Crossposted from Public Health Insider

One in three residents of King County speaks a language other than English at home according to U.S. Census data. For these residents, Public Health – Seattle & King County’s small but mighty Language Access team opens doors to services and information to help them make decisions about their health for themselves and their families. We wanted to know what makes the Language Access program’s approach unique, so we talked to Claudia who manages the linguists in this program.

Hi Claudia! Your team works with translators and interpreters who live locally. How does that make a difference to the quality of language service they provide?

When the translator or interpreter is a resident of King County, they know very specific vocabulary, they know the community and they know their needs. When we say “Pike Place Market,” they know how to translate that. They create word pictures that make it easier for people in the community to understand the concepts. Read more.