World Speaks, May 2026: A Sneak Peek at Language Access Week

A selection of photos from an interpreter training. Students it in a classroom and listen to several different presenter.

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, and you want to spread the word, there are several things you can do!

DONATE: Help us reach our goal of raising $2,000 in matching funds! Thank you to our sponsors, the Weitz Family Foundation, Valmont Industries, Emspace Lovgren, and the Omaha Community Foundation for their generous contributions that allow us to create the matching funds. To help us meet this goal, plan to donate between June 8 and 12!
RSVP: Hit “I’m going” to the Language Access Week on Facebook so your network can learn about Language Access too!
SHARE: Over the last two years, social posts about Language Access Week from World Speaks and our partners have reached over 25,000 people in our community. That’s 25,000 more people who know about what language access is, and how they can be a better neighbor by supporting language access. You can help us reach even more people this year by sharing Language Access Week posts to your stories or feed. If you make a post of your own, make sure to tag us (@WorldSpeaksOMA on Instagram, @WorldSpeaksOmaha on Facebook, or @worldspeaksoma on LinkedIn) and use the hashtag #LanguageAccessNebraska!
MAKE EMPANADAS WITH US: Join us for our Moroccan Empanada making event in partnership with the House of Bah Foundation at No More Empty Pots on Thursday, June 11 at 6:30 pm! This event will show folks who speak English as their first language can understand what it's like to need interpretation, a language access tool. The cost of tickets is $25 to cover the ingredients. Get your tickets here: LINK.
LEARN FROM UNMC: For the first time, World Speaks is partnering with the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) during Language Access Week! UNMC will present a “Let’s Chat About Cancer” program virtually in Spanish. This event will be hosted via Zoom on June 9th at 5:00 pm. English interpretation will be provided so that folks who speak English as their first language can understand what it’s like to need interpretation virtually. This event is free. Sign up today here: LINK.

Before Language Access Week kicks off, we’ll send an email with resources on how you can learn about and support language access during Language Access Week – and all year long!

Language Access in Action

We were so excited to have a table at the Hispanic Cultural Festival at the Joslyn in early May! The festival was organized by students in SPAN 3020 (Spanish for Heritage Speakers) and SPAN 3030-001 (Spanish Conversation) at the University of Nebraska Omaha, and was part of a service-learning project in partnership with the Joslyn Art Museum.

Designed to promote the visibility of the local Hispanic/Latino communities and the Spanish language in institutional spaces, this festival was a prime example of language access in action! All signs & flyers were both in Spanish and English, and announcements and introductions were all done in both Spanish and English, as the students who were running the event spoke both languages.

World Speaks Team News

A collage featuring the staff of World Speaks at events they attended in April & May.

April and May are busy months for the World Speaks team! Not only are we getting ready for Language Access Week, but we spent a lot of time sharing about Language Access across the region!

Paulina and Leah attended the Forced Migration Conference in Lincoln in April, looking at immigration issues across Nebraska and the Midwest.

Leah gave a presentation to Millard South students about where learning a language can take you! If you didn't know, Leah learned to speak Spanish in school starting in 7th grade. She shared with Millard students about her language-learning journey, how it led to her founding World Speaks, and how we teach our community about language access.

Amber and Leah attended the ribbon-cutting for Together Housing! It’s so exciting to see local partners realize their dreams and support more people with their expanded space!

Paulina and Leah attended the ICAN Women’s Leadership Conference live, and Amber attended virtually, which gave us the opportunity to network, learn, and think about the work that we do!

We also welcomed back Ivan, our Interpretation and Linguistic Strategist, from parental leave! We are so happy to have him back

Language Access Learning

"You speak Spanish, right? Can you translate this document?”

Many people are bilingual – they speak two or more languages. And speaking two or more languages is a requirement for being an interpreter or a translator, but that’s where qualifications to perform interpretation and translation start – not where they end. Why is this?

Interpretation means converting the spoken word from one language to another, while translation means converting the written word from one language to another. In each case, having a conversational understanding of a language (being able to read or write in a different language isn’t enough). Here’s why:

Interpreters and Translators need to understand the cultural context and nuance of both the languages they are working with – they need to be able to convert idioms, nuances, humor and more into references that those who speak the target language understand.
Interpreters and Translators may be called on to share about industry-specific information and terminology. Being fluent in a language doesn’t mean you know how to convey specific medical, legal or technical information in that language.
Interpreters and Translators are trained to focus on accuracy, ensuring that they stay faithful to the source material at all times, while also ensuring that it can be understood by the audience.

There are other reasons, but the three above are one of the reasons that it is always recommended you use a TRAINED interpreter or translator when you need one – not relying on bilingual people because they are available.

If you need help with an interpretation or translation project, contact our team!

GET INVOLVED

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 – Become a monthly donor or make a one-time donation to support Language Access!
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 Stay Cultured wear and encourage Omaha to learn a language and break barriers!