Blogs

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is in place to ensure that all populations have access to the services provided by your healthcare organization. Similarly to any other translation project, the ADA requires a certain level of communication to be achieved through alternative formatting of documents for those with communication disabilities.  The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulates the communication that healthcare organizations have with people who have communication disabilities. A communication disability is any disability “that affects an individual's ability to comprehend, detect, or apply language and speech to engage in discourse effectively with others.” Communication with populations who have these conditions should be equally as effective as communication with individuals without these conditions. Often times healthcare organizations must also comply with section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which requires federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology (EIT) accessible to people with disabilities. The law applies to all Federal agencies when they develop, procure, maintain, or use this type of technology. In many cases, it means that PDF documents must be reader-ready or accessible, and allow the computer to read them out loud in English and any other language it was translated into. In a healthcare setting, most patients that need ADA-compliant translation will have visual or hearing impairments. In these cases, alternative formats will need to be supplied so your patients can fully understand the treatment they are receiving, and what to expect from their care.  Alternative formats include, but are not limited to, braille, real-time captioning, large print formatting, accessible PDFs, and audio formatting. Each of these can help to preserve the original meaning of your communication while making it accessible to your audience.  ADA compliance isn’t confined directly to the patient being treated. For example, if prenatal classes are offered as a service to both fathers and mothers, a father who is deaf or hard-of-hearing must be provided auxiliary aids or services to ensure that he has the same opportunity to benefit from the classes as would other fathers. Similarly, a deaf parent of a hearing child may require an auxiliary aid or service to communicate effectively with healthcare providers, participate in the child's health care, and to give informed consent for the child's medical treatment. Classes, support groups, and other activities that are open to the public must also be accessible to deaf and hard of hearing participants. Finally, the ADA does not require a medical practice to provide translators or interpreters for non-English speaking patients. However, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act does. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act forbids discrimination by any program that receives money from the federal government and requires that health and social service providers give their limited-English-proficient patients meaningful access to their services, which may entail offering translation or interpreting services. These must be provided to the patients free of charge. We can help you with your ADA-compliant translation projects. Call us at 530-750-2040 or request a free quote to get started with your next translation project today!

As a healthcare organization, you face what can appear to be a daunting number of regulations surrounding translation, interpretation, and language access as a whole. While these rules may seem to add challenges for your organization, there are many different ways to make your next healthcare translation project easier. If you’re working with a professional Language Service Provider (LSP), a variety of language technologies are available to your organization as part of your partnership. Language technology, like Translation Memory (TM) and Over-the-Phone Interpretation (OPI) can streamline your language access efforts and help you to effectively meet the needs of your end-users. Interpretation is one of many different language services your healthcare organization will need to make use of to meet current regulations. Interpretation is defined as “the facilitation of spoken or signed language communication between users of different languages.” Interpretation can occur either in a face-to-face or in a remote context. Depending on the size of your healthcare organization, and the language groups you’re likely to interact with, you may find one method of interpretation to work better than another.  Face-to-face interpretation requires your organization to bring an interpreter into the room. Remote interpreting allows for your interpreter(s) to be located off-site. This can lower costs for your healthcare organization, and expand the number of languages that you can support. There are a few different styles of remote interpretation.  Other language technologies will also be useful in streamlining your healthcare translation projects. If you’re looking for written translation services for your organization, you should be sure to pair with an LSP which provides linguistic asset management.  Linguistic assets, like style guides and glossaries, inform your translators of your organization’s preferences prior to translating your documents. Style guides and glossaries will contain information such as what terms to leave in English, the tone and formality of your document, expected translations of certain terms, and other preferences. These linguistic assets are uploaded into your organization’s Translation Memory (TM) database, which is shared with all of your translators. Your TM is then used to inform translators of your preferences.  TM also leverages your previous translation projects to see if any translated segments match your current document. If there are matching segments, your translator will use those segments (always ensuring the translation is appropriately high-quality) in your current translation. In this way, TM can support a more streamlined effort at translating your documents - increasing consistency and efficiency across your translation projects, and possibly even saving your organization money.  The right LSP for your healthcare organization is one that leverages language technology to support your language access goals. Avantpage can help you reach those goals, and meet the needs of your end-users. For more information, or to get started on your next translation project, call us at 530-750-2040, or request a free quote today.

