Language Issues

In a year of political milestones, prepare to add one more to the heap. Come this fall, Spanish-speaking Americans — a community not always paid the greatest attention by presidential candidates — should be just about as sick of political ads as the rest of their compatriots.

With Latinos appearing key to the respective general election strategies of both John McCain and Barack Obama, experts say spending on Spanish-language media is set to shatter the previous record of nearly $9 million, the overall number achieved by both parties and outside groups during the 2004 race between President Bush and John Kerry.”*

Plans for meeting the needs of American Hispanics must take into account their overwhelming reliance on the English language, although for the 15 percent of the U.S. Hispanic population that is monolingual Spanish operant, Spanish-language publishing makes sense. Reaching the 40 million-plus American Hispanic population requires balance.
…
In a letter to Críiticas, an English Speaker’s Guide to the Latest Spanish Language Titles, Irma Flores Manger encourages the magazine to “include reviews of books by Latinos written in English,” citing relevant reasons. While expressing sympathy with her reasons, the editors responded that their “current focus is on the Spanish-language publishing world.” Críticas fills an important space, but if that space is focused only on the Spanish-language publishing world then that space is not the space of U.S. Hispanics. For in focusing only on Spanish language publishing Críticas believes that U.S. Hispanics are essentially a Spanish-language reading group or that non-Hispanic English speaking Americans are interested in Spanish-language materials. Both are tenuous assumptions. In a recent Census Bureau 2000 Supplementary Report on immigration in the 90’s, two-thirds of the children of Hispanic immigrants from this period “rated themselves as speaking English very well” which, by extension, makes them English-language readers as well.”*

Dave Slade has been asked what the difference is between a Hispanic and a Mexican. Sometimes, it’s a joke. Other times, it’s not.

Slade explained the difference Friday morning at the Hispanic Cultural Awareness presentation put on by the High Country Human Resources Association and sponsored by Integrated Community. His­panic, he said, is a term the U.S. government invented in the 1970s to give a name to all Spanish speakers. A Mexican is someone from Mexico.”*

JetBlue Airways Corporation (Nasdaq: JBLU), together with website language management (WLM) company MotionPoint Corporation, today announced the launch of the much-anticipated Spanish version of www.JetBlue.com, offering a more robust online shopping experience for the value airline’s Spanish-speaking jetters. Customers who prefer to shop for flights en espanol can now log on directly to www.jetblue.com/espanol or click the link at the top of the JetBlue.com homepage to access the site.

While most of the content is a direct translation of the English version, Hispanic-specific marketing messages and offers will also be posted. In the first phase, more than 90 percent of the JetBlue.com site is Spanish-enabled. Additional links, including: Work Here; Investor Relations; and some of the airline’s ancillary products will be translated in the near future. Translation of JetBlue’s kiosks, confirmation itineraries and pre-flight emails and consumer emails will also be part of phase two.
To translate the site into Spanish and keep it updated, JetBlue hired business partner MotionPoint Corporation. The company combines human translation with technology to deliver a fully enabled, multilingual web experience. Rather than building a second website, MotionPoint’s TransMotion(R) technology adds another “language layer” to the original jetblue.com site.
“As JetBlue continues to expand into more and more Spanish-speaking markets, it is essential that we provide a robust bilingual website to stay culturally relevant to our largely diverse audience of JetBlue customers,” said Michael Stromer, Director of Interactive Marketing for JetBlue Airways. “MotionPoint gives us the responsiveness and translation quality that we demand to preserve our brand and deliver the core JetBlue Experience to our Latino and Hispanic communities.”
“JetBlue is such an innovator when it comes to surprising and delighting its customers. We are thrilled to be associated with JetBlue and are particularly pleased with their commitment to serving the rapidly growing Hispanic market here in the United States,” said Chuck Whiteman, Senior Vice President of Client Services for MotionPoint.
JetBlue recently announced expansion plans in Florida, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, including the Dominican Republic. The site is a further example of the airline’s commitment to its bilingual Customers and Crewmembers in its efforts to grow its Hispanic markets.
MotionPoint Corporation offers clients a turnkey solution to publish their fully functional websites in multiple languages. MotionPoint’s proprietary technology makes it easy to add any language to any website — and radically improves the ROI of doing so. The company serves U.S. based and international clients from its headquarters in South Florida. For more information about MotionPoint, please visit www.MotionPoint.com.
New York-based JetBlue Airways has created a new airline category based on value, service and style. Known for its award-winning service and free TV as much as its low fares, JetBlue is now pleased to offer customers Lots of Legroom and super-spacious Even More Legroom seats. JetBlue introduced complimentary in-flight e-mail and instant messaging services on aircraft “BetaBlue,” a first among U.S. domestic airlines. JetBlue is also America’s first and only airline to offer its own Customer Bill of Rights, with meaningful and specific compensation for customers inconvenienced by service disruptions within JetBlue’s control. Visit www.jetblue.com/promise for details. JetBlue serves 53 cities with 600 daily flights. With JetBlue, all seats are assigned, all travel is ticketless, all fares are one-way, and an overnight stay is never required. For information or reservations call 1-800-JETBLUE (1-800-538-2583) or visit www.jetblue.com.
DIRECTV(R) service is not available on flights outside the continental United States. (C)2008 JetBlue Airways
“

