Blogs

Including social media translation in your digital marketing efforts can extend your reach to audiences who are not native English speakers. However, social media translation presents a variety of challenges as well and can be a complicated task. When your audience is global, how should you approach social media translation? Should you translate each individual message? What strategy should you follow to make sure your audiences can engage with your messaging? If your company seeks to engage audiences who speak languages other than English, these are the things you need to consider when posting to social media. If your audience is global, you want them to understand your messaging in their native language. There are many different aspects to consider when translating brand terms. First and foremost, you should consider localizing your brand name. Localization is the process of taking a word, or series of words, and adjusting them so they make linguistic sense in a different culture. If your brand name doesn’t translate easily into another language, localization can make it so the name translates correctly. This allows you to better connect with your global audiences, as your brand messaging will be culturally aware due to social media translation and localization. Another factor to consider is if your industry terms effectively translate into other languages. To ensure your audiences can engage with your social media messaging, your industry terms also need to go through social media translation and localization. If you have a global audience for your business’ social media pages, you’ll need to consider your options regarding social media translation. There are a few options when it comes to your social media pages. If you have a breakdown of what languages your audiences speak and it isn’t a large list, you may consider creating a different social media profile for each language. To effectively accomplish this, you’ll need to hire a Language Services Provider who can effectively accomplish your social media translation goals, or you can hire a social media manager for each language. This will be dependent on the size of your company, and how much time and money you have to dedicate to social media translation. Using bilingual employees can come with its own risks though, so be careful to evaluate the risks and benefits before beginning your social media translation project. Alternatively, you can post your social media messaging in multiple languages. Facebook includes a feature that allows you to post your messages in multiple languages. On other social media platforms, you can repost your message in your alternate languages. This form of social media translation will allow you to keep all of your social media marketing attached to one page, which will allow you to better track your analytics when it comes time to do so. However, you’ll need to consider if this is the best way to reach your audiences. Will your global audience respond better to a page in each native language, or will they respond better to translated messaging on a single social profile? That’s for you to determine as you start your social media translation project. Finally, you can set each of your social media profiles to automatically translate dependent on the user’s location. If someone from a Spanish-speaking area accesses your social profiles, your messaging will automatically translate into Spanish. This option relies on machine translation, which is not always accurate. If you want to effectively reach your global audience, this could be a dangerous method of trying to do so, due to the errors machine translation produces in translated messages. The most important element to consider as you go into a social media translation project is your core message. Your translated messages do not need to read exactly the same — you’re simply trying to get your original message across. Use language to which your global audiences are accustomed. One of the easiest ways to accomplish this is to create content that is easy to localize and will allow you to reach your global audience in a way that simply translating your message won’t. If you create content that’s easy to localize, and you’re aware of your core message, you won’t struggle nearly as much with your social media translation project. To create content that is easy to translate and localize, avoid using idioms, sarcasm, and location-specific jokes. If you do want to use these, you’ll need to spend more resources translating and localizing your social media messaging to ensure that your global audiences connect with and understand your core messaging. While social media translation can be overwhelming, the right LSP can help you to effectively implement a strategy for your social media translation projects. To learn more about how an LSP like Avantpage can help you translate your social media messaging, call us today at 530-750-2040, or request a free quote.