As the election draws near, one key part of preparation is to ensure your documents will be translated accurately and on-time. Knowing how long your county needs for each document to be effectively translated can help to prevent last-minute stress and worry. Following election translation timelines can help to increase the efficiency of your partnership with your Language Service Provider (LSP).  If you’re planning for the translation of your documents effectively, you won’t need to worry about translating your elections documents at the last minute. In the planning phases of your translation project, you should be sure to communicate with your LSP about your election translation timelines, requirements, processes, languages, and any other details that are pertinent. Engaging your LSP in the planning stage can help to create a collaborative strategy and partnership. Your LSP can help in the planning stage to identify any pending materials, prioritize materials, and sketch out a strategic plan for the timely completion of all needed content. The time at which you’ll need to send your documents to your LSP is heavily dependent on your county’s and state’s deadlines. When you’re planning for the primaries, for example, the deadline for sending your documents to your LSP will be dependent on when your primary is.  Ballots are expected to be sent in for translation in January. Your Secretary of State (SOS) will tell your county which candidates will appear on the ballots. This is the final piece of information that you’ll need in order to finalize your ballots before you translate them. For your election translation timelines, January and February will be the time to translate any complementary materials, such as ballot notices. All ballots needed should be returned to your county no later than February 17, so be sure to build your election translation timelines based on that.  How long your LSP needs to translate a document varies by word count, but generally your LSP will be able to translate on a flexible timeline. At Avantpage, we can increase our teams to comply with tight turnaround times. Our use of Translation Memory (TM) and other linguistic assets, like glossaries and style guides, make our team incredibly efficient at completing any project on any deadline. We can help you meet your election translation timelines. Call us at 530-750-2040 or request a free quote today.

There are many different language services that a Language Service Provider (LSP) like Avantpage can offer your organization. Part of ensuring that you’re working with the right LSP is knowing what language services your organization needs, and which of those your LSP is prepared to provide. At Avantpage, we offer a variety of services to help you effectively reach your target audience with your content.  We provide written translation services of documents, web pages, brochures, forms, and any other written content produced by your organization. Our quality assurance, compliance support, and multi-step translation process allow for assurance that your documents are handled in an appropriate manner. Beyond this, we have the ability to support high-volume translations with quick turnaround times, all while maintaining personal service. The process of website localization adapts or creates content to ensure that your site looks, feels, and reads as if it were originally created for the target audience. Beyond translation, this process involves revising graphic design, color schemes, symbols, and other visual elements so these are culturally relevant to the end-user. Avantpage offers multiple alternative formatting options to meet the needs of your ADA-compliant translation projects. Large-print formatting, braille, voice-over, and other alternative formats help those with communication disabilities to fully and effectively engage with your documents. Desktop Publishing (DTP) is the process of formatting and recreating foreign language page design and layouts for both print and web use without compromising the message or feel of the original material. Reformatting your documents after translation can help to ensure that your audience understands your documents without error. Your document will be reproduced with every detail accurately presented in the target language.  Avantpage’s Translation Memory (TM) software allows you to save specific terminology and style preferences for use on subsequent translations. Our TM pulls your preferences for translating certain words, phrases, etc. from your organization’s style guide and glossary and informs the translators working on your projects of those preferences. This language service can increase the efficiency and accuracy of your translation projects, as well as creating more consistency throughout your translated documents over time. We can help remediate your written documents to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility requirements. As with other language services, this involves the adjustment and adaptation of elements in your document, including text layers, color choices, and alternative text. Avantpage will connect you with highly-trained, certified, and professional remote interpreters to address your interpretation needs in the languages you choose. These native speakers will ensure that critical conversations are fully understood by all parties involved via telephonic discussion. We can provide verbatim or non-verbatim time-stamped transcriptions of your audio files. If your organization needs those transcripts translated into your target languages, we can meet that need as well.  Avantpage offers many language services to ensure that your organization meets the needs of your end-users. If you’re ready to start your next language project, give us a call at 530-750-2040, or request a free quote today.