While opponents of the initiative to make English the official language of Metro government bide their time, Councilman Eric Crafton’s group has collected half of the necessary signatures to put the measure on the ballot this fall.

Groups like the state and local chapters of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, in addition to education and immigrants-rights advocacy groups say they are waiting to see if the English Only initiative officially gets on the ballot before they begin a campaign to combat the movement.”*

IMMIGRATION POLICY stirs up angry debate, but among the islands of calm are English language classrooms where immigrants can learn the skills they need to engage in American life and be more effective workers. If only there were more of these islands.

To tap the power of communication, a group of civic, business, union, and nonprofit leaders gathered last week to launch the English Works Campaign. It’s a promising statewide effort to make English classes more available to immigrants.”*

I was the type of kid who got nervous during show and tell. My face would turn crimson. I’d shuffle my Keds. I haven’t progressed all that much. So when I was invited to La Cosa Nostra, the perverse and profound late night Spanish-language show on America TeVe, my response was “Umm….”

My Spanish is far from perfect. I stammer when I speak English in front of a camera. In May, I wrote a New Times feature on the unpredictable and sexy show. The producers and cast were wonderfully open and accessible. There was no decent excuse for me not to be aside from televised embarrassment, which probably should have been enough.”*

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST), recent recipient of the 2008 Regional Theatre Tony Award, announced today that it will produce a staged reading of Romeo y Julieta, a newly commissioned, bilingual adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, in the Theatre at Little Village Lawndale High School July 25 and 26. Henry Godinez, co-founder of Teatro Vista, director of Chicago’s Latino Theatre Festival and a veteran of nine productions as a member of CST’s acting company, will direct a local and national cast of Latino theater artists including Elizabeth Peña, four-time winner of the American Latino Media Arts Award. Karen Zacarías, founding artistic director of Young Playwrights’ Theatre in Washington, D.C. and winner of the 2006 Francesca Primus Award, will adapt the 75-minute work. “*

Trustees at N.C. Central University established a new certificate program Wednesday to boost English proficiency.

The program is a response to a growing Hispanic population in Durham that has taxed a similar offering at Durham Technical Community College, officials said. The program will consist of five college-level, three-hour courses for students and members of the broader community.”*

But Virginia’s governor has another attribute — one that hasn’t gotten so much attention: Tim Kaine speaks fluent Spanish.

“Senador Obama es un hombre bien listo,” Kaine tells crowds gathered to see the presumptive Democratic nominee.”*

Relative newcomer Barnes puts in a rather dashing turn as the Hispanic-accented prince, and his addition not only refreshes the dynamic of the characters but also prevents the film from feeling formulaic.”*

Article about the movie Prince Caspian

People who are bicultural and speak two languages may unconsciously change their personality when they switch languages, according to a U.S. study.

Researchers David Luna from Baruch College and Torsten Ringberg and Laura A. Peracchio from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee studied groups of Hispanic women, all of whom were bilingual, but with varying degrees of cultural identification.”*

From the press release .DOC

People who are bicultural and speak two languages may actually shift their personalities when they switch from one language to another, according to new research in the Journal of Consumer Research.

“Language can be a cue that activates different culture-specific frames,” write David Luna (Baruch College), Torsten Ringberg, and Laura A. Peracchio (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee).

The authors studied groups of Hispanic women, all of whom were bilingual, but with varying degrees of cultural identification. They found significant levels of “frame-shifting” (changes in self perception) in bicultural participants—those who participate in both Latino and Anglo culture. While frame-shifting has been studied before, the new research found that biculturals switched frames more quickly and easily than bilingual monoculturals.

