13-6-2024 (HANOI) In a move that celebrates San Francisco’s rich cultural tapestry, the City Board of Supervisors has unanimously voted to declare Vietnamese as an official language, mandating the provision of translation services to cater to the vibrant Vietnamese community within the city limits.
This decision, alongside other revisions to San Francisco’s language access ordinance, underscores the city’s commitment to ensuring that all residents can access essential services in the language they are most comfortable with, thereby fostering inclusivity and promoting active civic engagement.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the declaration effectively requires city authorities to translate all governmental announcements and communications into Vietnamese, ensuring that the Vietnamese community remains informed and engaged.
Vietnamese now joins the ranks of Chinese, Spanish, and Filipino as languages in which the city must offer comprehensive translated services, reflecting San Francisco’s diverse linguistic landscape.
The impetus for this move stems from the city’s language data dashboard, which reveals that nearly 6,800 residents primarily speak Vietnamese. Consequently, San Francisco is now obligated to provide a wide range of language-accessible services, including telephonic interpretations, website content, written notifications, and other official services, in the Vietnamese language.
The draft ordinance, introduced last year by District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton, was driven by the recognition that expanding language access is crucial to ensuring that immigrant communities can actively participate in the governmental process and exercise their civic rights.
“San Francisco is home to many diverse immigrant communities and is a national leader in providing language access services with one of the strongest and most comprehensive local language access laws,” Walton stated, highlighting the city’s pioneering efforts in promoting linguistic inclusion.
This decision not only acknowledges the significant contribution of the Vietnamese community to San Francisco’s cultural fabric but also serves as a testament to the city’s commitment to upholding the principles of equity and accessibility for all its residents, regardless of their linguistic backgrounds.