LEP homebuyers face increased barriers to homeownership, and many of those barriers are related to language access. According to a study by the Urban Institute, there is a 5 to 10 percentage-point gap in homeownership rates between neighborhoods with low levels of Limited English Proficient residents and those with higher levels of LEP residents. The Urban Institute studied data at the zip code level from the Urban Institute and Sloan Foundation’s Administrative Data Research Facility and found that neighborhoods with the lowest concentration of LEP residents had a median homeownership rate of 74 percent in 2016. However, communities with the highest LEP concentration had only a 64 percent median rate—a 10 percentage-point difference. Even when other factors such as income, age, and race are considered and controlled, neighborhoods with the highest concentrations of LEP residents still have homeownership rates 5 percentage points lower than rates in neighborhoods with the median concentration of LEP residents. This may be because of how vital language access is to be obtaining a mortgage. In a 2017 study conducted by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, an independent firm researched the attitudes and experiences of LEP homebuyers. The researchers talked with Chinese (Mandarin), Korean, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese LEP homebuyers in New York, Maryland, and Texas. Overall, the study found that LEP homebuyers in all those locations and languages want easily accessible translated documents as they navigate the home buying process. The LEP homebuyers surveyed reported a range of potential benefits when using in-language documents. According to the study, these translated documents can: While LEP homebuyers said they would value translated documents, they also had several concerns about poorly translated documents. In the worst of cases, these mistranslated documents can decrease trust and increase cultural tensions. As a result, translations for LEP homebuyers must be rigorously tested to ensure they work for the intended audience and purpose. Translations must include an active and in-depth interpretation of the concepts and cultural expectations to achieve true understanding. They must also be viewed through the lens of LEP homebuyers who are unfamiliar with the process. When you work with a professional language services provider, such as Avantpage, you can be sure that a team of language experts is working together to translate your documents for LEP homebuyers in a clear way. For more information on how to support LEP homebuyers through translation, call us today at (530) 750-2040, or request a free quote.

At some point in your life, you may have used a translation app that used the web to translate words and phrases quickly. Some translation apps will translate the text in a photo. Some apps allow you to speak into your microphone and then will translate your message into your chosen language. Some are more simple and translate text based on what you input into the app. The technology behind these applications is Machine Translation, also known as MT. While MT has come a long way since its inception, it’s still not perfect. In many cases, MT makes mistakes that human translators wouldn’t. Here are five reasons that translation apps aren’t effective at translating all different types of content. Machine Translation can’t understand context. If you’re speaking to another person, he or she can understand what words you’re replacing with pronouns, whereas MT is not yet able to do that. Similarly, people can understand what you mean when you say things like “Yes, but no. I mean, yes and no...I don’t know it’s really complicated.” That’s a very complicated series of sentences that are all related to one another. A piece of technology is not likely to realize that these statements are all connected, or that you’re talking about a subject that isn’t in these sentences. Translation apps aren’t known for producing high-quality translations. Many translation apps request user feedback to create better translations, but users submit many different ways to translate the same content. Again, what’s missing is context. To have an accurate, high-quality translation, you need to know why the document is being translated and to whom the materials will be delivered. Translation apps, even with user-submitted translations, cannot determine the context of your document. As a result, using a translation app will prevent you from having a high-quality translation of your document. Part of finding the right  Language Service Provider (LSP) is making sure it can keep your confidential data safe. LSP’s host their servers in secure data centers, and have procedures to ensure protected information is encrypted. Translation apps don’t provide this level of safety. These apps often store data after you submit it. If you’re translating information that is confidential in any manner, you should use a human translator to ensure the information stays protected. If you think you can use a translation app and have your LSP edit and proof the text afterward to save money, you may be surprised. The inaccurate translations provided by translation apps can take more time and can be more expensive to edit than translating the original text. While it may seem beneficial to provide pre-translated text, if it isn’t a quality pre-translation, it will take more time and money to determine what the translation should say. The best way to keep your budget low and keep your translation project on-time is to use human translators, and avoid pre-translating your text. Machine Translation is still being researched and improved, and therefore it still experiences inaccuracies. If you don’t know the language you’re translating to, you may end up with a translation fail rather than a usable message. Your consumers won’t receive or discuss your message if it’s inaccurately translated— all they’ll be talking about is the poor translation. If you want high-quality, confidential, accurate translations—translation apps won’t work for you. You need a dedicated LSP to ensure that your translations give you everything you need. If you’re interested in learning more about using an LSP, call us today at (530) 750-2040, or request a free quote.

