Hawai‘i Language Roadmap Initiative

Hawaii students earn biliteracy seal in Pidgin English:

Lee Cataluna: Honoring Pidgin In Hawaiʻi Public Schools For the first time, the state Department of Education is recognizing Hawaiʻi Creole as a language worthy of biliteracy.

Thank you to the sponsors of another outstanding Celebrate Micronesia! festival. We had a great time at this year's event, talking story with visitors and residents about Roadmap programs, promoting the importance of language learning and language maintenance, and increasing public awareness of Pacific Island languages in Hawai'i. Participants at the Roadmap table received a copy of our popular Pacific Island quicktionary, a fit-in-the-palm-of-your-hand flip book with 3 phrases in each of 10 Pacific Island languages (including 6 Micronesian languages). The quicktionary is a handy resource for getting started learning the sounds, and greetings, of Pacific Island languages commonly spoken in Hawai'i. We encourage everyone to practice with their quicktionary for next year! Mahalo to all who stopped by!🌺

Thank you to Ms. Mineko Todd and her Japanese level 1 and 3 classes for having us at Waiākea HS this semester in the Roadmap's first-ever Neighbor Island outreach in Hilo! We had a great time talking about how we can use our Japanese in the future and practicing interview skills. Thank you to our interns (Alex, Adones, Kenna, and Sara) for joining us on this outreach!🌺

Join us for a FREE dynamic workshop highlighting career paths for interpreters across various sectors. While the speaker will focus on medical interpreting, the session is open to students/ professionals and aspiring interpreters in all fields, including legal, human services, and more. Gain insights from an expert in healthcare interpreting and discover how your language skills can make a meaningful impact in your community. This workshop offers valuable opportunities for career growth and community support through interpreting.

Bilingual? Graduating from UHM? Unsure how to or why you should certify your language skills? Read these testimonies from past Global Seal of Biliteracy recipients to see how certifying your skills can make a positive impact for you, too!

Link in bio to sign up for your test.

The Hawai‘i Language Roadmap is currently running our Spring Semester round of testing for the Global Seal of Biliteracy!

This testing opportunity is available for students who have graduated in Fall 2024, or who will be graduating in Spring or Summer 2025, and for students in the Language Flagship Programs.

Employers across the United States are using the Global Seal to certify employee language proficiency, and in 2023, the Hawai'i Language Bank began using the Seal to certify their interpreters.

Earning the Seal can enhance your confidence in your language abilities while enhancing your prospects for employment.

Students can sign up via the following link: tinyurl.com/HLRtesting.

From the Office on Equality and Access to the Courts:

Aloha,

The Judiciary's Office on Equality and Access to the Courts (OEAC) is pleased to announce that registration is open for the 2025 Workshops for new state court interpreters!

Please help us publicize this training by displaying and/or distributing the attached informational flyer to individuals who are proficient with English and another language.

The Basic Orientation Workshop

Offered only once a year statewide, the Basic Orientation Workshop (BOW) is the first mandatory event in the Certification Program. The BOW is a two-day seminar that provides an introduction to court interpreting, ethics, and the role of the interpreter in court. Topics covered include: the role of interpreters in the state court system; court interpreting skills; interpreting practice techniques; court interpreter ethics and protocol; legal terms and resources; and next steps in the Certification Program. Applicants must attend the BOW in order to become qualified to interpret in the Hawai‘i State Courts.

This year, through grant funding, we are offering the BOW at a reduced rate of just $25.00. The registration fee of $25.00 – 80% off the regular cost of the workshop -- covers the two-day workshop, course materials, and a resource binder developed especially for Hawai‘i court interpreters.

Seating at each workshop site is limited so register online at www.courts.state.hi.us/courtinterpreting. After completing the online registration, the interpreter must mail or deliver a check or money order for the $25.00 registration fee to: OEAC, 426 Queen St. -17, Honolulu, HI 96813. The Interpreter will not be confirmed for the workshop until their registration payment is received by OEAC.

The Hawai‘i State Judiciary’s Court Interpreter Certification Program

Court Interpreters service the courts as independent contractors and receive:

• Compensation starting at $35.00/hour;

• Roundtrip mileage reimbursement at $.70 per mile;

• Exemption from expired meter parking ticket while on assignment; and

• Commuter time payment, if applicable.


Freelance court interpreters are not Judiciary staff and do not receive employee benefits.

Interpreters must be at least 18 years of age, be authorized to work in the United States, and possess a Hawai‘i General Excise Tax License. The Certification Program requires all interpreters to attend a two-day orientation workshop, pass a written English proficiency exam and basic ethics exam, and clear a criminal background check. Taking an oral skills exam is optional, however obtaining a passing score on the oral exam will lead to an increased compensation rate.



Questions?

For more information about the Court Interpreter Certification Program or the BOW, contact the Office on Equality and Access to the Courts by email at [email protected] or by calling (808) 539-4860.

Want to be an advocate for Hawaiʻi's diverse language communities?
We are searching for applicants to a PAID INTERNSHIP for the Hawaiʻi Language Roadmap:

If you speak Spanish, Chuukese, Marshallese, Japanese, Tagalog, Chinese, Ilokano, Korean, Hawaiian, Samoan, or another
language commonly spoken in Hawaiʻi...
E-mail a cover letter and resume to [email protected]!

QUALIFIED APPLICANTS ARE:
🌺Mature, prompt, outgoing, and ready to work as part of our team
🌺Passionate about their language, language access, and community outreach
🌺Registered at UHM for the 2025 Spring Semester
🌺Preferred: Bilingual workforce experience or community service experience

For this internship, you will:
🌱Meet others who share your passion for community engagement and language equity
🌱Conduct outreach to local high schools (World Language Learners and English Language Learners)
🌱Conduct outreach at multilingual community events
🌱Promote the value of language proficiency for community cohesion, language access, career readiness, and personal growth.
🌱Receive $200 for the 10-hour internship (or proportionally more with more hours).

Thank you to everyone who came by our table at Nippon Culture Day. If you weren't able to make it, check out our website(link in our bio) to learn more about the Roadmap and see how you can get involved. Special thanks to the UH-Mānoa Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures for sponsoring the event, and to the Roadmap interns (Leo, Ka Wing, and Adones) who curated a collection of and spoke with close to 100 students about an assortment of local employment opportunities for Japanese speakers. This year we also shared our newly created quicktionary of useful business Japanese phrases. If you weren’t able to get one this year, come see us at next year’s Nippon Culture Day!

Thank you to Ms. Jenny Lueng and her Japanese level 2 and 3 classes for having us at Roosevelt HS this semester! We enjoyed talking with everyone about our shared experiences with language anxiety, brainstorming strategies for overcoming that anxiety, and discussing ways we can use our language skills to get great careers in the future. Thank you to our interns (Ka Wing, Alex, Leo, Adones, and Brandon) for joining us on this outreach!