Vietnamese becomes official language in San Francisco

On June 11 (US time), the San Francisco City Council of Supervisors (California, USA) voted unanimously to declare Vietnamese as the city's official language and to provide translation services.

Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. THUY MIEN

The decision is aimed at ensuring that San Francisco authorities translate all city government announcements into Vietnamese for the Vietnamese community here, according to the San Francisco Chronicle on June 11. Since 2001, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors has implemented an ordinance to enhance language access for communities with limited English proficiency. The ordinance requires San Francisco authorities to translate English into any language with at least 10,000 residents. Under the new regulation, the board has reduced the threshold to 6,000 people, allowing Vietnamese to join a list that previously included only Chinese, Spanish and Filipino. Official statistics show that 6,791 city residents are identified as a predominantly Vietnamese-speaking group. Now, the city will provide translation services by phone, text on the website, announcements and other official services in Vietnamese. The ordinance was introduced last year by Councilman Shamann Walton, who said San Francisco needed to expand language access to ensure immigrant communities could participate in local government. “San Francisco is home to a diverse immigrant community and is a national leader in providing language access,” Walton said at a press conference before the council voted.

Thuy Mien

Source : https://thanhnien.vn/tieng-viet-tro-thanh-ngon-ngu-chinh-thuc-o-san-francisco-185240612135952364.htm