Translation services have more impact than you may realize. From translating election ballots to translating healthcare documents, these services provide access to vital information for Limited English Proficient populations. However, the need for mental healthcare translation services is not discussed as often. More and more, people are discussing mental health in public forums, such as social media, and normalizing what used to be a taboo topic. As a result, seeking mental healthcare is becoming more commonplace. We are beginning to recognize that mental health is as important as physical health when it comes to healthcare. With this recognition, it’s also important to identify how to improve the efficacy of mental healthcare through mental healthcare translation services. Translation services make documents more accessible to Limited English Proficient consumers in any industry. To actively and successfully support those who need mental health services, healthcare organizations need to reach LEP individuals in their native language. If your healthcare organization’s patient demographics include those with native languages other than English, translating your documents will help you effectively reach and serve these individuals. Millions of migrants flee their countries every year in search of a new home where they are safe and free from persecution. These migrants have been through varying traumatic experiences, from leaving the places they grew up to violent acts being perpetrated against them. These people need mental health services, but may not be able to access them in English. Reaching this population requires high-quality, culturally sensitive translation services. A person’s culture impacts how likely they are to accept mental health services. Studies show that individuals are more likely to accept mental health services if it is deemed “culturally appropriate” to do so in their community. One way to improve cultural acceptance of mental health services is translation. If you reach Limited English Proficient communities in their native language with culturally sensitive information, they’re more likely to seek mental health services when they need them. Advocating for the continued acceptance of mental healthcare is a big task. Translating the messages you use for advocacy helps you to be a better advocate. You will reach a broader audience and improve the public image of your advocacy. Mental healthcare translation services allow more people to engage with your message and increase the likelihood that they will positively receive the message as well. If you face the public with information that is accessible to all people, your message will spread faster and more effectively. If you’re interested in learning more about how translation services benefit mental health professionals, call us today at (530) 750-2040, or request a free quote.

Here’s a false cognates pop quiz: If you say “Estoy embarazada,” are you telling someone that you’re embarrassed, or that you’re pregnant? How about your Portuguese friend tells you “Me peidei!” Is this person telling you it’s payday! Or that you may want to move to another part of the room since he or she has just passed gas? If you chose “pregnant” and “passed gas,” then you’ve identified the perils of false cognates. False cognates are pairs of words that sound or look the same (sometimes even identical) but have very different meanings. Linguists will sometimes call these words False Friends, which comes from the longer phrase “false friends of the translator” coined in 1928 by two French linguists. These words are also sometimes called deceptive words, treacherous twins or belles infidèles (unfaithful beautiful women). The term “false friends” is actually a broader category that includes false cognates, and refers to any pair of lookalike words from two languages that don’t have the same definition. The short answer to this question is that it shouldn’t if you’re using a professional Language Services Provider (such as Avantpage). A professional translator would usually not make a fundamental mistake such as confusing false cognates. When our translators adhere to important guidelines that guarantee high-quality translation, they always keep in mind the audience of the document. As a result, our translators and editors always consider your end-users and what false cognates may pertain to them. That being said, false cognates are sometimes very humorous! Here are some of our favorite examples of tricky false cognates. Those are just a few examples of some false cognates that can cause some confusion. But, if you’re using a professional Language Services Provider, you won’t have to worry about a thing.

Much of the news you’ve read in the past two weeks has probably concerned the issue of immigration. The detention of immigrant children, coupled with the upholding of the travel ban by the Supreme Court, has lead to incredibly distressing headlines. If you’re anything like the team at Avantpage, you may be wondering what you can do to support immigrants who are dealing with the consequences of these horrific actions. To help you make a difference, we’ve created a list of ways you can help these people who are only trying to pursue better, safer lives than those they have in their home countries. No matter your bandwidth, you can find something on this list that you can do to support immigrants.   