The Tennessee Language Center and Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee partnered to provide Spanish language classes for Second Harvest staff, volunteers, and partners. Hear more about it on the latest episode of In Touch with Tennessee, “Bridging Language Barriers in Community Service.” Listen.
You can read the Spring 2022 edition of Brighter Tennessee, UT’s Institute for Public Service magazine. It features a story about TLC’s work with Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope to train new recruits with limited English proficiency.
Three TLC employees were recently recognized by the University of Tennessee Institute of Public Service with a Five Franklin Award, which notes those staff members who demonstrate great work and service to the institute.
Irma Hernandez, Spanish Bilingual Administrative Coordinator, has been with TLC for a short time but has made a significant impact amongst their peers and customers. From day one, Irma has taken the initiative in speaking at a conference, participating in the fundraising team, and meeting with community members, all while learning her new job role. Irma immediately increased their area’s classes and student numbers and performs tasks with a cheerful attitude.
Richard Ponce de Leon, Bilingual Coordinator for Interpretation and Translation, has consistently demonstrated initiative and skill in many areas beyond the scope of the job he was hired to do. Richard is innovative, reliable and a source of inspiration for TLC. Plus, Richard is rather amusing and delightful to work with (and a master of chihuahua memes).
Ramona Wilson, Evening Program Coordinator, has shown flexibility, strength, and a positive attitude through the intense changes we have gone through this past year. Ramona has demonstrated sustained high-quality job performance, initiative, good communication skills, flexibility, and commitment to the agency. When we have in-person classes, Ramona greets students and teachers with warmth and a smile, making all feel welcome. She is always trying to learn new things and be a better version of her great self. No matter what may come around, she is always up to the task.
Congratulations to all three!
Jenny Rish, Director of English Programs, and Irma Hernandez, Spanish Bilingual Admin Coordinator, held an interactive presentation for the Tennessee Association of Municipal Clerks and Recorders (TAMCAR) on Thursday, June 3, about “The Basics for Communicating with All of Your Residents.” TAMCAR is a professional organization dedicated to the advancement of the municipal clerk and encourages clerks and recorders to continue their professional growth and development through continuing educational opportunities. TLC helped participants think through interactions they have had with people from other cultures who speak other languages and provided some basic phrases in Spanish to help with their work.
Some translation mistakes can have a lasting, if mostly harmless, impact. Like early Biblical translators thinking Moses was “horned” instead of “radiant,” leading to some really interesting sculptures, statues, and illuminations of Moses with horns on his head. Or people thinking that Mars had manmade “canals” on it instead of erosion-created “channels” due to a translation error. But other translation mistakes can have lifelong, or even deadly, consequences, as Richard Ponce-de-Leon Monosalva, Interpretation & Translation Project Manager, illustrated during his presentation “Language Access in the Courts” at a recent MTAS Conference for Municipal Court Clerks from across Tennessee on May 21.
TLC provides certified court interpreters, and also offers training for court interpretation throughout the year.
KNOXVILLE – The Tennessee Foreign Language Institute is set to become an entity of the University of Tennessee system and the sixth agency of the UT Institute for Public Service on July 1 2018, thanks to legislation by the Tennessee General Assembly.
The legislation eliminates the Tennessee Foreign Language Institute’s governing board, transfers its resources and assets to UT and renames it the Tennessee Language Center (TLC). Under this new arrangement, the center will tailor its mission to providing language services to state and local government entities in support of industrial recruitment, economic development and provision of government services. Through its five current agencies, IPS provides technical consulting and training to state and local governments, business and industry and law enforcement.
“We look forward to adding the important resources of the Tennessee Language Center to the rich portfolio of expertise and outreach already offered by our Institute for Public Service,” said UT President Joe DiPietro. “The ability to remove language barriers, whether as Tennessee competes in an increasingly globalized economy or as the state seeks to serve its increasingly diverse population, is an important asset I’m proud we can contribute.”
With the mission of Serving Business and Government to improve the lives of Tennesseans, IPS welcomes the Tennessee Language Center.
“This is a great opportunity for IPS to further our mission and work in Tennessee; and expand our already robust service offerings,” IPS Vice President Herb Byrd III said. “We look forward to welcoming the center staff to UT and adding 18 employees who are dedicated to public service.
The language center’s staff will become full-time employees of the university, but will remain headquartered in Nashville.
“We are excited to become part of a statewide university system,” said TLC Director Janice Rodriguez. “The Institute for Public Service has significant outreach across the state and that will be a tremendous asset as we provide our services to governments, industries and others.