Translation Services in Somerset, NJ

Somerset by the numbers

Residents: 22,720
Speak a language other than English at home: 7,000 32.3%
Speak English less than “very well”: 1,777 8.2%
Limited-English households: 371 3.9%
Born outside the U.S.: 6,602 29.1%

Languages spoken in Somerset

32.3% of Somerset residents age 5 and older speak a language other than English at home, and 8.2% speak English less than “very well.” Spanish leads, followed by Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese.

2,142Other Indo-European languages
1,386Spanish
785Other Asian and Pacific Island languages
523Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese

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

Where Somerset 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.

India2,285

Language services in Somerset

Detailed languages in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metro Area

The Census Bureau publishes individual languages for metro areas, not for cities. These are the most-spoken languages other than English in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metro Area.

Spanish3,859,775
Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)721,530
Russian233,769
Haitian204,568
Yiddish, Pennsylvania Dutch or other West Germanic languages193,019
Bengali190,723
Arabic172,187
Korean150,790

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, ACS 2024 1-year, table B16001, New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metro Area.

Language access rules in New Jersey

Court interpreter program: New Jersey Judiciary, Language Services Section (LSS) of the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), the Judiciary's centralized language-access office, which runs the court interpreter credentialing program; the AOC maintains the Registry of Interpreting Resources, which serves as the Judiciary's approved vendor list, and the Supreme Court updated the Judiciary Language Access Plan by Directive #21-23 (November 2023).
Court-certified languages: AOC-approved interpreters pass an oral performance exam in a language that has one and are rated Master (80% or higher in each part) or Journey (70% or higher); conditionally approved interpreters (at least 50% in each part, 55% overall) may work in Superior or Tax Court only when no Master or Journey interpreter is available, and registered interpreters work in languages with no oral exam. ASL interpreters must be RID-certified.
The rule: Court Rule 1:34-7 provides that interpreters and translators are appointed and perform their duties in the manner established by the Chief Justice; Standard 1.2 of the Judiciary Language Access Plan requires an interpreter for any court user who, or whose attorney, represents that the person cannot understand or communicate proficiently in English, for all phases of court-connected proceedings, and Standard 1.4 places the cost on the Judiciary except in very limited instances.
State agency language access law: P.L.2023, c.263 (N.J.S.A. 52:14-40 et seq.), approved January 12, 2024, requires every Executive Branch entity that serves the public directly to translate vital documents into at least the seven most common non-English languages spoken by limited English proficient New Jerseyans, provide interpretation, post multilingual signage, and adopt a language access plan.
The seven state languages: The New Jersey Office of New Americans lists the top seven languages spoken by limited English proficient New Jerseyans, from 2022 American Community Survey data, as Spanish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Korean, Gujarati, Chinese (simplified and traditional characters recommended for translation), Haitian Creole (French Creole), and Arabic.
Team interpreting: Standard 3.4 of the Judiciary Language Access Plan calls for a team of two or more interpreters for on-site, virtual, and hybrid proceedings projected to last more than two hours, and allows teams for shorter matters involving witness testimony, complexity, indigenous languages, or multiple LEP participants.
Municipal courts pay their own interpreters: Under the Language Access Plan, municipal courts are funded by their municipalities, which bear the cost of municipal court interpreting and the sole legal responsibility for language access services, and should use the Judiciary's Registry when buying contract interpreting.
Court interpreting volume: In court year 2019, the New Jersey Superior Courts provided interpreters in approximately 110 languages for more than 73,000 events, with Spanish accounting for nearly 85% of interpreted events and about 1,200 events a year requiring ASL interpreters.
ASL interpreters in court: The Judiciary uses only RID-certified ASL interpreters listed by the State Division of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing or the New Jersey Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, prefers those holding the Specialist Certificate: Legal, and may not use Video Relay Service for court proceedings.

Sources

Somerset questions

What languages are spoken in Somerset?

32.3% of Somerset residents age 5 and older speak a language other than English at home, and 8.2% speak English less than “very well.” Spanish leads, followed by Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese. The most common countries of birth among residents born abroad are India.

How many Somerset households have limited English?

371 of 9,492 households (3.9%), 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 New Jersey?

New Jersey Judiciary, Language Services Section (LSS) of the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), the Judiciary's centralized language-access office, which runs the court interpreter credentialing program; the AOC maintains the Registry of Interpreting Resources, which serves as the Judiciary's approved vendor list, and the Supreme Court updated the Judiciary Language Access Plan by Directive #21-23 (November 2023). AOC-approved interpreters pass an oral performance exam in a language that has one and are rated Master (80% or higher in each part) or Journey (70% or higher); conditionally approved interpreters (at least 50% in each part, 55% overall) may work in Superior or Tax Court only when no Master or Journey interpreter is available, and registered interpreters work in languages with no oral exam. ASL interpreters must be RID-certified.

Do you provide on-site interpreters in Somerset?

Yes. We schedule interpreters in person in Somerset and across New Jersey, 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 Somerset?

Yes. We staff conferences, conventions, trade shows, seminars, corporate training, and client meetings in Somerset 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.