Language Directions Newsletter
July 2015
Safety for All
Latino immigrant workers comprise almost one quarter of the construction industry workforce and suffer the highest rate of construction-related deaths. As recently as 2006, fatal work injuries involving Latino workers in the U.S. increased to reach 990, the highest ever recorded for Latino workers. The fatality rate for civilian foreign-born Hispanic workers in 2006 was 6%, or 50% higher than the rate of all workers.
Read more…
June 2015
7 Tips for Overcoming Language Barriers
Earlier this month, I delivered a workshop addressing cultural diversity in the workplace at the NJ Society of CPAs conference. The topic was selected to address the reality that the workplace in New Jersey is becoming increasingly more multilingual/multicultural. Communication and understanding become more challenging when the employees of a company or firm come from a variety of ethnic, religious, or cultural origins. The challenges are universal and while each situation and company demographic is unique, I’d like to share with you some easy techniques you can use to assess and increase understanding that I shared with workshop attendees.Here are seven tips that will help avoid mutual mystification in communication:
Read more…
May 2015
Is Your Accent Getting in the Way?
A very real barrier to securing new employment can be a heavy accent. A hiring manager may be reluctant to bring someone onto the team who is difficult to understand and will generate miscommunication issues and errors on the job. A job seeker can improve his or her chances for employment at an appropriate skill level by increasing his or her control of correct pronunciation and fluency in English. Poor language skills can be perceived as a lack of expertise as well.Read more…
April 2015
Changing Workplace Populations
Populations change; the kaleidoscope turns and a new visual presents itself. The workplace and the suburban communities of today are not the same as they were even a few short years ago. Drive into some towns and the store signs are in Polish, drive a few miles from there and they change to Korean or Spanish, Portuguese, or Arabic.Read more…