Translation Services in Long Beach, CA

Language access rules in California

Court interpreter program: Judicial Council of California, Court Interpreters Program (CIP), part of the Language Access Services Program in the Center for Families, Children & the Courts, which oversees interpreter recruitment, testing, licensing, discipline, and cross-assignments and maintains the statewide Master List of certified and registered court interpreters.
Court-certified languages: The Bilingual Interpreting Examination for certification is given in Arabic, Eastern Armenian, Cantonese, Farsi, Filipino (Tagalog), Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese; interpreters in all other spoken languages qualify as registered court interpreters by passing a written exam and oral proficiency exams. The Master List carries more than 1,700 certified and registered interpreters.
The rule: Article I, section 14 of the California Constitution gives a person unable to understand English who is charged with a crime the right to an interpreter throughout the proceedings, and Evidence Code section 756 (AB 1657, effective January 1, 2015) authorizes courts to provide interpreters to all parties in civil matters regardless of income; the Judicial Council has certified and registered court interpreters since 1993 under Government Code section 68562 et seq.
Dymally-Alatorre Bilingual Services Act: Under Government Code section 7290 et seq., a state department must provide information in another language when 5 percent or more of the public it serves requests services in that language, through bilingual staff, interpreters, or translated documents and forms, and must file a language survey with CalHR by October 1 of every even-numbered year.
School notices in the home language: Education Code section 48985 requires a public school where 15 percent or more of students speak a single primary language other than English to send parental notifications in both English and that language; the California Department of Education notifies districts of the qualifying schools and languages by August 1 each year.
Language need: The Judicial Council reports more than 200 languages spoken in California, with 6.6 million residents age five and older (18.1 percent) speaking English less than "very well" under 2014-2018 American Community Survey estimates.
Refugee program: The California Department of Social Services Refugee Programs Bureau has statewide administrative responsibility for the Refugee Resettlement Program, whose benefits and services are delivered locally by county welfare departments and refugee service providers.

Sources

Languages spoken in Long Beach

44.7% of Long Beach residents age 5 and older speak a language other than English at home, and 16.2% speak English less than “very well.” Spanish leads, followed by Tagalog, including Filipino and Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese.

Language spoken at home	Residents	Speak English less than “very well”
Spanish	143,070	50,289
Other Asian and Pacific Island languages	17,588	8,673
Tagalog, including Filipino	13,059	4,616
Other Indo-European languages	6,196	1,760
Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese	2,898	1,013
Vietnamese	2,555	1,508
Korean	1,565	779

Spanish 143,07050,289 speak English less than “very well”
Other Asian and Pacific Island languages 17,5888,673 speak English less than “very well”
Tagalog, including Filipino 13,0594,616 speak English less than “very well”
Other Indo-European languages 6,1961,760 speak English less than “very well”
Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese 2,8981,013 speak English less than “very well”
Vietnamese 2,5551,508 speak English less than “very well”
Korean 1,565779 speak English less than “very well”

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates for Long Beach city (tables C16001, C16002, B05002, B05006) (opens in a new tab). Figures with a wide margin of error are not shown.

Detailed languages in Los Angeles County, California

The Census Bureau publishes individual languages for counties, not for cities. These are the most-spoken languages other than English in Los Angeles County, California.

Spanish3,489,855
Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)383,333
Tagalog (incl. Filipino)224,158
Armenian198,707
Korean147,864
Persian (incl. Farsi, Dari)74,454
Vietnamese71,281
Russian58,392

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, ACS 2024 1-year, table B16001, Los Angeles County, California.

Long Beach by the numbers

Residents: 455,548
Speak a language other than English at home: 193,612 44.7%
Speak English less than “very well”: 70,118 16.2%
Limited-English households: 11,836 6.9%
Born outside the U.S.: 112,942 24.8%

Where Long Beach residents born abroad come from

Countries of birth point to the languages behind the Census groups above, and to the documents (birth certificates, diplomas, court records) that arrive for translation.

Mexico50,284
Philippines13,437
Cambodia8,132
El Salvador4,347
Guatemala3,431
Vietnam2,233
India2,083
Thailand1,561

Language services in Long Beach

Long Beach questions

What languages are spoken in Long Beach?

44.7% of Long Beach residents age 5 and older speak a language other than English at home, and 16.2% speak English less than “very well.” Spanish leads, followed by Tagalog, including Filipino and Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese. The most common countries of birth among residents born abroad are Mexico, Philippines, and Cambodia.

How many Long Beach households have limited English?

11,836 of 170,927 households (6.9%), according to the Census Bureau: households in which no one age 14 or older speaks only English or speaks English “very well.” These are the households most likely to need an interpreter or translated documents.

How are court interpreters credentialed in California?

Judicial Council of California, Court Interpreters Program (CIP), part of the Language Access Services Program in the Center for Families, Children & the Courts, which oversees interpreter recruitment, testing, licensing, discipline, and cross-assignments and maintains the statewide Master List of certified and registered court interpreters. The Bilingual Interpreting Examination for certification is given in Arabic, Eastern Armenian, Cantonese, Farsi, Filipino (Tagalog), Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese, Punjabi, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese; interpreters in all other spoken languages qualify as registered court interpreters by passing a written exam and oral proficiency exams. The Master List carries more than 1,700 certified and registered interpreters.

Do you provide on-site interpreters in Long Beach?

Yes. We schedule interpreters in person in Long Beach and across California, and by phone and video nationwide, in 250+ languages including Spanish and ASL. Book less common languages as early as you can.

Do you provide conference and meeting interpreters in Long Beach?

Yes. We staff conferences, conventions, trade shows, seminars, corporate training, and client meetings in Long Beach with simultaneous or consecutive interpreters. For simultaneous interpreting, our own technicians deliver, run, and strike the booths, transmitters, and receivers, shipped from our own inventory.