Many immigrant-centered organizations are nonprofit and need monetary donations to continue the work they do. Here are some organizations you can donate to and support with your dollars: Many immigrant-focused organizations rely on volunteers to effectively support immigrant communities. These organizations typically need interpreters and legal professionals. On June 30, 2018, hundreds of thousands of people around the country marched to show support for immigrants and protest the separation of children from their parents. While this particular march has happened, there are many throughout the rest of the year that allow you to show support for immigrants. You can stay up-to-date on upcoming events through this link. Let the people who represent your area know that you will not stand for the separation of children from their families, and you will not stand for the mistreatment of immigrants as a whole. Standing up for immigrants can be as simple as publicly showing your support. Use social media posts to show your support. Write letters to immigrants. Join local activist groups. Start the hard conversations about immigration that need to be had. If you see someone harassing an immigrant, stop them, educate them. Stand up for your fellow human beings. There are many opportunities to get involved with helping immigrants in this time of dire need. Support those among us who are trying valiantly to find better lives than those they are leaving, support immigrants in any way you can. If you have alternate ideas, leave us a comment and we’ll add them to this list. Remember, we are a nation founded by immigrants. Without immigration, not a single one of us would be in the positions we are today. For more on immigration, how we support immigrants, and how you can support immigrants, read some of our other blog posts: Watch These 3 Powerful TED Talks About Immigration
Here’s One Way to Celebrate Immigrant Heritage Month
Celebrate Immigrant Heritage Month and Tell Your Story
Your Guide to 4 Organizations Impacting Immigration in a Big Way

At Avantpage, we can translate documents into more than 150 languages, but that work is a lot easier if we receive one of our preferred translation file types. What's a preferred translation file type? Simply put, it's an editable document that we can place a cursor in and click around and delete or add words. When we work with these translation file types, our team can work faster because they don’t have to recreate the document. Here’s a quick guide to some of the common translation file types we receive and how they affect our workflow. Text files are usually created in a program such as Microsoft Word, Google Docs, Pages, Notepad or TextEdit. Presentations created in PowerPoint or spreadsheets created in Excel would also fall into this category. These files are generally pretty easy to use for translation. It’s especially important to send us the original file of your document if it includes images or complicated charts, as this will allow us to edit the element directly. One quick note though—exporting or copy and pasting a PDF file back into a text document can often introduce errors or formatting issues that may require recreation. Graphics files are well, graphical! These translation file types include a photo with text on it, a chart, an illustration, a flyer, a multi-page pamphlet or even a book. The most important thing to know about these types of files is that sending an editable one for translation will not require recreation. For example, if you send an Adobe Indesign (.indd, .imdl), Adobe Illustrator (.ai) or Adobe Photoshop document (.psd), we can edit that file directly and create your translation. However, if you send a file that's "frozen" such as a picture (.jpg, .gif, .png, or .tif) or PDF (.pdf), our team at Avantpage will not be able to edit the document and will need to recreate it. While recreation can be an additional expense, the beauty of having it recreated is that you can update the document or translate it into another language very easily. If you need to translate an entire website, a series of blog posts or another type of web-based content, you may think that you need to copy and paste all of it into an editable text document. However, we have an easier way! At Avantpage, we can work on the backend of a website directly in the code. This can ensure additional accuracy and clarity for your project. While some of this language and acronyms can be very technical and specific, sending easy to work with translation file types ensures that your project can be done quickly and within budget. Translation File Types Checklist At Avantpage our experienced team can help guide you through the translation process and make it fast and easy—no matter the file type. To find out more about our services or to get a free quote, email us at [email protected] or call us at 1-530-750-2040, extension 11.

June is Immigrant Heritage Month in the United States. This is a time to celebrate being a nation founded by immigrants, and reflect on the nature of immigration and the stories we share about it. At Avantpage, we believe all immigrants deserve the ability to reach their American dream. Our team of employees is international, and many have stories about being immigrants or being the loved one of an immigrant. Sharing these immigration stories promotes visibility and open-mindedness, and there’s no better time to share them than during Immigrant Heritage Month. Here are some of the lessons our employees have learned by being an immigrant, or from those around them who are immigrants. Juliana was born in Colombia, immigrated to Canada for five years, and now lives in Mexico City. While it was challenging for her to leave her home country, especially with the long, harsh winters in Canada, she’s learned great lessons from being an immigrant. Her biggest joy in being an immigrant is getting to learn about new cultures, experiencing new people, and learning about how they live. The biggest lessons she’s taken away from her experiences is to appreciate her own culture and to find strength in being independent and taking care of herself. Vera immigrated from the Netherlands to Mexico. After participating in an exchange program in