Contact us by email at interpreting@alsglobal.net or via phone at 1-800-951-5020 for a free estimate on our ASL and CART services.

Trusted CART & ASL Services in Lansing, MI

American Language Services has been helping businesses and other entities reach the deaf and hard of hearing community for more than 35 years. While in-person interpreting, at one time, was the only option, recent technological advances opened the door to other options. Since we offer full-service Video Remote Interpreting (VRI), this article will be comparing Virtual American Sign Language (ASL) interpreting with Communication Access Real-Time Translation (AKA- Closed Captioning & Real Time Subtitling) known as CART.

 Please note that according to the American Disability Act (ADA) that deaf and hard of hearing community have the legal right to receive full access through the use of ASL and or CART services. The ADA prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities and providing ASL interpreters for deaf individuals complies with federal law and promotes equal accessibility.

Some interesting Facts About the City of Lansing

• Lansing got its start founded by two brothers from New York back in 1835. At the time they settled the area just south of present-day Lansing, they called it “Biddle City.” Most of the area was actually flooded for most of the year. Ironically, those two brothers were from Lansing, New York.
• When the brothers went back to New York they reported that the area was fully established and ready for people to move in. A group of excited residents moved there immediately, only to find that they had been scammed and the area was underwater! The people stuck it out, though, and the rest is history.
• The highest-ranking Okinawan master of martial arts Beikoku Shido-kan Karate-do calls Lansing home. His name is Seikichi Iha.
• The co-founder of Google Larry Page actually grew up in Lansing, Michigan. Lives in Palo Alto, CA, now, but everyone knows he started out as a Midwest boy.
• For a period of time, the great Malcolm X and his family once resided in Lansing.
• Lansing was chosen to be the state capital not by reputation, but out of frustration. In 1847 the state constitution required that the capital be moved from Detroit, and it was such a process deciding which city to pick instead that Lansing was finally chosen in order to end it.
• At the time Lansing was made the state’s capital in 1847, there were less than 20 people living in town.
• If it wasn’t for Lansing, Michigan, we would’ve never had GM’s Oldsmobile. Early resident of the town Ransom E. Olds built the first Curved Dash Oldsmobile (before anyone had really heard a guy called Henry Ford) and began his own motor car company in 1904 called REO Motor.
• Before Earvin Johnson became “Magic,” he was just a boy from Lansing.
• Lansing has its own Hollywood Walk of Fame. It’s called the “Michigan Walk of Fame,” and it honors only state residents, such as state librarian Mary Spencer and hockey star Gordie Howe.
• Lansing was the first city in the country to establish an organization dedicated to women’s history: the Michigan Women’s Historical Center and Hall of Fame.
• Lansing is one of the only cities to have a minor league baseball team named after a tool: the Lansing Lugnuts.
• One of the largest family-owned pet stores in the state exists right in Lansing. It’s called Preuss Pets. It’s the size of a large department store at 22,000 square feet, with shopping space for all sorts of critters. Part of the store feels like you’re walking through a rainforest.
• Everyone’s favorite young adult stories about children fighting to the death would never have made it to the big screen without Art Director and Lansing native John Collins.
• It’s been said that you can’t be a TRUE Spartan unless you kiss someone in the shadow of MSU’s prestigious Beaumont Tower.
• The largest bell in MSU’s Beaumont Tower weighs a whopping 2.5 tons.
• MSU sought to protect its pride and joy in the mascot “Sparty,” believed to be the world’s largest freestanding ceramic figure, by safely hiding it away inside the campus stadium to protect it from the outside elements. So the campus installed a bronze version of the statue – but that hasn’t kept University of Michigan Wolverines from defacing it with paint.
• It’s been said that MSU has underground “dungeons.” Pretty creepy, right? Well, they’re actually not dungeons—they’re steam tunnels utilized to house the campus utilities. They’re so well known that MSU students often go exploring.
• MSU was supposed to see its first graduating class (of seven students) in 1861, but the students were excused just a few months before graduation so they could join the Union Army in the Civil War.
• Michigan State University went through five other names before the current name was finally chosen.
• The MSU Spartans have won 70 percent of all the football games they play at home in Spartan Stadium.
• You can actually traverse the entire solar system on foot simply by walking through downtown Lansing. It’s called the “Planet Walk,” featuring a scaled-down replica of the solar system depicting all the plants, starting at the Impression 5 Museum and ending all the way at Potter Park Zoo.
• In 2012 The Atlantic magazine ranked the Lansing area 16th on its list of “Brainiest Cities in America.”
• You’ll probably notice that Lansing’s capitol building looks very similar to the one in D.C. That’s no coincidence. The structure was one of the first inspired by and built to emulate the nation’s Capitol building.
• The first capitol building in Lansing was actually made of wood, having been hurriedly constructed once the city was chosen for the capital. A grander home for the state’s government wasn’t built until 1871.
• Lansing’s capitol building features 20 chandeliers. They’re all one of a kind, featuring deer and elk horns.
• Lansing has one of the few cash-only breakfast diners in the state: the Golden Harvest Restaurant. Most items at $6 or less (yes, really), and to this day it’s one of the most popular restaurants in town.
• Out of all the states in the U.S. Lansing is the only state capital that doesn’t happen to be the county seat. The county seat of Ingham County is actually Mason, Michigan.
• Just out of college and ready to start somewhere new? In 2010 Kiplinger named Lansing one of the “10 Great Cities for Young Adults.”
• Sparrow Hospital has been recognized as a Magnet Hospital by the American Nurses Credentialing Center – an honor only held by 6 percent of hospitals in the country.
• The Thomas M. Cooley Law School, founded in Lansing, was named the second best law school in the country last year by U.S. News and World Report.
• Lansing Community College, believe it or not, has an extension site for students located in Otsu, Japan. That’s a long way away to get to class.
• Greater Lansing has its own bus service to Detroit Metro Airport called the “Michigan Flyer.” The bus actually runs 12 times a day from East Lansing with only one stop at Ann Arbor on the way.
• Lansing’s Green Cab Company service uses cars that meet the standards for Advanced Technology Partial Zero-Emission Vehicles—the highest energy-efficient status a gas-powered vehicle in the U.S. can achieve.
• The popular Peanut Barrel of Lansing celebrates an odd holiday: “National Eat Outside Day.”
• Lansing’s Beal Botanical Garden is the oldest continuously operating botanical garden in the country, and holds more than 5,000 species of plants.
• If it wasn’t for Abraham Lincoln and the Morrill Act of 1862, Lansing’s Michigan State University might never have been the same. The university was, in fact, one of the first federal land-grant institutions established after the Morrill Act.
• You don’t have to be anywhere near the Mississippi to enjoy a riverboat cruise. The J&K Steamboat Company offers such a cruise down the Grand River, right through Lansing, and it even offers music and a murder mystery theater show.
• Lansing was initially a contender for the state’s capital over the more logical (and larger) Detroit because the bigger city was considered too close to British-controlled Canada at the time.
• The Greater Lansing Ballet Company has garnered international attention, and hosted dancers from the National Ballet School in Gdansk, Poland and the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in St. Petersburg.
• Although not considered the largest city in the state (it barely makes the top five), Lansing kills the competition when it comes to education: two medical schools, one veterinary school, two nursing schools, two law schools, and, of course, Michigan State University.

