Many know Monterey, California, as a world-class visitor destination, with its striking Monterey Bay Aquarium, historic Cannery Row, beautiful beaches, outstanding restaurants, and fine area golf courses. What many do not know is that Monterey has become home to the greatest collection of foreign language strengths in the world.

Monterey is The Language Capital of the World both by weight and by volume. The greater Monterey area is directly involved with 25 percent of the nation's post-secondary learning in languages other than English and plays a major role in delivering translation and interpretation services around the globe.

The designation of Monterey as The Language Capital of the World also reflects its deep historical, multilingual and multicultural heritage. Monterey was founded in 1770 when Spanish soldiers claimed the land for King Charles III of Spain. California's First Constitutional Convention, held in Monterey in 1849, was conducted in Spanish and in English. Monterey's language and cultural diversity is reflected in its Native American, Spanish, Mexican, Portuguese, Chinese, Italian and Japanese roots. It also has significant Filipino-American and Vietnamese-American populations.

What is the Monterey Language Capital Advocates Coalition?

The Monterey Language Capital Advocates (MLCA) is a nonprofit, public-private coalition whose members have been working as a unit to spread the word that the city of Monterey is The Language Capital of The World.

California Gov. Pete Wilson, in a proclamation in November 1995, commended "Monterey and its surrounding communities for their invaluable contributions to the strength and vitality of our great state and nation and (I) join in supporting the Monterey community's efforts to be designated as 'The Language Capital of the World.' "

The MLCA members are the City of Monterey; the Defense Language Institute; the Monterey Institute of International Studies; Language Line Services; California State University, Monterey Bay; Monterey Peninsula College; CTB/McGraw-Hill; the Naval Postgraduate School; Language Services International; the American Global Studies Institute; the Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce; Manheim Media and Communications, and Armanasco Public Relations, Inc.

All MLCA members are based in the area. They meet regularly to discuss plans to expand upon Monterey's world wide language capabilities. They are closely interconnected through various programs, creating a one-of-a-kind language web.

What Makes Monterey- The Language Capital of the World?

The City of Monterey, founded in 1770 when Spanish soldiers claimed the land for the king of Spain, has a deep historical, bilingual and multicultural heritage.

The Defense Language Institute, with a faculty of over 750 and student body of about 2,500, is the largest language training institution in the world.

Language Line Services, the world's largest provider of telephone-based interpretation, provides around-the-clock language assistance in as many as 140 languages.

The Monterey Institute of International Studies, a comprehensive graduate program offering the only master's degree program in conference interpretation in the United States.

California State University, Monterey Bay, is creating a jointly operated Center for Intensive Language and Culture that will include languages such as Korean, Vietnamese and Thai.

Monterey Peninsula College offers eight foreign languages, a significant number for a two-year community college, including Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese and Russian..

The Naval Postgraduate School has played host to students from more than 100 nations and provides professional, service-oriented educational programs for the U.S. armed forces and international militaries.

CTB/McGraw Hill is the industry leader in language assessment scales with products used in all 50 states and provides tests in English and in Spanish.

Additional information about the Monterey Language Capital Advocates is available by calling 1-800-LANG-CAP (1-800-526-4227), or (831) 372-2259 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m., Pacific Time, Monday-Friday. Fax service is also available at (831) 372-4142.

You can contact them via email at langcap@ci.monterey.ca.us.

Rev 09/28/05   L. Huelga http://www.monterey.org/langcap/index.html