Two women wearing yellow rimmed sunglasses

TLC Receives Grant from Dollar General

TLC received a $10,000 grant from Dollar General’s Yellow Glasses Project for our ESL to Go program. The Yellow Glasses Project helps build awareness and empower others through literacy and basic education. The grant helps TLC’s ESL to Go program continue to provide high-quality English classes close to where refugees live in Middle Tennessee.

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TLC Presents at Inaugural AAITE Conference

TLC’s Training Specialist Richard Ponce de Leon and Project Manager Genna Linton recently presented at the inaugural AAITE Edu-Con in Denver. AAITE is the American Association of Interpreters and Translators in Education, a non-profit professional association for interpreters and translators who work in educational settings, along with interested stakeholders and other allies.

They presented “Filling the Gaps: A Case Study in Educational Interpreter Training” based on the 4-session training that TLC conducted for interpreters employed by Metro Nashville Public Schools last year.

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TLC Presents Spanish for Medical Professionals

TLC’s Genna Linton presented a 4-hour long training to 30 nurses at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The course, “Spanish for Medical Professionals: A Linguistic and Cultural Toolkit,” was focused on words, phrases, and cultural norms to help non-Spanish speaking nurses better relate to non-English speaking patients. This will potentially impact hundreds of patients working with these nurses. Just being able to ask if they are in pain or if they need water in the language the patient understands will improve the quality of care they are receiving.

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TLC Consulting with Meraki Learning Center on World Language Curriculum

TLC’s Director of World Languages Brian Barnett is consulting with Meraki Learning Center about developing a world language curriculum for its students. Meraki is a unique homeschool and enrichment center in Nashville tailored to the learning needs and interests of its students. Brian is also working with the French instructor to develop activities for several students with proficiency in French at Meraki. This work will help Meraki develop a well-planned world languages component to its curriculum to facilitate learning and enrich the language experiences of its students.

Construction worker laying on ground after falling

TLC Offers Fall Terminology Webinar for Interpreters

TLC offered an online webinar in April for Spanish interpreters on the terminology for falls, particularly in regard to Workers’ Compensation cases. The work involves specialized knowledge of both medical and legal terminology. Spanish Interpreters from Tennessee, Louisiana, and New Mexico completed the webinar and are now better able to handle appointments for Workers’ Compensation cases after completing the course, and the clients they are interpreting for are better represented.

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TLC Translates Tree Care Documents

TLC is translating the Cumberland River Compact’s Tree Care documents into Spanish, Arabic, Somali, Kurdish Behdini, and Kurdish Sorani. The Cumberland River Compact works with the three million people in the Cumberland River Basin in Tennessee to promote stewardship of the watershed and address causes of water pollution through education and restoration. Planting more trees is an important part of their programming, and translating the documents into these languages used in the Cumberland River Basin means they can reach more of the community.

Paper with Eviction Notice at the top laying on a desk

TLC Is Translating Housing Advocacy Documents

TLC is translating housing advocacy documents into Spanish for The Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands’ Right to Counsel program. The Right to Counsel is a two-year pilot program that increased the number of Legal Aid housing attorneys from two to six. The attorneys represent renters in civil cases with landlords. The documents inform Hispanic clients of their legal rights. This will allow the Right to Counsel attorneys to better assist their Spanish-speaking clients.

A group of people of various ages, races, and genders standing in a half circle making a pile of alternating hands in front of them

TLC to Present 3 Workshops About Generational Diversity in the Workplace

These online webinars can be purchased individually or as a package. They will all take place from 10-11:30 a.m. Central.

April 4 – Understanding Generational Differences

April 26 – Positive Communications Across Generations

May 15 – Leveraging Generational Differences in the Workplace

Learn more or register.

Staff headshot of Janice Rodriguez

TLC Executive Director Joins CPS Board at TSU

Janice Rodriguez, the Executive Director at the Tennessee Language Center, has accepted a board member position at Tennessee State University. She will be serving on the advisory board for the College of Public Service, which will focus on recruiting, community engagement events, and fundraising.

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Congratulations to our Newest TESL Graduates!

TLC recently celebrated our most recent graduates for Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL). They are the 62nd cohort to complete our TESL course.

Screenshot with give people at the top of the screen in Zoom windows and a big Congratulations screen underneath them