Mexico for school, she decided to indefinitely relocate to Mexico to pursue employment and perfect her Spanish. While she says her immigration went relatively smoothly, as she immediately found an employer willing to sponsor her in the visa application process, she found the paperwork and the bureaucracy to be the most challenging aspects of immigrating. She stressed that being an immigrant has allowed her to understand other cultures, and motivated her to reach for high levels of success. One of her biggest takeaways about being an immigrant is that no place is perfect; she works to enjoy the positive aspects of where she is and adapt to the local culture. Monika immigrated from Poland to Mexico. She originally intended to stay for only one year on a scholarship for school, but remained in Mexico City for an additional year and a half. While the process of immigrating for her went smoothly, she said it took quite a lot of time. She had to first obtain a visa, then a student card, then she went through the process of finding an employer to sponsor her work visa. Her biggest challenge as an immigrant was navigating cultural differences. She felt like she was always being treated as a tourist, and had to learn how to navigate new public transport systems and healthcare systems. Even though Mexico became a home to her, she struggled with feeling like nowhere was really “home.” While this was all challenging, she notes that it gave her an appreciation of her own culture that she did not have before. The experience also gave her a new view of herself, how adaptable she can be, and the internal strength she has. We’re sharing our employees' stories for Immigrant Heritage Month on our social media channels. Check out our Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn pages to learn more about the immigrants on our team, and get more information on how we support immigrants striving to reach their American dream. For more on immigration, and how we support immigrants, read some of our other blog posts: Watch These 3 Powerful TED Talks About Immigration
Your Guide to 4 Organizations Impacting Immigration in a Big Way
My Immigrant Story – A Letter From Luis Miguel, CEO at Avantpage

About 20 percent of the United States population speaks a language other than English at home, and almost 9 percent of the population is defined as having Limited English Proficiency. And almost 100 percent of these people must interact with healthcare providers and insurers either in emergency situations or for routine care. For LEP individuals, language access is a critical part of accessing healthcare. A lack of language access can create barriers for LEP patients and their families, putting them at risk for complications and unnecessary expenses. Language access can also help or hurt a provider, hospital, or insurance's ability to provide the right care or coverage. Here are the many ways that limited language access can affect patients, healthcare providers, and insurance. LEP patients are almost twice as likely to suffer adverse events in U.S. hospitals, resulting in temporary harm or death, according to a pilot study by The Joint Commission. Another study reported that 52 percent of adverse events that occurred to LEP patients in U.S. hospitals were likely the result of communication errors and that nearly half of these events involved some physical harm. Lack of language services can cause increased use of expensive diagnostic tests, increased number and duration of emergency room visits, and a higher likelihood of intubation for children with asthma. Language barriers affect patient satisfaction and whether or not patients will return to a particular healthcare institution. Providers can also become frustrated with limited language access in a healthcare setting when they want to serve all patients equally and to the best of their abilities. Patients who face language barriers are less likely to have a usual source of medical care and to receive preventive services. They also have an increased risk of nonadherence to medication. In a Colorado study, LEP patients reported difficulty making appointments, including multiple phone transfers and frequent disconnections. The lack of qualified interpreters made them fearful of accessing care and prevented them from seeking the treatment they needed. Patients also said it was difficult to get accurate and timely information related to medication and access preventive care. Conversely, when LEP individuals receive language access resources in a healthcare setting, their quality of care and satisfaction increase. For example: When LEP patients receive medical language services, hospitals experience an increase in LEP patient engagement, an enhancement in LEP patient-provider communication, and improvements in LEP patient outcome. Patients who receive clear and concise information about their healthcare and well-being tend to be more actively engaged in their care plans, resulting in shorter lengths of stay and lower readmissions. The use of a qualified medical interpreter can lessen the length of an LEP patient's stay by almost a day, according to a study by the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health & Division of Preventive and Behavioral Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Shorter stay lengths can improve LEP patient outcomes and significantly lower the cost of patient care for health systems. As a healthcare provider or insurance company, offering language access services that address the needs of LEP patients can increase access and quality of care while decreasing time, expense, and adverse events. At Avantpage, we can help your healthcare organization reach LEP populations and expand language access. To find out more about our services call us at 530-750-2040 x11, or request a free quote.

