It's Your World. Your Language., and businesses recognize this

Finding a dentist, calling a cab, subscribing to satellite TV channels and booking tickets to the Arlington Heights Metropolis Arts Centre's performance of "A Christmas Carol" just got easier for non-English speaking suburbanites.

A host of national and Chicago-area businesses have signed up for a telephone language interpretation service, known as Your World. Your Language. It's offered free to their customers, but at a monthly fee and added per-call charge to the companies.

Suburban residents who speak limited English or none at all can dial a toll-free number to access select commercial, retail and entertainment businesses in nine languages.

For now, the service is provided in Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese and Polish.

Chicago-area 911 and 311 operators, insurance companies, hospitals and suburban health-care agencies have used this form of telephone-based language interpretation for years to serve increasingly diverse clientele.

"Definitely, it is an invaluable tool," said Cheryl Aredia, coordinator of the Lake County Health Department's Belvidere Medical Clinic in Waukegan. "We, in the medical profession, in the past have utilized family members to assist with translation, and it truly is not a good way to provide medical care."

The health department started using the service nearly 10 years ago, mostly for Spanish language interpretation. Now, with more Spanish-speaking employees, it uses the service for Mandarin, French, Russian and other languages more often.

AT&T and California-based Language Line Services recently launched the service in Illinois to help businesses attract new markets.

Language Line Services offers the service in 176 languages serving clients in Australia, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. It is available in California, Indiana and Wisconsin, and will be rolled out in cities nationwide by December 2008.

"We have found consumers are going to be four times more likely to buy the product or service if they are spoken to in their preferred language," said Louis Provenzano, Language Line Services president and chief operating officer. "Every 19 seconds, another limited-English speaker enters the United States."

Corporate subscribers include Allstate, AT&T Wireless, Citibank, Dish Network, State Farm Insurance, the city of Chicago, Yellow Cab, Ticketmaster, 1-800-Dentist, Macy's and Bloomingdale's.

"As smaller businesses see the opportunity to do marketing to limited-English speakers, it has broadened the number of businesses that have come onboard," Provenzano said.

Customers who call Language Line's 800 numbers are matched by area code to local services and can select interpreters based on the prevalent foreign languages spoken in that region. The numbers are (888) 855-0811 or (877) TU-LINEA (885-4632) for Spanish-speaking consumers.

For instance, you can make an Orbitz airline ticket reservation in Korean from your Vernon Hills home telephone, or purchase Tiffany's diamond earrings in Polish from Mount Prospect.

"It is tailoring the specific businesses, as well as the specific languages based on the city," Provenzano said.

The need for language interpretation will increase as the suburbs diversify further with Indian, Middle Eastern and a host of Eastern European residents, said Phil Smith, DuPage County director of community services.

"We're covered when it comes to Spanish, and we can deal with a couple of other languages," he said. "Beyond that, we do have to draw in some other resources."

The county connects residents with medical and social services in their communities and could be dealing with dozens of languages, he said.

It subscribes to a language interpretation line but often uses face-to-face interpreters, said Mary Lee Tomsa, administrator of senior services for DuPage County.

"It's a nice option to have in case you can't find someone and you need something quickly," she said. "Any opportunity you have to improve communication with the people you are trying to serve is going to be a plus."

Suburban melting pot

More corporations, hospitals, county health departments and businesses are using telephone-based language interpretation services to cater to the growing numbers of suburban residents who speak a foreign tongue. To access Language Line's Your World. Your Language. service, call (888) 855-0811 or (877) TU-LINEA (885-4632) for Spanish-speaking consumers.

Counties by the numbers

County Foreign born Speak language other than English

Lake 14.8 percent 21.4 percent

Cook 19.8 percent 30.8 percent

McHenry 7.2 percent 10.9 percent

DuPage 15.3 percent 20.8 percent

Kane 15.7 percent 25.1 percent

Will 7.1 percent 12 percent

Illinois 12.3 percent 19.2 percent

U.S. Census Bureau