When looking at the regulations that your healthcare complies with HIPAA translations, perhaps the most important one to consider is The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). HIPAA prohibits the unauthorized sharing of medical records and personally identifiable information without patient consent, which may seem to complicate the translation process as it relates to medical records and forms. However, if your hospital or health insurance organization chooses a Language Services Provider (LSP) that values privacy and clarity equally, compliance shouldn’t be a major concern. Having prior knowledge of how HIPAA and translation projects function can streamline the translation process for your healthcare organization. Because they are not employed by the organization using their services, translators are considered business associates under HIPAA legislation. Patient information can only be shared with a business associate for a specific purpose. This purpose needs to be clearly stated in a business contract between your LSP and your healthcare organization.  To fully comply with HIPAA regulations in translation documents, your LSP should incorporate the following: This patient information is often shared during the delivery of translation services and should be handled carefully by vendors. Before hiring an LSP, your organization should complete or consider the following things in regards to HIPAA and translation projects. Your LSP should show that its staff members are trained in HIPAA compliance, including how to manage sensitive information, recognize PHI, and protect the privacy of your patients. The most important step your organization can take to ensure HIPAA compliance and clear communication is to hire a professional translation company with experience in the healthcare field. Make sure to assess potential vendors carefully and continually monitor their adherence to the laws.  HIPAA translation projects can exist harmoniously if you know how to effectively choose an LSP who maintains regulatory compliance. If you want to start a new HIPAA-compliant translation project, we can help. Give us a call at 530-750-2040, or request a free quote today. 

There are many rare languages in the world today in various states of endangerment or preservation. At Avantpage, we work with a variety of these languages to support their speakers and continue improving available opportunities for all people. When looking at supporting rare languages, and preserving them before they become endangered, education is of the utmost importance. Sharing information about a language and, more broadly, its culture can support better language preservation and cultural acceptance. With all this in mind, every month we’ll be highlighting a rare language we work with. This month we’re focusing on the Khmer language. With approximately 16 million speakers, Khmer, also called Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. It is spoken by most of the Cambodian population, as well as in southeastern Thailand and southern Vietnam.  There are different versions of the Khmer language. Old Khmer is the version that was used in the ancient Khmer Empire from the 9th-15th century, and it is considered a direct ancestor of modern Khmer. The Khmer language has exerted a strong influence on other languages of the region; Thai, Lao, Kuay and other languages have borrowed extensively from the Khmer language.  The vast majority of Khmer speakers use Central Khmer, a dialect of the central plain where the Khmer people are most heavily concentrated. As far as Cambodia is concerned, regional varieties exist in remote areas. There are two varieties that differ substantially from the others: the speech of the capital, Phnom Penh, and the version spoken in the Stung Treng province. Outside of Cambodia, three main dialects are spoken by Khmer people native to the areas that were historically part of the Khmer Empire:  As the earliest recorded and written member of the Mon-Khmer group of Austroasiatic languages, the Khmer language has existed in written form since the early 7th century, with the oldest inscription in Khmer dating from 611 AD. The language uses a script originating from South India and South East Asia.  The modern version of the Khmer alphabet is syllabic, with each consonant having two forms - one with an inherent /a/ and one with an inherent /o/. Vowels are indicated using either separate letters or diacritics - written above, below, in front of, after, or around consonants. Their pronunciation depends on the form of the consonant used.  Probably the most notable feature of written Khmer is that, in a Khmer text, there are no spaces between words; visible spaces are used to indicate the end of a clause or a sentence. Khmer is an analytic and isolating language, with no conjugations, inflections, or case endings. Instead, particles are used to indicate grammatical relationships. Despite efforts to fully standardize written Khmer, many words have more than one accepted spelling.   As far as the Khmer language community in the United States, there are approximately 300,000 Khmer speakers in the United States, most of whom arrived in the US as refugees in the 1980s. People of Cambodian descent are concentrated mainly in the regions of California and Massachusetts. The Cambodian community in the United States maintains a strong sense of identity, so the Khmer language is likely to be passed on for generations to come. While the Khmer language is considered rare, we work with it on a semi-regular basis in the translation work we do for varying clients around the United States. If your population includes Khmer speakers, we’d be happy to discuss with you how to reach them through translation services. Call us at 530-750-2040 or request a free quote today to get started.