When you start working with a new Language Service Provider (LSP), it’s normal to have questions about data safety. Working with an LSP frequently means transmitting data that is confidential or protected. How can you be sure that your data is secure during transmission and in storage? The security of your information and your client’s information is a high concern for you and your LSP. At Avantpage, we follow best practices for data safety. Here’s what you should be looking for regarding data safety from any LSP. When you’re working with an LSP, one data safety concern is file protection, which is a multi-tiered concept. Your LSP’s servers should be top-of-the-line and hosted in a secure data center. Without this, any further encryption won’t be effective. Software and hardware firewalls should be implemented as well. These will prevent unauthorized access to the servers hosting your data. Finally, file level encryption should be implemented. If someone circumvented the software and hardware firewalls, file level encryption would prevent them from reading files on the server. At Avantpage, we host our servers in one of the most prominent data centers in the United States. Because we handle daily requests for translation of Protected Health Information (PHI), we follow all the above recommendations for data safety. The confidentiality of your data is maintained with firewalls, encryption, and secure servers. Because of these security measures, we’ve never experienced a data breach. To maintain data safety, your LSP needs to have trustworthy translators. There are many ways to go about hiring trustworthy translators. Our translators at Avantpage go through a rigorous qualification process to determine their translation quality and their professional conduct. Once they’ve been selected, they sign a variety of documents including a non-disclosure agreement, a formal HIPAA Business Associate contract, and our Code of Ethics and Professional Responsibility.   An additional consideration for translators is ensuring they have a secure connection, as well as private space to work on translation projects. All communications with our translators go over encrypted SSL channels to ensure data safety. Access to translation files goes through an encrypted SSL channel, as well as second step authentication. We closely monitor the translators we choose to give PHI and/or other confidential information. When necessary, check-in points are set up with these translators to ensure they are maintaining our standards of confidentiality. Your LSP needs to have an encrypted system for hosting translation projects, having translators work on those projects, and delivering those projects back to you. It should be password protected and use a secure connection for transmitting the data to each project participant. We use AvantFlow to ensure your data is safe and transmitted securely. Our system is password protected with second-step authentication and uses SSL data transmission protocols. The system automatically encrypts any information sent through it, providing you with ease of mind. Your data safety is important, and your LSP should treat it that way. If you’d like to learn more about our data safety protocols at Avantpage, give us a call at 530-750-2040.

I sometimes talk to smaller organizations operating on grant money with tight budgets and documents that need to be translated. Because of financial constraints, these businesses or nonprofits try to save money, often by asking bilingual employees to help translate various documents. The obvious downside to giving translation responsibilities to a non-expert is quality. At Avantpage, our translators have gone through professional training and undergo a rigorous qualification process before they join the team. We look for linguists with a deep knowledge of both source and target languages and cultures. Bilingual employees will likely not have the same experience, education, or expertise of a professional translator. However, while some organizations have considered and rationalized accepting lower quality translations to save money, many have not weighed the other effects of this questionable practice. Here are four ways tasking a bilingual employee with translation responsibilities outside of their regular duties could affect your organization. Putting aside the fact that your in-house staff members are not professional linguists, translating a document or reviewing a translation is not in their job descriptions either. When you ask them to take time away from their primary responsibilities and translate, you’re distracting them from their actual job. The cost of this distraction can be more significant than you think. According to data from the U.S. Labor Department, employees can experience 50-60 interruptions each day. That’s an interruption every 8 minutes. After each interruption, it can take an employee 23 minutes to return to his or her original task, according to a study by the University of California, Irvine. There is a financial cost to these distractions—$10,375 per person, per year, according to Harmon.ie. Distractions also take their toll on your employees’ engagement and effectiveness. Harmon.ie’s research showed that 33% of employees had difficulty working and producing because of workplace distractions and 25% had no time to think deeply or creatively as a result. One in five workers found distractions caused information overload and 1 in 10 missed deadlines because of them. So, before you ask a bilingual employee to translate that flyer “real fast,” ask yourself what unaccounted costs you may be incurring. Sometimes, in-house staff isn’t responsible for translating a document. Instead, they are asked to review a translation completed by a professional Language Services Provider. While this may seem innocent enough, there are still ways this practice can cost your organization time and money. While your bilingual employees may have grown up speaking a language at home, that doesn’t mean they have the same linguistic expertise to understand specific grammar or cultural conventions. Therefore their edits or suggestions may actually hurt the accuracy of the translation