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People That Speak English Less Than Very Well in the U.S.
The U.S. Census Bureau has provided an interactive map with information by the county and census tract.
ATA Publishes Position Paper on Machine Translation
The American Translators
Association (ATA) is the leading (and largest) national professional association for translators and interpreters. ATA has come out with a position paper on a delicate subject in the translation
field: machine translation.
The State of Languages in the U.S.
This report recently published by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, explores the language skills of Americans and how they acquired or learned those languages, the state of bilingualism in the U.S., language education in this country, and much more.
Report on Limited English Proficient Borrowers
Languages in Idaho
A recent U.S. Census Bureau data release explores in detail the variety of languages spoken within homes in the United States. It reveals that 20 percent of the population 5 years of age and older are using one of at least 380 different languages other than English as their primary means of communication in the household. This data, reported as an average from 2009-2013, reveals a tapestry of at least 95 languages actively spoken in Idaho. A substantial portion of the population for both the nation and Idaho speak English at any age “less than very well,” according to the Census Bureau data.
Out of Idaho’s population of 1,465,600 older than 5 years of age, 153,000 residents speak a language other than English in their households; 114,600 Spanish speakers make up the bulk of this group, representing 74.9 percent of people speaking a language other than English and 10.4 of Idaho’s total population of speakers.
InterpreTIPS #20--Indigenous language interpretation
In Mexico alone, there are 64 languages with 364 variants. As an interpreter, how do you handle this?
Video definitively introduces and explains medical interpreting
This 15-minute film comes from UCLA Health. It's a great introduction to how medical interpreting works in hospitals, with several story-vignettes. It also tells the story of the infamous $71 million lawsuit for one misinterpreted Spanish word intoxicado and the death of Willie Ramirez.
Five of the ten worst things a speaker can do to an interpreter
1. When the speaker constantly switches between languages.
2. When the speaker insists on talking in a language he really does not speak.
3. When the speaker speaks away from the microphone.
4. When the speaker taps on the microphone or says “hello” directly into the mike.
5. When the speaker slows down to a crawl.
Click to watch video
Video--Understanding and Abiding by Title VI
Title VI was enacted as part of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964. It prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance.
President John F. Kennedy said in 1963: "Simple justice requires that public funds, to which all taxpayers of all races [colors, and national origins] contribute, not be spent in any fashion which encourages, entrenches, subsidizes or results in racial [color or national origin] discrimination."
This 23 minute video gives a short, yet good overview of Title VI.
This issue of "Opening Hearts", Intermountain Fair Housing Council's newsletter, focuses on National Origin and Limited English Proficiency.
IFHC Newsletter_December 2013_National O[...]
Adobe Acrobat document [785.4 KB]
Domestic violence information in Asian languages
The API Institute has compiled a list of translated materials produced by domestic violence programs around the country. There are over 500 items that include brochures, forms, manuals, legal glossaries, and more in 32 Asian and Pacific Islander languages.
The 10 largest Hispanic origin groups
Nearly two-thirds (65%), or 33 million, self-identify as being of Mexican origin, according to tabulations of the 2010 American Community Survey (ACS) by the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center.
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