Targeting a new audience with your content involves a variety of steps. Not only does your message need to undergo the process of translation, but you also need to ensure the graphics, colors, fonts, and other elements of your content effectively communicate your brand. This is where the localization process comes in. By definition, “Localization is the process of adapting a product or content to a specific locale or market.” This process addresses all aspects of your content, ensuring the elements involved will be clearly understandable to your new target audience. When you’re ready to penetrate a new market, here are the steps of the localization process that your content needs to follow.  Before beginning your localization project, your organization and your Language Service Provider (LSP) will work together to identify your target audience and their needs. This will include detailed research into the culture of your new target audience and any information that will help you to effectively reach them. The proper formatting for dates, times, graphics, fonts, and more will be determined as well. Your content will then undergo translation into the new target language. To prepare for this step, be sure that you know what language and dialect your target audience speaks. If you want your content to be clearly understood, these two pieces of information are vital, as many languages have nuances that are important to specific immigrant groups - e.g. Traditional vs. Simplified Chinese. Your LSP will translate your content into the target language, give you the opportunity to review it and make edits, and then move on to the next steps of the localization process.  Your graphics also need to be localized as you continue through the process. This step includes changing the text, colors, images, and other elements of your graphics as necessary. If your logo includes text in the source language, you’ll want to consider changing that text into the target language to better be able to reach your target market.  Next, you’ll want to ensure that your content is designed and formatted appropriately after translation. Is the text reading in the appropriate direction for the target language? Have any spacing issues been addressed? Do the headers appear in the appropriate sections of the document? These are all questions that will be addressed in this step of the localization process.  Before publication, your LSP will ensure that all units have been converted to those used locally. This includes dates, times, measurements, etc. Localizing these units will help to make the content feel as though it were originally written for the target audience.  Finally, your LSP will ensure that your content meets all local legal requirements. If there are international regulations that now dictate your content, your LSP will ensure that you’re in regulatory compliance before you publish your content so you’ll never need to worry about the legal implications of publishing your content in a new market.  These are just a few of the key points in the localization process. If you want to learn more about localizing your content, or you’re ready to get started on your next localization project, call us at 530-750-2040 or request a free quote today.

There are many different benefits to translating your organization’s documents, regardless of whether you’re in an industry that regulates translation. As our world becomes increasingly globalized, it’s important to ask how translation services fit into the overarching goals of your organization. Pursuing translation services through a qualified Language Service Provider (LSP) can make all the difference in expanding your organization’s reach.  Outside of the regulations you may or may not encounter in your industry, there are many benefits to translating your organization’s documents. If your organization is looking to expand internationally, pursuing translation services can support a better level of engagement with your organization in your new target market. Ensuring that your audience can fully understand the messages you’re sharing with them increases the likelihood that your audience will want to engage with the product or service you’re launching in their market.  Translation services can also help to support customer loyalty and community building. When your organization shows support to Limited English Proficient (LEP) customers through clear, understandable communications in a variety of languages, those customers are more likely to continue bringing their business to you. Additionally, when LEP customers know that support is available in their native languages, they’re less likely to seek out a new product or service provider when they encounter problems or have questions. If your organization is able to provide customer support in a variety of languages, your customers are more likely to be loyal to your organization.  Finally, translation of your documents can support your organization in finding the right applicants to fill your open job positions. Our country is increasingly multilingual and multicultural, and finding the right qualified applicants for job openings means being able to reach out to all potential applicants in a clear and effective manner.  If you’re in a regulated industry like healthcare, government, elections, or education, you know your organization needs translation services. In order to maintain regulatory compliance, there’s a variety of documents you’ll need to translate and have available to LEP consumers. While you’re regulated to do so, translating your documents still maintains the additional benefits mentioned above for your organization as well. It can even be worth looking into translating additional documents, or translating your documents into additional languages if you’re looking to reach a particular organizational goal.  Beyond regulated industries, there is really no industry that doesn’t benefit from translation services. While your organization may not be regulated to pursue translation services, it will still see the benefits of doing so. International organizations should highly consider translation, and even localization, of product and service information in order to build on current success in non-English speaking markets.  If you’re interested in finding out more about the benefits of pursuing translation services, or translation as a whole, we can help. Call us at 530-750-2040, or request a free quote today to get started on your next translation project.