The authors found that the women classified themselves as more assertive when they spoke Spanish than when they spoke English. They also had significantly different perceptions of women in ads when the ads were in Spanish versus English. “In the Spanish-language sessions, informants perceived females as more self-sufficient and extroverted,” write the authors.

In one of the studies, a group of bilingual U.S. Hispanic women viewed ads that featured women in different scenarios. The participants saw the ads in one language (English or Spanish) and then, six months later, they viewed the same ads in the other language. Their perceptions of themselves and the women in the ads shifted depending on the language. “One respondent, for example, saw an ad’s main character as a risk-taking, independent woman in the Spanish version of the ad, but as a hopeless, lonely, confused woman in the English version,” write the authors.

The shift in perception seems to happen unconsciously, and may have broad implications for consumer behavior and political choices among biculturals.

David Luna, Torsten Ringberg, and Laura A. Peracchio. “One Individual, Two Identities: Frame-Switching Among Biculturals” Journal of Consumer Research: August 2008.

In keeping with its commitment to make the 2008 Democratic National Convention the most accessible and technologically-savvy event of its kind, the Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) announced today that Comcast Corporation will produce simultaneous, online streaming coverage of the Convention in Spanish at DemConvention.com and make available a broad range of Convention content through its signature On Demand service. The DNCC also announced that Comcast has been named the Convention’s Official Cable Television and Video-On-Demand (VOD) provider.

(Logo: www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080331/DNCCLOGO )

“We set out to ‘bring down the walls’ of the Pepsi Center and make this year’s historic Convention as inclusive and accessible to as many people as possible,” said Leah D. Daughtry, CEO of the DNCC. “Comcast is helping us bring the Convention to a growing number of computer screens and televisions throughout the country and around the world.”

From the Comcast Media Center, based in the Denver metro area, Comcast will provide live, gavel-to-gavel Spanish-language interpretation of all Convention activities from the Pepsi Center to be streamed online at DemConvention.com from August 25-28. This marks the first time a national political Convention has been completely simulcast in Spanish and made available to a worldwide audience. In addition, Comcast will place highlights, including key speeches and Spanish-language content from each night of the Convention, on its national VOD platform, available to over 16 million Comcast Digital Cable subscribers in 39 states and the District of Columbia. Comcast will also make this VOD Convention content available for distribution on other cable systems throughout the nation.

Comcast will also edit, manage and archive Convention coverage for distribution online, on cable television and via global satellite uplink.

“With Spanish as the primary language of approximately 35 million Americans — not to mention the more than 300 million Spanish-speakers outside the United States — offering bilingual coverage of the Convention makes more people feel welcome under the Democratic Party’s ‘big tent,’” said Texas State Senator and Convention Co-Chair Leticia Van de Putte. “As a Texan and a Latina, I’m proud to belong to a party that embraces the Hispanic community.”

Comcast’s On Demand service offers more than 10,000 selections each month with more than 500 high-definition choices, and Comcast customers have viewed On Demand selections more than eight billion times. Barack Obama’s keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention was the most widely viewed On Demand video from Comcast’s 2004 Convention coverage.

“Comcast’s advanced communications network will allow the nation to experience the Convention in new and innovative ways,” said David L. Cohen, Executive Vice President of Comcast. “We have no doubt that this year’s history-making Convention will be of great interest to our customers. Comcast is proud to be a part of it.”

Comcast Corporation is the nation’s leading provider of cable, entertainment and communications products and services. In 2006, Comcast partnered with nearly 200 different community organizations and provided more than $9 million in cash and in-kind contributions in Colorado.

The Democratic National Convention, held from August 25-28, 2008, is expected to pump an estimated $160 million into the Denver area’s economy and draw up to 50,000 visitors to the region.

About the DNCC:

The 2008 Democratic National Convention Committee is the official arm of the Democratic National Committee responsible for planning and organizing the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver. www.demconvention.com

To unsubscribe from our mailing list or to refer additional e-mail addresses, please direct all inquiries to DNCCPress@demconvention.com.

Paid for by 2008 Democratic National Convention Committee, Inc. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.
Website: www.demconvention.com/
“*

Hispanic families now have a trusted online source in child and adolescent mental health accessible in Spanish at AboutOurKids.org. The NYU Child Study Center (CSC) has translated its Web site into Spanish to help this underserved community find important information about children’s psychiatric and learning disorders.

“Only one in seven Hispanic children who are affected by psychiatric and learning disorders get the help they need,” said Harold S. Koplewicz, M.D., founder and director of the NYU CSC. “We’re committed to bringing the latest and best information on children’s mental health to all in the Hispanic community.”

