Last updated on May 25th, 2023 at 08:29 am

Introducing the Twin Cities Landscape

In east-central Minnesota, three rivers converge: The Mississippi, the Minnesota, and the St. Croix. At this juncture lie Minneapolis and Saint Paul, the Twin Cities. Saint Paul is the state’s capital, but Minneapolis is the larger of the two and the most populous in the state.

Today, Minneapolis and St Paul are thriving centers of art, business, and academia. Target Field draws thousands of baseball fans every year, joggers and skaters fly along the trails linking Lake Calhoun, Lake of the Isles, and Lake Harriet. A quiet stroll through Walker Art Center’s sculpture garden calms the spirit, and a bout of ice hockey invigorates the body.

JR Language is a translation company that offers language services for Minneapolis and Saint Paul, and we understand the area’s language diversity and we recognized it is a prime area for translation and interpretation services.

What are Minneapolis and Saint Paul Famous For?

The Twin Cities boast some impressive numbers when it comes to its quality of life. Minnesota was ranked as the 3rd happiest state in 2020, and Minneapolis is also #3 on the list of the top 100 happiest and healthiest cities. The Twins rank highly among United States cities in many ways, including:

• Academia. The state is highly ranked in educational excellence landing in the nation’s top 10 public school systems. Hennepin County Libraries are one of the US’ top 25 largest library systems.
• Family friendliness. Minnesota is regularly near the top of lists of good places to raise a family.
• Trails, bike paths, and parks are everywhere in the Twin Cities. Nature is never far away in Minneapolis and Saint Paul.
• “Minnesota Nice.” Minnesotans are reputed to be friendly, helpful, and welcoming. There is nothing like the guarantee of good neighbors to encourage people to stay.
• Minnesota is the Land of 10,000 Lakes with over12,000 lakes and 90,000 miles of shoreline with Lake Superior close by.
• Minnesota’s diversity is growing at a faster rate than the U.S. as a whole.
• Immigration is filling Minnesota’s population at a faster pace than native born since 1995.

Languages of the Twin Cities

Minnesota has immigrants from different countries and areas of the world: Canada, Asia, Mexico, and Africa. With that influx also comes new languages and cultures to the area.

A multitude of languages are spoken in the Twin Cities, from Tagalog to Russian to Chinese to Hmong to French to Arabic to Somali. Indigenous languages are preserved there as well, like Ojibwa and Dakota. As is the case in the rest of the US, Spanish is overall the most widely spoken language other than English. However, there are exceptions in certain regions, like Ramsey County, where the most common language besides English is Hmong, then Spanish.

We receive many requests for Interpretation and translation services for many languages including Hmong, Somali and Spanish. Much of these are for legal purposes, medical and the academic sector.

Growth of Multilingualism

Per data collected by Minneapolis public schools, 75% of classrooms have at least one student whose first language is not English, and that is expected to increase. “We are preparing all of our students to be global citizens,” said Elia Bruggeman, the Deputy Education Officer at Minneapolis Public Schools.

Language Service needs in Minneapolis and Saint Paul

Translation and interpretation services have a place in every industry.

• Academia. The Twin Cities area is a perfect place to get an education in language at institutions like the Global Language Institute in downtown Saint Paul, Rayito de Sol Spanish Immersion Early Learning Center in Minneapolis, and Sleepy Tigers Chinese Immersion Learning Center.
  As many parents are recent immigrants, they need help when discussing their children’s education with teachers and the teacher speaks English only. We use phone interpretation, in-person interpretation, and document translation to help with the communication between teacher, parent, and student.
• Tourism is a valuable part of the Twin Cities economy. Domestic and international visitors come to experience attractions like shows at Minneapolis’s Guthrie Theater, shopping on Saint Paul’s Grand Avenue, and boating on the countless waterways. With travel translation going into multiple languages, the tourism industry thrives as visitors can access various sites and enjoy their experiences on a deeper level.
• Medicine. The University of Minnesota medical school sees multilingual and international students graduate every year to enrich the medical field. Hospitals in the Twin Cities use medical translators and interpreters to serve their multilingual and international patients.
• Legal Services. Many legal cases require bilingual support, for those we provide translation and interpretation services to bridge the language gap. Legal issues must be understood by all parties and language services is a must.
• Finance is a major industry in the Twin Cities. Home to Wells Fargo Minnesota, U.S. Bancorp, and TCF Financial governing the flow of billions of dollars. Financial translation and interpretation are a must for any institution that serves multilingual clients and requires a professional translator or interpreter skilled in the languages and the financial industry.

Breaking Language Barrier through Language Services

Language barriers should not be seen as obstacles. Translated versions of content are the opportunities to reach clients and partners, and build relationships waiting to happen at a local and international level. It does not serve humanity to treat language differences as dividers in our globalizing society, especially when there are language service professionals available and ready to help.

For products and services that are sold on-line, localized versions of the website is another opportunity for more exposure. Most non-English speaking internet users prefer to shop in a language other than English. There are thousands of costumers and colleagues in the world waiting to connect, and we can open the door to those connections with language services.

Use the diversity of Minnesota as an opportunity to open your company, product and services to other languages, and cultures at a local and international level.