As you embark on your medical translation project, knowing how various laws and regulations will impact your project is important. There are many medical translation requirements put forth by various federal, state, or other administrative agencies that your organization will need to meet. Below is an overview of four major laws, standards, and healthcare regulations that may apply to your project.  The Joint Commission has communication and language standards to ensure that Limited English Proficient (LEP) patients receive a high level of care. Hospitals and healthcare organizations seeking Joint Commission accreditation must comply with these standards, which include: By creating the communication and language standards, the Joint Commission took an important step toward facilitating improved patient-provider interaction. When patients can communicate, understand, and follow instructions in their own language, there is less chance of medical misunderstandings and errors that can affect a patient’s health outcome. If your organization is at risk of non-compliance with the Joint Commission's healthcare regulations, it could hurt federal funding per Title VI regulations.  The Bottom line: Healthcare organizations need to comply with the Joint Commission’s Standards to maintain their accreditation. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires that any organization, including those in the healthcare industry, must not discriminate based on race, color, or national origin.  All 50 states have additional laws that address language access in healthcare settings. Seventeen states have language access laws for insurance providers and/or managed care organizations, some are broader than others. For instance, all California health plan providers must offer translation and language assistance services in multiple languages to their LEP and NEP enrollees. The Bottom Line: Not being able to clearly communicate with LEP or non-English proficient patients could put you in violation of these laws.  Just as your employees must be HIPAA-trained, so should your medical translators be. HIPAA specifically applies to how a healthcare organization can communicate patient-specific information with a certified medical translator. To comply with HIPAA healthcare regulations during your translation project, your LSP should have a secure way of transmitting information and documents to avoid violating the law. The Bottom line: Make sure that patient and client information is kept confidentially during the translation process. The ADA requires that businesses and nonprofit organizations that serve the public, such as healthcare organizations, communicate effectively with people who have communication disabilities.  As a hospital or medical provider, this healthcare regulation means providing people who have communication disabilities with alternatively formatted documents. Alternative formats include braille, large print, accessible PDFs, or audio files of text being read aloud, amongst other things. The Bottom Line: Check with your translation provider about alternative formats and accessible PDFs. Healthcare regulations may seem complicated, but an LSP specializing in healthcare, such as Avantpage, can make compliance easy. We can help you get started on your next healthcare translation project. Call us at 530-750-2040, or request a free quote today.

Translation services are beneficial in nearly every industry. While some are required to translate their documents, most simply see the benefit of clear communications, regardless of regulations. Human Resources professionals can see a variety of benefits from HR translation projects. If you work for a global company, HR translation projects become even more important as you look towards building an inclusive community.  If you’re interested in translating your HR documents, but not sure where to start, there are a few key documents to look at translating.  First, consider translating your HR policies and procedures. If you have an employee handbook that sets out the expectations for how your team works, this would be a vital document to translating. If you need all of the employees in your organization to follow a single set of standards, or comply to a single policy, then a miscommunication of those standards/that policy could cost you more than just frustration; you may be looking at legal penalties, lost time, or increased overhead costs as a result. Company announcements also require translation. Ensuring that all of your organization understands what is going on internally can help to increase efficiency, create community, and prevent misunderstandings.  Finally, translating safety and benefits information should be top-of-mind. Employees need to learn about and fully understand the relevant safety information and benefits the company offers. All team members need to know how to keep themselves safe on the job, and all team members need to understand what insurance options and other benefits are available to them.  While HR translation projects are not legally mandatory, there are many different benefits that you can see from pursuing these projects.  In the United States, we’re increasingly seeing a blended workforce. A mix of nationalities, cultures, and languages currently exists in our county, and having an efficient workplace means including all people that could work for your organization. Being prepared to support a multilingual workforce, with proper training and informative materials, allows your organization to expand its recruiting efforts and even consider expanding globally.  Beyond this, translating these documents creates a culturally sensitive and inclusive work culture. This promotes a sense of loyalty among your employees and can increase your employee retention rates.  Regardless of whether your company is global or local, there’s no doubt that HR translation projects benefit your organization as a whole. We can help you get started on your next HR translation project, and build expand your organization’s hiring opportunities. Call us at 530-750-2040 or request a free quote today.