HERE ARE THE FACTS*:

– Hispanic adolescents have the highest number of suicide attempts among all ethnic groups in the U.S.
– Hispanic high school students exhibited the highest rate of sadness or hopelessness according to one study assessing risk behavior in high school students.
– Hispanic youth have higher levels of emotional distress because of the pressures to rapidly adopt the values of their new culture.
– Hispanic teens evidence high rates of substance abuse and increasing rates of juvenile justice involvement.
– Few Spanish-speaking or Latino mental health professionals exist.

“This is a community that we can help by providing accurate and timely information in a user-friendly format that can be easily understood by parents,” said Raul R. Silva, M.D., vice-chair of the NYU Child Study Center and associate professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. “Concerned that your child is anxious or depressed? Worried that your child is abnormally thin? Things not going well at school? Where can you find help? It’s all there at AboutOurKids.org en Español.”

The new site offers visitors translated articles and tips from renowned CSC experts on a variety of relevant issues ranging from suicide and depression to discipline and obesity. Helpful features such as the “A-Z Disorder Guide” and links to other web sites and essential resources allow Spanish-speaking visitors to quickly locate important information with the click of a mouse.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

New York University Child Study Center is the nation’s leading organization for research, prevention and treatment of child and adolescent psychiatric and learning disorders. Through science-based clinical care, cutting-edge research, expert professional training, and extensive public education, the Center strives to generate new knowledge about child mental health, improve the practices of healthcare professionals who serve children, and influence child-related public health policy. Most importantly, the Center provides hope, help and care to children and their families who suffer from these disorders.

The NYU Child Study Center is committed to giving children back their childhood. To learn more, visit AboutOurKids.org.

*All statistics sourced from The American Psychiatric Association “*

A billboard on U.S. Highway 77/83 reads, “Our huevos are bigger.”

The bigger huevos are the subject of a Stripes’ convenient store advertisement for its in-store restaurant, the Laredo Taco Company.

The sign’s clever use of bilingual double entendre has caused quite a stir on this stretch of the Texas-Mexico border, in addition to being a source of amusement for some.”*

In an effort to reach out to its growing Latino community, the Escondido Police Department plans to offer free Spanish courses to Escondido police officers starting next month.

In addition, the department has also hired a woman to act as a police liaison with the Latino community. In her position as liaison, Leticia Gearduno will inform Escondido Police Chief Jim Maher on any issues or concerns raised within the Latino community.”*

Hispanic families now have
a trusted online source in child and adolescent mental health accessible in
Spanish at AboutOurKids.org. The NYU Child Study Center (CSC) has
translated its Web site into Spanish to help this underserved community
find important information about children’s psychiatric and learning
disorders.

“Only one in seven Hispanic children who are affected by psychiatric
and learning disorders get the help they need,” said Harold S. Koplewicz,
M.D., founder and director of the NYU CSC. “We’re committed to bringing the
latest and best information on children’s mental health to all in the
Hispanic community.”

HERE ARE THE FACTS*:

–  Hispanic adolescents have the highest number of suicide attempts among
all ethnic groups in the U.S.
–  Hispanic high school students exhibited the highest rate of sadness or
hopelessness according to one study assessing risk behavior in high
school students.
–  Hispanic youth have higher levels of emotional distress because of the
pressures to rapidly adopt the values of their new culture.
–  Hispanic teens evidence high rates of substance abuse and increasing
rates of juvenile justice involvement.
–  Few Spanish-speaking or Latino mental health professionals exist.
“This is a community that we can help by providing accurate and timely
information in a user-friendly format that can be easily understood by
parents,” said Raul R. Silva, M.D., vice-chair of the NYU Child Study
Center and associate professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
“Concerned that your child is anxious or depressed? Worried that your child
is abnormally thin? Things not going well at school? Where can you find
help? It’s all there at AboutOurKids.org en Espanol.”

The new site offers visitors translated articles and tips from renowned
CSC experts on a variety of relevant issues ranging from suicide and
depression to discipline and obesity. Helpful features such as the “A-Z
Disorder Guide” and links to other web sites and essential resources allow
Spanish-speaking visitors to quickly locate important information with the
click of a mouse.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

New York University Child Study Center is the nation’s leading
organization for research, prevention and treatment of child and adolescent
psychiatric and learning disorders. Through science-based clinical care,
cutting-edge research, expert professional training, and extensive public
education, the Center strives to generate new knowledge about child mental
health, improve the practices of healthcare professionals who serve
children, and influence child-related public health policy. Most
importantly, the Center provides hope, help and care to children and their
families who suffer from these disorders.

