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A group of photos showing people in language classes are overlaid on top of a green background. There is a logo in the right hand corner that says "Ten Years World Speaks"
Featured Post

World Speaks, August 2026: Community Language Classes: Culture in the Classroom

Hey Reader, The temperatures may not be falling just yet, but summer is over as area kids have gone back to school – and you can too! Enrollment for our Fall community language classes is open now. This fall, you can try your hand at Spanish with our Spanish 101A class, or enhance your skills in Spanish 101B or ASL 101B. If you know someone who needs to work on their English, we’ve got a class for that too! For the first time, we’re combining our ESL levels into one class – so new English...

2 days ago • 5 min read
A collage of photos from the Interpreters Course

Hey Reader, June 30 marked the start of our newest cohort in the Foundations of Community Interpreting course! We’ve got students who speak 5 different languages - English, Spanish, Karen, Hindi, and Mandarin. Over the last few weeks, participants built a strong foundation in community interpreting. Here’s a quick look at what they learned: Core concepts of community interpreting The differences between interpreting and translation The history – and evolution - of community interpreting The...

30 days ago • 5 min read
A collage of photos from Language Access Week.

Hey Reader, It’s Leah, World Speaks’ Executive Director, doing a newsletter takeover to talk to you directly after Language Access Week! want to take a moment and tell you about what an amazing week it was. I was truly blown away by the support. This is our third Language Access Week, and it felt like it made a real impact. We held two events – Let’s Talk About Cancer with UNMC and the Moroccan Empanada Making Event with the House of Bah Foundation. For the third year in a row, our food event...

about 2 months ago • 5 min read
Promotional graphic for Language Access Week, June 8–12, 2026. The teal background features three circular photos of diverse people engaged in food-related community activities — sharing a meal, cooking together, and collaborating at a table. The Language

Hi Reader, Spring is in the air, school is out – and that means the World Speaks team is getting ready for the third annual Language Access Week! This year, we’ll be focusing on how language access helps us become better neighbors – in our community, our businesses, our schools, our doctors’ offices, and more. Fostering language access means that everyone can better understand – and be understood – by the world around us. If you believe that language access helps us become a better neighbor,...

3 months ago • 5 min read
A collage featuring volunteers from World Speaks

Volunteers Make Our World Go ‘Round Hi Reader, For the last ten years, World Speaks has connected our neighbors across the Omaha area, one language at a time. Helping us along the way? Our incredible volunteers! April is Volunteer Month, and we want to share how volunteers help bring language access to our community through World Speaks! First, there are our incredible native speaker mentors. These individuals come to our language classes and interact with our students. They share their...

4 months ago • 4 min read
A collage of interpreters working.

Hi Reader, If you follow World Speaks – or any of our team members – on social media, you’ve probably seen posts like this: “World Speaks is looking for Vietnamese translators and interpreters! If you know someone, send them our way!”“World Speaks is looking for Korean translators and interpreters! Please share with your network.” “We’re looking for more ASL interpreters! Please pass this message along if you know someone!” Here’s what these posts don’t tell you: the need for interpreters and...

5 months ago • 4 min read
Alt Text: A celebratory graphic for World Speaks featuring three cloud-shaped photo frames on a teal background. The left photo shows two staff members standing at an outreach table with materials and candy. The center photo shows four people smiling toge

Hi Reader, Ten years ago, we set out with a simple belief: everyone deserves to be heard. Thanks to supporters like you, that belief has grown into a movement across Omaha and beyond. In our last decade, together we’ve: Expanded Community Language Classes in Spanish, ASL, ESL, Arabic, and Korean, helping thousands of neighbors build skills, confidence, and connection.Delivered Translation & Interpretation services across the Omaha metro, state of Nebraska, as far as the East Coast, so...

6 months ago • 3 min read

Hi Reader, First, we’d like to thank everyone who supported us during the giving season. Thank you so much for believing in our work and the dream of greater language access to our community. In 2025, we learned that we need language access more than ever. Here’s what we’re looking forward to as we move into 2026 (our 10th anniversary year): Our next Foundations of Community Interpreting Course, where multi-lingual members of our community can begin their journey to bridge language gaps by...

7 months ago • 3 min read
Three speech bubbles with a designs sit above the phrase "Each Language in Our Community is a Gift"

Hi Reader, Each language in our community is a gift. At World Speaks, learning about the gifts of other cultures and traditions is at the heart of what we do. To keep that spirit going, we asked our team members to share their favorite holiday traditions. Read on to find out what they are – and if you have a favorite tradition, share it with us on Instagram and Facebook! “For the last two years, we've been doing a big family matching PJ party with my mom's side of the family. This includes...

8 months ago • 4 min read
A collage of the World Speaks interpreter training.

Hi Reader, There is a shortage of interpreters in our area – and many multilingual individuals are already doing casual interpretation for family members and friends – and World Speaks aims to bridge that gap. That’s why last week, we held our first Foundations of Community Interpreting Course. 4 individuals gathered at our Omaha offices to start their journey to bridge language gaps by learning interpretation skills. It was a packed four days with 25 hours of total instruction! This...

9 months ago • 3 min read