created by a professional linguist. There’s also a subjectivity of language. Professional editors and proofers know how to identify when a translation is wrong versus when it is just not quite how they would say it. When in-house staff makes their edits based on subjective concerns, they can extend the translation process longer than necessary and introduce errors or inconsistencies. Finally, it’s doubtful that your in-house staff understands how to use some of the tools that a professional LSP uses for productivity, such as translation memory and glossaries. As a result, having them review a translation can take more time for an ultimately subpar product. If you need translations completed for a healthcare organization or another industry with strong regulations concerning privacy, asking a bilingual employee to translate sensitive information could be dangerous. For example, a medical translation project will need to comply with many standards simultaneously. To comply with the Joint Commission Standards and Healthcare Compliance Law, your organization must be able to communicate with a Limited English Proficient speaker in his or her own language. However, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) prohibits the unauthorized sharing of medical records and personally identifiable information without patient consent. While it is probable that any bilingual staff member is fully aware of HIPAA regulations, a professional Language Services Provider working under a BAA will have technical processes and safeguards in place to protect privacy and clarity equally. Assigning and compensating employees for “additional duties” may be illegal under the Equal Pay Act in some circumstances. For example, let’s say Sarah and Sam are both administrative assistants at your organization and that they both speak Spanish. Both have the same level of education, experience, base pay, and performance. But, Sarah receives a small bonus each month for translating documents. Seems fair, right? It’s not if Sam didn’t receive the same opportunity. According to HR Drive, pay differentials related to additional duties can cause pay disparity problems in many scenarios. More broadly, however, pay disparity issues — real or perceived — have serious implications for employee engagement and workplace culture. Considering these four factors, I strongly encourage organizations to avoid using bilingual employees to translate documents or review translations. While this may sound biased, coming from someone who works for an LSP, the data speaks for itself. By using bilingual employees to complete translation work, you expose your organization to costly mistakes. Is it really worth the risk? At Avantpage our experienced team can help guide you through the translation process and make it fast and easy. To find out more about our services call us at 1-530-750-2040 x11, or request a free quote today.

The language communities of your state impact how you think about translation projects. Looking toward elections season, it’s particularly important to identify the language communities that you serve. This can help you comply with legal regulations and engage more voters, which can lead to increased turnout and support. Florida has many unique language communities, each with its own needs for translation and communication. Here are five facts about Florida language communities that you should consider going into this election season. This piece of  2015 Census data shows that there are an incredible amount of languages and a wide variety of cultures to consider when working on a translation project. Almost three million people in the Miami metropolitan area alone are bilingual or multilingual. These facts emphasize the importance of being culturally aware when translating election materials. With such a large population speaking so many different languages, it’s important to maintain cultural sensitivity for each language community. This will help to engage voters more actively in the democratic process. While most people are aware of the active Spanish and Creole communities in Florida, few people know of the French community. As of 2017, 114,000 people speak French in their Florida homes. With French being such a pervasive language in Florida, it’s important to consider the needs of this language community when translating election materials. There are many French dialects, so you’ll need to research which dialects people speak in your area. Reaching these voters in their native or chosen language of French will help you build a trusting relationship. This may not seem like a high percentage, but it is significant! If you don’t have a strategy to reach LEP voters, now is the time to develop one. LEP voters have specific translation and communication needs. To reach LEP voters, focus on what they want to hear about, and consider how you can deliver those messages. If you need a starting point for strategizing, these four questions can help you reach LEP voters! Florida’s language communities are more varied than you might think. In 2013, 86,000 people spoke Portuguese, 70,000 people spoke German, 60,000 people spoke Vietnamese, and 58,000 people spoke Chinese. When you’re translating election material, be sure to research which communities are prevalent in your area. If you find that a portion of your community’s population speaks one or more of these languages, plan to translate accordingly. There are two federally recognized Native American tribes in Florida, the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians. There are also three other tribes in Florida, the Muscogee Nation of Florida, the Perdido Bay Tribe of Lower Muscogee Creeks, and the Choctaw Nation of Florida. When translating election materials, make sure to reach these tribes effectively. Consider if the messaging and language speaks to the concerns and culture of these communities. Your voter turnout rates can increase as a result. With such diverse language communities, it’s important for Florida elections professionals to strategize and plan translation projects effectively. If you don’t know where to start, give us a call at 530-750-2040, or request a free quote today!