The NYU Child Study Center is committed to giving children back their
childhood. To learn more, visit AboutOurKids.org.

*All statistics sourced from The American Psychiatric Association

“*

Spanish speakers in Winston-Salem soon will be able to flip to a new TV program geared for them.

But unlike the Spanish-language cable channels that offer melodramatic novelas (soap operas) with Mexican actors, European soccer matches or news from Latin America, this one will have more local flavor.

Winston-Salem’s government channel, WSTV-13, plans to broadcast a public-service program called Tu Comunidad (Your Community) in Spanish. The goal is to make Hispanics aware of the services that the city offers, officials said yesterday.”*

Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) announced today that its telephonic health risk assessment, providing a measure of health and resources on individual wellness and lifestyle needs, is now available for members in Spanish.

Humana Health Assessment (HHA) is a confidential health risk questionnaire providing a benchmark to the member on health status and an individualized action plan to better understand and improve personal well-being.

“The launch of Humana Health Assessment in Spanish is an important component of Humana’s initiatives to improve communications to minority members and positively impact access to wellness services,” said Steven Goldberg, M.D., Humana’s Corporate Medical Director, Clinical Policy. “The ultimate goal is to eliminate any disparity in access to healthcare services so that we help each member pay more attention to their health, feel better about their health, be more productive and have lower long-term health care costs.”

The Spanish-language phone version of the health assessment was launched to facilitate communication with the growing segment of Hispanic members enrolled in Humana health plans. A large number of membership within Humana is located in states where, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, Hispanics are the largest minority population. These states include Florida, Texas, Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Oregon, Utah and Washington.

The estimated Hispanic population of the United States as of July 2006 is 44.3 million making people of Hispanic origin the nation’s largest ethnic or race minority. There are 32.2 million U.S. household residents age five or older who speak Spanish at home. Hispanics now comprise 15 percent of the nation’s population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and are expected to comprise 20 percent of the population within the next 20 years.

Members may access the Humana Health Assessment by calling toll free (866) 444-6096. Participants are prompted to select English or Spanish before beginning the assessment.

Members calling the number will answer questions about their health and will then receive a confidential, Spanish-language profile tailored to them within 14 days of completion.

Information provided through the assessment will also be analyzed to determine if the member might benefit from early referral to Humana’s disease management programs, HumanaBeginnings program for expectant mothers or Personal Nurse.

“*

Today the Oregon Secretary of State’s office announced that Initiative Petition #19 has qualified for the upcoming ballot. The unfunded mandate termed “English Language Instruction” would prohibit teaching a public school student in a language other than English for more than two years. This November, Oregonians will have the choice to reject or pass a law which will take control away from local school boards, families and educators and place it in the hands of convicted racketeer Bill Sizemore.

“School children targeted by Bill Sizemore’s measure speak over a hundred languages in our public schools and come from a variety of backgrounds. Many of these children suffer from economic hardship and some have spent years in refugee camps with no formal schooling before coming to Oregon,” said Kayse Jama of the Center for Intercultural Organizing. “This is a new low even for Sizemore, destroying their educational hopes in a land where they should be given equal opportunity”.

Similar measures that have been passed in other states have been shown to hinder the ability of children to learn English. In California, a recent study revealed that after six years since an anti-bilingual education measure’s passage just one-quarter of Hispanic pupils could expect to be reclassified as fluent in English.

This staggering revelation shows that students have been prevented from making the most of their education thereby having a negative impact on their economic future and the future of the communities they live in. The fact remains, children learn English more quickly, along with math and science and other academic subjects, when at least some of their instruction is in their native language. Last year, there were 62,084 students enrolled in English Language Development programs in Oregon school districts.

A broad coalition of immigrant, refugee, educators and ally organizations are set to fight the ill-conceived measure by educating Oregonians about the additional costs the measure will create, the fact that it will take federal money away from Oregon’s General Fund Budget, the harm it will do to children and the control it will take away from local school boards, families and educators, those whom know best about educate our children.

“We are in the process of educating families in communities around Oregon about the harmful consequences of this measure”, said Aeryca Steinbauer, coordinator of CAUSA. “Oregonians everywhere should be concerned about its damaging effects on children and disruption of local control”.”*

Queens Courier Establishes Outreach To Latin Population With Exclusive Spanish Edition

The Queens Courier, the principle community newspaper for the borough of Queens, New York, is establishing a Spanish language edition. Building on their long established tradition of keeping the residents of Queens educated on their social, moral and community obligations, the Queens Courier has grown from a single weekly newspaper to 11 publications, ranging from tourist oriented publications, like the Key to Queens, to community health related issues (like Healthwise) to businesses publications dedicated to the unique needs of people in Queens.