There are many different documents involved in holding an election. From your signage to your voter information guide, you disseminate a lot of information to the constituents in your district. While regulatory compliance requires translation of some of these documents into key threshold languages, there are some election materials that don’t frequently get translated.  The materials that aren’t generally translated for elections include: There may also be parts of your candidate statements and ballot measures in the Voter Information Guide that don’t always get translated. As a county, it can be challenging to get these translations from your municipalities and candidates, even though they can be immensely helpful to your Limited English Proficient (LEP) constituents.  These election materials may not be translated for a variety of reasons. Time, budget, and personnel constraints can all play a role in the effective translation of your documents. While it may seem unnecessary to expand your translations beyond regulatory demands, there are many different benefits to translating these election materials.  A more informed electorate. Providing your LEP voters with all of the knowledge they need to vote in a way that aligns with their values and ideas supports an increased sense of community. Beyond that, an informed electorate supports more active participation in the democratic process.  Increase LEP voter turnout. If your LEP constituents understand your election materials, they’re more likely to go to the polls on election day to cast their votes, allowing all of the United State’s diverse population to actively partake in elections. Accessibility of the democratic process. As an eligible American citizen - LEP, immigrant, or otherwise - you have the right to vote in elections. Making the process accessible is the hallmark of democracy; every vote matters, and no eligible voter is left out or faces discrimination.  It’s the right thing to do. All eligible voters in a democratic society should have the opportunity to make their voice heard and feel like their vote is informed. Translating your election materials creates a more inclusive society. If you have the time and budget to spare, translating your election materials into emerging threshold languages can also benefit your LEP constituents. While your district is only regulated to translate into specific languages, staying on top of the languages used by growing language communities in your area, and translating your documents for them, has many benefits.  For your organization directly, in the event that one of these languages rapidly becomes a threshold language, you’ll already be prepared to meet the new regulatory requirement. You won’t be stressed at the last minute trying to get your documents translated into the new language, and you’ll be far less likely to incur rush fees for the projects. For those in your community, these translations have all of the same benefits as translating the documents mentioned above. You’ll be actively creating a sense of community, making the democratic process more accessible, increasing LEP voter turnout, and more.  If you want to translate the mentioned election materials or any other election materials, we can take care of the project from start to finish. Call us at 530-750-2040, or request a free quote today to get started on your next election translation project.

There are many rare languages in the world today in various states of endangerment or preservation. At Avantpage, we work with a variety of these languages to support their speakers and continue improving available opportunities for all people. When looking at supporting rare languages, and preserving them before they become endangered, education is of the utmost importance. Sharing information about a language and, more broadly, its culture can support better language preservation and cultural acceptance. With all this in mind, every month we’ll be highlighting a rare language we work with. This month we’re focusing on the Hmong language. The Hmong language, or Mong, is a Hmong-Mien language, a group that consists mostly of minority languages spoken in Southern China and Southeast Asia. Apart from Hmong and Mien, this language family includes Hmu, Qo Xiong, Bunu, Pa-heng, She, Mun, and Biao Min. Hmong is used primarily in China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, the United States, and French Guiana. While the exact number of speakers worldwide is unknown, it’s estimated that 2 to 3 million people use the language.  The standard dialect of the language is Western Hmong, a group of dialects spoken in southwestern China, Northern Vietnam, Northern Thailand, and Laos. The two major varieties that comprise this group are Hmong Daw and Hmong Njua, named according to the traditional colors worn by women of the different groups - White for Hmong Daw and Green or Blue for Hmong Njua. Outside the above-mentioned areas, the language is spoken by relatively substantial groups in Burma, France, and the United States; the most predominant population of speakers is found in China. Today, most of the over 260,000 people of Hmong descent residing in the United States speak the dialects White and Green Hmong, White being the predominant version with 60% of speakers using it. The key differences between the dialects are in the pronunciation/phonology and vocabulary. Interestingly, the Hmong language has no official status in the countries in which it is spoken. As a matter of fact, it consists of a number of dialects, many of which are unintelligible to speakers of other Hmong varieties. Linguistically speaking, each dialect is considered to be a separate language, since the definition of a dialect assumes it is a mutually intelligible language variety.  There are numerous writing systems used for writing the language, with Phahawh considered the most linguistically aware of them. It was developed mid 20th century by Shong Lue Yang, a spiritual leader honored among Hmong people as the Niam Ntawv (Mother of Writing). The most common Hmong orthography became, however, the Romanized Popular Alphabet (RPA), devised by missionaries in the 1950s.  While Hmong is a rare language, we work with it on a semi-regular basis in the translation work we do for varying clients around the United States. If your population includes Hmong speakers, we’d be happy to discuss with you how to reach them through translation services. Call us at 530-750-2040 or request a free quote today to get started.