Cultural competence means understanding and interacting effectively with people from other cultures. Cultural competence is essential to building valuable and diverse relationships with others. People in the U.S. have diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. The Census Bureau estimates that in 2020, every 34 seconds, one immigrant will join to the U.S. population. Additionally, nearly 60 million people in the country speak a language other than English.
For businesses, it is also a chance to gain more clients and market share. Investing in language services is critical to showing potential customers who speak different languages that your organization understands cultural and linguistic diversity.
Here are two examples that show why investing in translation services is vital in different industries.
A Language Service Provider And Cultural Competence In Health Care
When doctors interact with their patients during prevention, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment, they always want communication to be smooth in order for patients to fully understand their situation.
The CDC recommends using the National Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) Standards to help healthcare organizations analyze how language services providers, including those who provide localization services, interact and communicate with limited-English proficient patients and devise a plan to handle these cultural and linguistic differences.
We’re going to focus on two of the 15 CLAS Standards, which emphases on Communication and Language Assistance.
- Offer language assistance to individuals who have limited English proficiency and/or other communication needs, at no cost to them, to facilitate timely access to all health care and services.
- Provide easy-to-understand print and multimedia materials and signage in the languages commonly used by the populations in the service area.
Professional interpreters and translators are knowledgeable and trained to act as cultural brokers to help provide quality and culturally competent care to patients.
A Language Service Provider And Cultural Competence in The Legal World
Cultural differences are not only reflected in people who speak different languages. Even in English-speaking countries, cultural differences still exist. These differences are most common in the legal world.
Just as Americans struggle to understand the distinction between barristers and solicitors in the U.K., there are often terminological obstacles to overcome when preparing translation documents into another language (or even to British English) for a foreign court.
The Difficulties of Legal Translation
Legal translation is a difficult business that requires a thorough understanding of cultural customs on both sides of the equation. Furthermore, legal documents need to be translated accurately. A small translation error in a contract may pose significant problems for your company. Legal translation providers have experts and professional translators who can translate every complex and technical aspect of the document.
A good provider of translation or interpreting services will also be sensitive to cultural differences such as religion, ethnicity, social, and economic contexts, ensuring that communication is both respectful and smooth. With the help of a professional translation service agency, your organization is sure to thrive in today’s global environment.
About Language Connections:
Language Connections is one of the top language service companies in the US. Over the last 30 years, we’ve focused on providing the best business translation services, interpreting services, as well as interpreter training and customized language training programs. In addition to top-tier corporate language training, we offer certified corporate interpreters and professional business translation services in 200+ languages. Our network includes linguists with backgrounds in all major industries. They’re ready to meet your needs, whether they’re for technical translation services, legal translation, government translation services, international development translation services, education translation services, life sciences translation, or something else. Reach out to us today for a free quote on our cost-efficient and timely translation services, interpreters, or other linguistic services.
Language Connections Inc.
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Boston, MA 02135
Phone: +1-617-731-3510
Email: service@languageconnections.com