Founded in 1985 by Victoria Schneps-Yunis, and John Toscano, the Queens Courier grew from the realization that more and more apartment owners were going co-op, owning their apartments and having the same vested stake in their community that homeowners would have. Dedicated to informing the residents of Queens about bond issues, educational and school issues, and shining the light of good journalism on the events of merit in the community, the Queens Courier has expanded from a two person operation to one with more than 50 employees and reporters.

The Courier has always been focused on the needs of the community, and with the changing demographics in Queens, which is now more than 26% and growing, the need to provide Hispanic residents with the same information that the English speaking majority proved to be a clarion call to Schneps-Yunis.

“We have long believed that it is the power of the press, to enact long lasting change, that keeps the sinews of our community strong. We are the lifeline between all of our neighbors, the fabric that their lives interweaves to make a group of neighbors into a community of citizens. Without a Spanish language newspaper, we were not serving a vital and important segment of our readers, until now.”

In addition to listing events common to Queens, the Spanish edition (El Correo de Queens) covers Spanish language events, and gives advertisers looking to reach the Hispanic market an avenue that they’re comfortable with. The aim is to make sure that all the important news reaches everyone who needs to be reached, regardless of the language they read or speak in their homes. El Correo de Queens can be found in all the locations that other editions of the Queens Courier can be found in – ranging from banks, to gymnasiums and pharmacies and supermarkets. With a total circulation of over half a million copies of each issue, the Queens Courier is one of the highest circulation community newspapers in the country.

PRESS CONTACT:
Noah Rosenberg
38-15 Bell Blvd.
Bayside, NY 11361
nrosenberg@queenscourier.com
718-224-5863 ext237″

“Que quieres comer?” That’s what Bennigan’s Grill & Tavern is asking as the restaurant chain caters to the country’s growing Hispanic population with the national release of a Spanish-language menu.

“The U.S. Hispanic community is our country’s fastest-growing segment, and this new menu is just one more way we can welcome those customers,” said Jennifer Gamble, director of marketing for Bennigan’s.

The Spanish menu rolled out nationally alongside the release of Bennigan’s new core menu on June 3. Each restaurant will have hardcopies available to offer Spanish-speaking guests.

“Hispanics purchase a meal outside of their home as many as four times a week, and we don’t want language to be a barrier,” Gamble said. “This Spanish menu gives our servers that option when they need it.”

The Hispanic population grew to 44.3 million in 2006 from 35.3 million in 2000 and continues to expand. In Texas, where Bennigan’s is headquartered, the Hispanic population is projected to outnumber the White population by 2020.

While a majority of Hispanics in the U.S. speak English, Bennigan’s views its Spanish menu as one more way to provide exceptional service.

From “Entradas” (appetizers) to “Ensaladas” (salads), and “Sopas” (soups) to “Postres” (desserts), Spanish-speaking guests have the same full selection.

But Gamble added, “The Monte Cristo seems to need no translation.”

About Bennigan’s Grill & Tavern

Since 1976, Bennigan’s has been offering customers a diverse food and drink menu with an Irish influence in a classic grill & tavern setting. Headquartered in Plano, Texas, Bennigan’s has over 310 locations in 10 countries, and is owned by Metromedia Restaurant Group (MRG), one of the world’s leading multi-concept table-service restaurant groups. Other MRG concepts include Steak and Ale, Ponderosa Steakhouse, Bonanza Steakhouse and The Plano Tavern. Additional information on Bennigan’s is available at www.bennigans.com . “*

The Carolina Panthers are adding Spanish-language broadcasts this season through a one-year deal with Charlotte-based WNOW-AM.

With the agreement, the Panthers become the 12th franchise in the 32-team National Football League with a broadcast in Spanish.”*

Staff members with the Ventura Unified School District’s Adult and Continuing Education program and the founders of Open English share a vision.

Both see a future where language courses use technology to speed Latinos and other English language-learners toward fluency. In fact, the adult education program and language-learning business recently teamed up to help accomplish that.

With Open English providing the Internet platform and Ventura Unified’s program supplying the academic expertise, a multimedia studio and students to test new content, the two have begun sculpting an interactive language-learning system.”*