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“Minority” consumers won’t be in the minority for much longer in the United States. By 2045, ethnic minorities will be the majority throughout the U.S. In other words, America’s future is “majority minority.” 

Given the current size and future growth of these consumer groups as a larger part of the market, market research firms are making a careful study of the buying habits of multicultural consumers. Paying attention to multicultural buying habits, as well as the media and cultural preferences of these populations, will benefit businesses now and in the future, as these statistics show.

Each week, LanguageLine selects and excerpts five stories about language and culture that we think readers will find intriguing. Here is this week’s “Liner Notes”:

Nearly 90 percent of U.S. population growth is expected to come from immigration over the next 40 years. Additional estimates say that by 2050, the U.S. could have more Spanish speakers than any other country. New reports from UC Berkeley suggest these estimates may be conservative, as climate change could fuel a new wave of immigrants from Latin America.

A federal law aimed at protecting civil rights asserts that healthcare organizations must provide limited-English patients and beneficiaries with written communication notifying them of free language-access services.

The Trump administration wants to remove this and other related regulations, including eliminating the requirement that limited-English patients be given directions on how to report discrimination.

As a language solutions provider, we know that clear communication is the first step to achieving understanding. We also know that some of the terminology in our industry can be confusing to someone who’s not familiar with it.

That’s why we wanted to take a moment to explain the difference between language translation and interpretation, as well as address some other common questions.

What is Language Translation?

Language translation is the process of converting the written word from one language into another language in a way that is culturally and linguistically appropriate so it can be understood by its intended audience.

Each week, LanguageLine selects and excerpts five stories about language and culture that we think readers will find intriguing. Here is this week’s “Liner Notes”:

A report from Harvard Business Review finds an express connection between patient satisfaction and healthcare profits. The study also found communication between caregivers and patients as being the No. 1 factor in patient satisfaction.

A quarter of U.S. employers say they have lost business recently due to a lack of language skills. This trend is bound to intensify, a new report says, as 56 percent of American businesses say they expect their foreign language demand to increase in the next five years.

The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) has released a fascinating new report, “Making Languages Our Business: Addressing Foreign Language Demand Among U.S. Employers.” The ACTFL commissioned a survey of 1,200 U.S. employers, and the resulting paper indicates an urgent demand for language capacity in American businesses.

The report states that a shortage of foreign language skills is negatively impacting the revenues of American companies. According to the study, one in four U.S. employers reports losing or being unable to pursue a business opportunity specifically because of a lack of foreign language skills.

Meanwhile, one in three language-dependent employers in the U.S. reports a language skills gap. This deficit is creating an immediate drag on sales, as half of these companies say they have recently lost or could not pursue business due to a shortcoming in language capacity.

Each week, LanguageLine selects and excerpts five stories about language and culture that we think readers will find intriguing. Here is this week’s “Liner Notes”:

One in five U.S. residents speaks a language other than English at home, while around 9 percent of the nation’s populace is considered limited English proficient, meaning they speaking English less than well and are entitled to assistance. America’s language tapestry will only grow more complex in coming years, as nearly 90 percent of the country’s population growth is expected to come from immigration over the near four decades. Ethnic minorities will become the majority in the U.S. by 2045, according to Census projections.

The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York is one of America’s largest and most respected medical facilities, acclaimed internationally for excellence in clinical care.

In the “Best Hospitals” issue of U.S. News and World Report, Mount Sinai was nationally ranked in 10 specialties, and its pediatric center was listed among the country’s best children’s hospitals in six out of 10 areas of care.

The price of health care makes people avoid the doctor.

The Ryan NENA Community Health Center in Alphabet City is trying to combat this. The center is one of several community-controlled and independent health centers spread throughout Manhattan, from the Lower East Side to Hell’s Kitchen and up to Harlem.

Each week, LanguageLine selects and excerpts five stories about language and culture that we think readers will find intriguing. Here is this week’s “Liner Notes”:

Americans speak more than 300 languages. A new map shows which languages other than English and Spanish are the most common in each state and Washington, D.C.

The United States Census Bureau's American Community Survey annually asks more than 1 million Americans questions about their lives, families, and backgrounds. One question asks respondents what language they mainly speak in their homes.

English is, unsurprisingly, the most commonly spoken language across the U.S., and Spanish is second most common in 46 states and the District of Columbia. Business Insider excluded those two languages in the above map, which depicts the next-most-frequently spoken languages at home in each state.

The map shows a wide variety of languages. German is the most commonly spoken non-English, non-Spanish language in nine states, with French most common in six states and D.C. Vietnamese was the most common language in six states.