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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.

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.

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”:

Challenges threatening the upcoming 2020 census could put more than 4 million people at risk of being undercounted in next year's national head count, according to new projections by the Urban Institute.

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

By the time today’s teenagers hit their 30s, there will be more minorities than whites living in the United States, according to a statistical compilation published by Axios.

According to the report, the demographic shifts we have seen will achieve a tipping point in the 2040s, at which point the country will be older than it is today, as well as “majority minority.”

LanguageLine Solutions President and CEO Scott W. Klein recently sat down for a just-published interview with Authority Magazine in which the future of health care in North America was discussed, in particular as it applies to limited-English speakers.

Asked what changes need to be made to improve the overall U.S. healthcare system, he responded:

“We see healthcare issues through the lens of language,” Klein said. “To us, it’s not shocking that there are massive health disparities for minorities living in the U.S. For example, it’s astounding that 45 percent of Hispanic boys and 53 percent of Hispanic girls living in the U.S. are predicted to develop diabetes in their lifetimes. In general, ethnic minorities here are twice as likely to develop a chronic disease compared to their non-Hispanic white counterparts.