According to a report from the San Francisco Chronicle on June 12, the San Francisco City Board of Supervisors voted to include Vietnamese in the city's list of official languages.

This decision aims to enhance public services for the Vietnamese-speaking community in San Francisco.

Under the new regulations, state agencies will be required to provide telephone interpretation services, translate documents into Vietnamese, post announcements in Vietnamese on websites, and offer interpretations for public services.

Previously, San Francisco mandated translation services for languages with at least 10,000 speakers. With the inclusion of Vietnamese, the threshold has been lowered to accommodate the approximately 6,800 Vietnamese speakers residing in the city.

"San Francisco is a home to diverse immigrant communities, and we strive to lead the nation in providing multilingual services," said Shamann Walton, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

The city's updated policy not only aims to support its communities but also encourages government agencies to recruit bilingual staff. Alongside Vietnamese, Chinese, Spanish, and Filipino are also recognized as official languages in San Francisco.

Viet Dung