About
In October 2023, the New York State Office of Language Access (OLA) kicked off a statewide listening tour to raise awareness about language access rights in New York State and get feedback about language access services directly from New Yorkers.
The OLA traveled all over the state to host 7 in-person sessions in Buffalo, Rochester, Albany, Westchester, Long Island and 2 sessions in New York City—Harlem and Queens. We also held two virtual sessions to connect with and get feedback from New Yorkers who couldn’t attend an in-person session. After sharing an overview of language access rights in New York State, the OLA heard comments, answered questions from the community and administered a survey in English and 26 languages.
View the Listening Tour Report for more information, including community survey results and findings, to help improve language access services across the state.
Missed it?
If you could not attend a listening session, watch the recording in English of a virtual listening session below.
Download the presentation slides, available in the following 27 languages, including English:
Albanian (Shqip)
Arabic (العربية)
Bangla (বাংলা)
Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာစကား)
French (Français)
English
Greek (Ελληνικά)
Haitian Creole (Kreyòl Ayisyen)
Hindi (हिंदी)
Italian (Italiano)
Japanese (日本語)
Korean (한국어)
Nepali (नेपाली)
Pashto (پښتو)
Polish (Polski)
Portuguese (Português)
Punjabi (ਪੰਜਾਬੀ)
Russian (Русский)
Simplified Chinese (简体中文)
Spanish (Español)
Tagalog (Tagalog)
Traditional Chinese (繁體中文)
Ukrainian (Українська)
Urdu (اُردُو)
Vietnamese (Tiếng Việt)
Yiddish (ייִדיש)
Yoruba (Yorùbá)
Thank You
The OLA collaborated closely with leaders in the community to plan and coordinate these important events. We extend our gratitude to each of you for your contribution to a successful listening tour:
- Brentwood Public Library
- Buffalo Immigrant Leadership Team
- Coalition for Asian American Children and Families
- Community Inclusion and Development Alliance
- Empire Justice Center
- Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York
- Lafayette International Community High School
- New York Immigration Coalition
- University of Rochester’s Memorial Art Gallery
Special thank you to State agency and office heads for joining us, sharing remarks and showing your support during our listening sessions:
- Governor’s Office of the Chief Disability Officer Associate Director Benjamin Thapa
- New York State Office of General Services Commissioner Jeanette M. Moy
- New York State Division of Human Rights Commissioner Maria L. Imperial
- New York State Department of Civil Service and President of the Civil Service Commission Timothy R. Hogues
- New York State Secretary of State Robert J. Rodriguez
We also want to acknowledge the immense work of the linguists and language service professionals who translated, interpreted for these sessions or who helped coordinate language services such as OGS Contractors under Award 23253 as well as other non-contract vendors that performed critical language services.
English Learning Classes
During our listening tour, we received many inquiries about English learning classes. For general information about English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), please visit the New York State Office for New Americans' webpage or call 1-800-566-7636. Interpretation is available in over 200 languages. You can also find a list of class locations on the Opportunity Centers webpage. The Cell-Ed webpage offers a tool to learn English and build skills using any mobile device.