Papademetriou and Policy Analyst Madeleine Sumption discuss the flaws of the current system, including poorly thought-out numerical limits that do not shift with economic demand, complicated administrative procedures, and temporary visa policies that do little to rank applications on the basis of skill.

Download and read the complete report here >>

Download the European competitiveness reporter here >>

Subject matter expert speakers available to your organization on a variety of topics related to language access, standards, best practices, and more.

Language Line Services, through its "Language Center for Excellence", now offers subject matter expert (SME) speakers on:

• Language access, standards, best practices,
• Ensuring compliance with the Joint Commission new and revised standards, Federal and State regulations/statutes, Title VI, CLAS standards, and more,
• Performance measurement and quality improvement, and
• Developing and implementing a language access program

Speakers from Language Line Services include:

• Louis F. Provenzano, Jr., President & CEO, speaking on topics including: Interpreting the Difference, Implementing a Language Access Program, Reimbursement, Lobbying and Advocacy.


• Jeanette Anders, Manager of Healthcare Strategic Initiatives. Topics will include: Stakeholder Relations, Compliance


• Oscar Arocha, Senior Executive, Global Strategic Initiatives. Topics: Patient-Centered Care Technology and Language Program Operations


• Martin Conroy, Senior Manager for Public Sector Programs. Topics: Government Affairs, State Regulations, Compliance


• Danyune Geertsen, Director of Interpreter Training and Quality. Topics: Interpreter Competency Testing, Training, Certification


• Douglas Green, Senior Sales Executive. Topics: Utilization/Cost Efficiency Models


• Lourdes (Lulu) Sanchez, Senior Manager, Customer Experience. Topics: Language Access Implementation, Cultural & Linguistic Training & Awareness

Tap into Language Line Services' consultative experts who can provide advice on many of the issues facing healthcare providers today.

Consider our team of SMEs as a complementary expansion of your own resources:

• Improve efficiency and productivity through the advice and use of subject matter experts
• Participate in pilots
• Significant value add
• Reduce consultant costs
• Resource for your own language access customer task force
• Educational sessions, grand rounds, forums etc.
• Speakers at national and international conferences
• Onsite seminars or online webinars

To learn more, or to request a speaker, visit this page.

When completing the form, please use the "Comments" box to let us know the dates and location of your event, proposed topic area, and any other information that will help us provide the best speaker for your group. Thank you!

Need a Job? What Languages Do You Speak?

By Louis Provenzano, President & CEO, Language Line Services

As the number of people who speak one of 200-plus languages other than English at home increases in this country, so do the job opportunities for interpreters and translators. The worldwide market for language access services was estimated at $26.3 billion in 2010, according to a recent article in the Philadelphia Enquirer. Projections for 2013 are as high as $38.1 billion.

The burgeoning Hispanic population is certainly part of the story. A report out in March from the Pew Hispanic Center shows the number of Hispanics counted in the 2010 Census was much larger than expected in most states (out of 33 tallied).

Hispanics accounted for the majority (58 percent) of population growth over the decade in those states. The combined census total of 38.7 million Hispanics in those states was higher by 590,000 people (or 1.5 percent) than the bureau's own estimates.

Opportunities for interpreters and translators include:

• Over-the-phone interpretation - Interpret for clients in the medical industry, court system and numerous other industries over the phone.


• Document Translation - Translate written English forms, signage, agreements, applications and any other document into the language the businesses customers will understand.


• On-site Interpretation - This can be key in medical situations when a face-to-face interpreter is needed because the information is too sensitive or likely to be misunderstood.


• Video Interpreter Service - Communicate with the deaf using the latest video technology. Hospitals are starting to use video for Hispanic patients as well.

Read the rest of this AOL Jobs article by Language Line Services' Louis Provenzano here >>

Language Line Services, the leader in language interpretation, is seeking to increase its interpreter team in many languages, as well as offering a wide variety of corporate openings.

Over-the-phone, Certified Medical Spanish Interpreters (CMI) to work from home in the U.S. Must have passed the National Medical Interpreter Certification Exam or be CMI certified through Language Line Services.

We are very actively seeking two experienced on-site interpreters in Contra Costa County, California. One in Punjabi, the other in Farsi. Formal training/certification preferred.

As for work-at-home, over-the-phone interpreters, we have openings, especially in Spanish, and in a number of other languages including:

• Cakchiquel
• Chaldean
• Hassaniyya
• Hausa
• Karen
• Karenni
• Mixteco
• Nepali
• Trique
• and several others (see our Web site)

And, finally, top Corporate opportunities include:

• Account Manager - Healthcare East Coast
• Customer Service Representative II, Monterey, CA
• Payroll Specialist-Monterey, CA
• Sales Associate- Monterey, CA
• Sales Executive- East Coast
• Sales Executive- Northeast

For non-interpreter positions, please apply at: www.languageline.com/careers. Click on "Apply Today" under "Corporate Careers" and follow the directions to add your profile.

EEO/AA Employer.

* Some positions may have been filled by the time you apply. However, new positions open up every week.

Visit our Career Center here >>

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