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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 learners can build the skills they need to communicate in their community.
Community language classes have been at the heart of World Speaks services since we opened in 2016. We believe that by offering our community opportunities to learn a new language, we open up doors – for the students, their families and the community.
Take this family, who, several years ago, attended our in-person ASL Community Course to learn ASL and communicate better with their child. When speaking to us afterward, the family shared that they were able to apply what they learned in class at home – and using ASL has “made a massive positive difference in our lives.”
That’s the kind of difference we want our language classes to make in our community.
To help us make a difference, we keep our classes accessible – there’s just a $20 fee for materials – to allow every student who wants to learn a chance. The Weitz Family Foundation powers the remaining class cost, and we are so grateful for their support.
Whether they are learning Spanish, Korean, Arabic, ASL, ESL, or any of the other languages we’ve offered in the last 10 years, our students are always joined in the classroom by our incredible teachers and our native speaker volunteers.
Our native speaker volunteers are native speakers who join the class to share their culture, their history, and the language that they speak. These amazing volunteers help students practice the language and understand cultural nuances as they speak together.
Connecting cultures in a classroom – because that’s what our community language classes are all about.
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Congratulations to Interpreters Course Graduates! |
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Help us congratulate the graduates of our Community Interpreters Course! In late July, 10 new community interpreters graduated from the latest cohort of the World Speaks Community Interpreters Course. 5 languages (English, Spanish, Karen, Hindi, and Mandarin) were represented, and we're excited to see what these incredible individuals do as they engage in their communities!
Congratulations, graduates!
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English Spots are Sold Out - Spanish Speakers Still Needed!
Los cupos en inglés están agotados - ¡Aún necesitamos hablantes de español!
Join us for a bilingual community event designed to bring people together through language, culture, and connection. This event will create a welcoming space for participants to practice English and Spanish, build confidence, interact with members of the community, and learn from one another. Whether you are a native English speaker wanting to practice your Spanish, or a native Spanish speaker wanting to practice your English, this event is for you. All proficiency levels are welcome!
Únase a nuestro evento comunitario bilingüe, diseñado para reunir a las personas a través del idioma, la cultura y la conexión. Este evento ofrecerá un espacio acogedor para que los participantes practiquen el inglés y el español, desarrollen confianza, interactúen con miembros de la comunidad y aprendan unos de otros. Ya sea que su idioma materno sea el inglés y desee practicar español, o que su idioma materno sea el español y desee practicar inglés, este evento es para usted. ¡Todos los niveles son bienvenidos!
Registration is still open for Spanish Speakers at this link.
La inscripción sigue abierta para hablantes nativos de español en este enlace.
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It’s time for another Language Access Learning Quiz.
Think about this question:
| It's ok to use family members as interpreters (even kids). |
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If you picked No – you’re right! While it can seem tempting to rely on family members as interpreters in legal, medical or even school settings, there are several things that make it a Big No. Here’s a quick look at what they are:
- Lack of Specific Knowledge: Family members may not have the knowledge needed to interpret accurately in specialized settings.
- High Error Rates: Studies have shown that untrained interpreters can make significant errors.
- Role Confusion: A family member (especially a child) may have a hard time advocating on behalf of their loved one – especially when the interpreter role requires them to remain neutral.
- Loss of Privacy: In many medical or legal settings, family members may avoid sensitive topics so as not to let the accompanying person know about what’s really going on.
Federal statutes also prohibit using family members as interpreters (except in emergencies). And not planning for adequate interpretation on your end? Is not an emergency on the family’s end.
If you need to tighten up your interpretation policy – contact us at info@worldspeaksomaha.org.
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Weitz Family Foundation Grantee Gathering |
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As we mentioned above – the Weitz Family Foundation is one of our longtime supporters, powering our community language classes so that everyone can attend.
Every year, we look forward to their annual grantee gathering! At the Weitz Family Grantee Gathering, we get to learn about their programs, hear from – and meet - other organizations in the community.
It’s a lovely event, and we’re so thankful to the Weitz Family Foundation for supporting us and holding this event every year.
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Language Access in Action |
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As we celebrate our 10-year anniversary, the team has been reflecting on our favorite “Language Access in Action” projects that we’ve worked on! We’ll be highlighting them throughout the rest of the year!
Our first Access in Action Highlight is one of our Executive Director, Leah Whitney Chavez’s favorites: our video training on using interpreters for our friends at the Health Center Association of Nebraska (HCAN)!
HCAN wanted to make sure that their providers not only knew how to work with interpreters in a clinical setting, but that the exchange was a positive one for all involved – the patient, medical staff and interpreter. To help them, we created a video to train their providers on how to best work with interpreters in a clinical setting. We developed a script that was easy to understand, informative and built trust and confidence within the clinician to patient relationship.
The result? A training tool that can be used to train their community health center workforce for years to come! |
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Want to join World Speaks in our work? There are four ways you can do so!
- Volunteer! We are always looking for native speakers interested in being in-class mentors. We’d love to have you join us this spring!
- Donate – Help us get to our goal for Language Access Week! We just need $100 more in donations to hit our $2,000 goal!
- Leave us a Review – If you’ve taken a language class, don’t forget to spread the word by leaving us a Google review!
- Visit our store for our Linx the Language Cat merch and encourage Omaha to learn a language!
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- Fall Classes - Enrollment is Open Now!
- August 27 - Connecting Communidades: A bilingual event
- September 15th - Share Omaha Connect for Good Event
- October 8th - Come see our booth at the Power Conference
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Thanks for being a part of World Speaks!
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