New Yorkers speak over 800 languages. About 30% of New Yorkers speak a language other than English at home. Of them, around 2.5 million don’t speak, write or understand English very well. To make sure all New Yorkers can access government services and benefits— no matter how well you communicate in English— Governor Kathy Hochul signed New York State’s language access policy into law and created the state’s Office of Language Access.
To celebrate our state’s linguistic diversity and firm commitment to providing New Yorkers with access to government services and benefits in their preferred language, Governor Kathy Hochul has declared April as Language Access Month.
To learn more about your language access rights in New York State, visit our Know Your Rights page.
The New York State Office of Language Access. Your Language. Your New York State.
Watch the "Know Your Rights" video, available in the following languages, including English:
American Sign Language
Arabic (العربية)
Bangla (বাংলা)
French (Français)
English
Haitian Creole (Kreyòl Ayisyen)
Italian (Italiano)
Korean (한국어)
Polish (Polski)
Russian (Русский)
Simplified Chinese (简体中文)
Spanish (Español)
Traditional Chinese (繁體中文)
Urdu (اُردُو)
Yiddish (ייִדיש)