Police receptionist in Anderson helps break Spanish language barrier
ANDERSON — Nora Punales was happy to get a job at the Anderson Police Department as a receptionist. Turns out, the police department got a bargain; Punales speaks fluent English and Spanish. Those skills have helped the department and Hispanic visitors or prisoners cross the language barrier nearly every day. It’s not that she’s not […]
3 more schools add bilingual immersion programs
The popularity of dual-language classes in Ventura County schools continues to grow, with three schools starting programs this fall. Ventura Unified School District started a two-way immersion kindergarten class at Montalvo School about a decade ago. Five more dual-language programs have since come online at elementary and middle schools in Camarillo, Rio, Hueneme and Ventura. […]
Hispanics have a wild card to play
Did you know that Hispanics are less impacted by the recession, and their overall outlook about the condition of our economy is more optimistic? They are also more avid shoppers and have a tendency to react better to TV advertising than the general population. The Hispanic consumer is able to rebound quicker to trends than […]
Lost in translation: Latinos and the bilingual divide
What’s best for Latino students who struggle with English? Should they be taught through bilingual education or are English-only programs the way to go? The answer for a school district in Charlotte, N.C., seems to be a strong combination of both. At the Collinswood Language Academy (kindergarten through sixth grade) students spend half their day […]
White House Preparing To Launch Web Site In Spanish
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)–The White House is preparing to launch a Spanish-language version of its Web site, Whitehouse.gov, by the end of the year, according to the company doing its recruiting. Earlier this week, Rock Creek Strategic Marketing sent out four job postings that, when filled, will expand the first White House Office of New Media […]
Credit union staff learning to speak Spanish
In the basement below United Educational Credit Union’s lobby on Riverside Drive, nine employees commit to memory the phrases, “This is a deposit slip,” and, “How can I help you?” in Spanish. Some of its credit union tellers, asset managers and maintenance staff were learning a few banking-related phrases to help bridge language and cultural […]
Study: Latinos now account for one in five American children
Latinos now account for about one in five American children – up from one in 10 three decades ago – thanks largely to a huge influx of Mexican and Central American immigrants that began in 1980, a study released Thursday found. The American-born children of parents who arrived since the 1980s now make up a […]
MasterCard Preps Hispanic Push
PURCHASE, N.Y. MasterCard is launching a Hispanic marketing and education initiative promoting the use of its debit and pre-paid products. While the Hispanic population and its buying power has been rapidly on the rise, the segment is still a relatively untapped market for the card issuer, as Hispanics tend to prefer using cash and checks […]
Pharmacies Agree to Provide Prescription Data in Many Languages
In a deal that underscores the challenges and obligations of doing business in polyglot New York State, five major chains that sell prescription drugs have agreed to provide customers with information about them in the customers’ primary languages, the office of Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo announced on Tuesday. The agreements stem from a lengthy […]
Hispanic Buying Power: Will it Continue in 2009?
You may think it strange to discuss the growth of Hispanic buying power as the United States is in the midst of one of the deepest economic downturns in recent history. But when times were flush, a few oft-quoted reports came out about the expected increase in Hispanic wealth-accumulation and buying power. The SeligCenter for […]
