Pop quiz: Which language is most frequently requested for interpretation at Para-Plus?

Okay, that was pretty easy. Yes, the answer is Spanish, which comprises almost half of the various written translation and oral interpretation requests we field from our customers.

As one can infer from that number, that means that more than half of our work is in languages other than Spanish. We think that you might have a tougher time guessing which language comes in second.

Mandarin is a good guess (yes, we provide interpretation for Mandarin). Hindi is another good guess (yes, we provide interpretation for Hindi, too). Both are wrong, though.

If you guessed American Sign Language (ASL), give yourself a round of applause. It’s true: for the past few years, ASL interpretation services have comprised between 10 and 20 percent of our annual workload.

That is not because Para-Plus goes out and pushes ASL interpretation services to keep our ASL specialists busy. Rather, we have sought out, recruited and hired ASL specialists because customers have told us they needed ASL interpreters.

Our comprehensive portfolio of languages reflects the diverse makeup not only of our staff, but of the communities we serve. The composition of those communities is in constant flux, and we adjust the service offerings of Para-Plus to meet their changing needs. That’s why we provide interpreters for Farsi, Vietnamese, Arabic, Korean and Turkish.

The health care, education, and civil service sectors assist large immigrant populations. When those organizations’ clients need help understanding them, they turn to Para-Plus.
There have been sighs of relief by Para-Plus customers who have discovered that we provide linguists for Twi, spoken by the Ashanti people of Ghana, as well as Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia.

It’s not just a matter of helping our country’s immigrant population. Our global economy means that businesses of all sizes are looking for ways to broaden the reach of their goods and services to non-English-speaking regions. They need packaging, documentation and marketing materials that will be understood correctly in markets across the world.

That’s why we provide interpreters for Cantonese, spoken in Hong Kong and much of southeast China. Japanese? Of course. Punjabi? We’ve got you covered. We understand that when you’re selling overseas, the needs of your marketplace are your road map.

Likewise, at Para-Plus, the needs of our marketplace – your needs – are our roadmap. Tell us how, where, and when you want to be understood. We will take it from there.