The city of Austin has taken a perfect approach in helping out residents who don’t speak English as a primary language.

Monday, June 12, 2000

The city of Austin has taken a perfect approach in helping out residents who don’t speak English as a primary language.

The city Park and Recreation Department has expanded the summer program booklet from 16 pages to 40 pages mainly to offer the same information not only in English, but also Spanish, Vietnamese and Laotian. By printing the additional languages, the city hopes not only to help draw more participants to its recreation programs, but also hopefully increase the diversity of the program participants. There’s no reason that these programs shouldn’t reflect the wonderful diverse makeup of our community.

Likewise, the library will offer storytime in Spanish this summer. What will this program cost the city? Nothing! Members of the Spanish Club at Austin High School have volunteered to read the stories to children.

The city needs to explore more opportunities such as this, by allowing those who have expertise in our community to help bridge cultural gaps. We applaud the effort.