Create a welcoming environment 1

There are several immediate steps organizations can take to begin creating more welcoming environments for all clients and employees. One of the simplest steps that can be taken is translating materials. In addition to this, organizations can place bilingual speaking staff members in forward-facing positions to welcome customers and respond to their needs in the customer's preferred language. It is important that these employees are compensated for their bilingual skills. Lastly, setting up an ondemand telephone interpreting service for clients to be able to access an interpreter can also provide a more welcoming experience for customers and relieve stress for employees. A suggested list of on-demand telephone interpreting services as well as suggested agencies to use for translation services have been provided below.

Translation & Interpretation Services:

Materials to consider for translation:

Websites

Signage

Intake forms & other paperwork

Flyers & Brochures

Social Media Posts

Bills & Notices

Although it is easy to get the terms interpreter and translator confused, and they are often used interchangeably, there is a difference between the two that becomes important when seeking out language services. The main difference is that translators work with reading and writing while interpreters work with listening and speaking. Interpreters work by listening to a conversation in one language (source language), and then speaking the same information aloud in the target language. These conversations can happen simultaneously or continuously. Translators read written text from a source language and then write it into the target language, ensuring the same messaging and information is replicated. It is vital to keep in mind that simply being bilingual does not qualify someone to interpret. Possessing a certification as a qualified interpreter is highly recommended to ensure correct messaging is being relayed to both parties and an ethical standard is being upheld while doing so. On page 13 of this toolkit you'll find a list of companies that offer interpretation certification courses, should you wish to provide the opportunity to your bilingual employees to become certified interpreters to help build more business opportunities.

On-Demand Telephone Interpretation Services:

LanguageLine Solutions: https://www languageline com/

DTS Language Services: https://www.dtstranslates.com/ phone-interpretation/

Boostlingo: https://boostlingo com/

Translation Services:

ALTA Language Services: https://www.altalang.com/transla tion-services/languages/

Certified Translation Dallas: https://www.certifiedtranslationd allas.com/

SpokenHere: https://spokenhere com/written-languageservices/

Local Interpretation and/or Translation Services:

Check out HLN's resource page for local resources: https://hln-waco.org