World Speaks, September 2025: Supporting Language Access Across Nebraska

A collage of images from the NATI Conference

Hi Reader,

Earlier this month, the World Speaks team had a great time at the NATI (Nebraska Association of Translators and Interpreters) Conference. Spending time with a group of professionals devoted to providing language access to those who need it was an incredible experience.

Our team presented about the work of World Speaks – sharing our mission to advance language access and cultural inclusion through professional, community-centered services. It was a joy to talk to interpreters and translators based in Nebraska about the importance of their work and how we help our community meet its language access needs.

While we love providing education to language access professionals - the World Speaks team also frequently provides training on language access for communities, groups, and businesses of all kinds!

What does language access training look like?

When the World Speaks team presents to a group that is new to language access, we share a few important things:

What language access means, the laws behind it, and how World Speaks can help with language access.
The history of Language Justice & a look at how not having language access can impact people accessing services.
How organizations can put language access into practice.

Whenever possible, we give participants “hands on” experience with what it’s like to navigate their business, service or community without speaking the dominant language.

These trainings are often the first step as an organization gets started on making language access a part of their organization.

Want your own language access training - hit "reply" and let us know!

P.S. Also in training news, we have our Interpreters Training coming up November 10th-13th, 2025 - watch this space for more information coming soon!

Language Access Learning

Did you know that September sees the celebration of two of the groups we serve the most? It is Deaf Awareness Month and September 15-October 15 is National Hispanic American Month?

Both ASL (American Sign Language) and Spanish are near and dear to our hearts – we offer both languages through our community courses, and happy to say that we’ve taught over 55 students in ASL and 200 in Spanish since World Speaks began.

Here are a few facts about each language – if you want to learn more, consider joining the next World Speaks class this spring!

ASL is the third most used language in the United States.
Nebraska officially recognized ASL as a language in 2020.
ASL is considered a language of its own. It has its own vocabulary, grammar, style and word order and style - it does not necessarily reflect English-language words.
Spanish is the second-most spoken language in the United States.
Approximately 7.4% of Nebraska’s population speaks Spanish
Arabic heavily influenced Spanish, with over 8,000 words in the language showing Arabic influence.

Welcome Fest

Three people stand at a display table at a festival. One reads some information to the other two. Colorful flags and crowds stand behind them.

We had such a great time at Welcome Fest at CIRA! It was a beautiful day, and our hearts were full as we saw so many friends and neighbors celebrate making our communities a welcoming place for all to be!

We got to play games like language trivia and language memory, and we loved talking with so many people about language access.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by our booth! Your energy and curiosity made the day even more fun.

Welcome Back, Leah!

A smiling person with long brown hair and large earrings smiles at the camera in front of a grey backgroun.

We are so excited to welcome our Executive Director, Leah Whitney Chavez, back from parental leave! and her husband Randy (who is also our volunteer Communications Manager) welcomed baby Kenny in July, and while she’s been embracing the joys of parenthood, we’ve missed her!

During Leah’s time away, our team kept things moving with the help of interim director Naomi Hattaway. We’re grateful to Naomi for her time & expertise!

We asked Leah how it was to be back, and she said “It's great to be back and I would like to thank our staff, contractors, and volunteers for carrying out the wonderful work of World Speaks while I was away. This team is truly incredible. Also Kenny says ‘Hola.’”

GET INVOLVED

Want to join World Speaks in our work? There are three 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 summer!
Donate – Every donation – large or small – improves language access in our community.
Visit our store for shirts featuring our super power wear!