Reference Sources: Movoto

Lansing ASL & CART Language Interpreters

American Language Services is known for our high-quality, In-person and Virtual interpreters, as well as the outstanding client services we provide. We work in 200+ languages including Legal and Medical Certified and Qualified.  ASL and CART are the fastest growing languages in Lansing today a language interpreter can be a very underestimated professional in the world today. There are over 100 languages spoken in the Lansing Metro area alone. Many of us know one language, and we specialize in one field of study. Our Lansing Interpreters are fluent in English and at least one other language, and they are knowledgeable in a wide range of specialized fields including legal, medical, technical, manufacturing, and engineering.

A brief history of ASL Interpreting in Lansing

Most people know that ASL stands for American Sign Language. But not everyone knows that it is a distinct language—not simply an offshoot of American English. Though its beginnings are murky, many believe that ASL originated from a merger of French Sign Language (SLF) and local U.S. sign languages. While ASL and SLF are distinct languages, there are still some similarities between their signs.

What actually is ASL?   ASL a complete, natural language that has the same linguistic properties as spoken languages with grammar however that differs from English. ASL is expressed by movements of the hands and face.  ASL is a language completely separate and distinct from English. It contains all the fundamental features of language, with its own rules for pronunciation, word formation, and word order.  Because of the physical nature of ASL, a two-person team of ASL interpreters is required for assignments longer than 1 hour in duration.

The National Center for Health Statistics claims that 28 million Americans have some degree of hearing loss, though only between two and eight percent of them are natural ASL speakers.  Helping these select individuals translate the audible into the understandable is the job of an ASL interpreter.  If you have ever been to a play, a concert or watched a government briefing, you have probably seen an ASL interpreter signing just out of view.  An interesting side note is that Statista estimates that there are currently around 60,000 active ASL interpreters in the USA.

The Benefits of ASL Interpreting in Lansing

When it comes to communicating with hard-of-hearing or deaf audiences, there are a few reasons you might want to opt for a Lansing ASL interpreter over CART services. These include:

• A More Personal Connection: A real person has several advantages over a computer screen. First, human interpreters have an easier time conveying emotion. Second, they are better equipped to point out speakers and assist with pronunciation issues. Finally, an interpreter gives a deaf or hard of hearing person a chance to bond with another person.
• Enhanced Speed: Skilled interpreters can hold pace with even the fastest speakers. Lack of delay makes it easier for deaf and hard of hearing individuals to keep up with the conversation.
• Cost Effective:  While costs range by the type of ASL you need (Legal, medical, business, etc.) and when the assignment is scheduled, the cost off ASL, across the board, is less money than CART.

What Is CART?

While the majority of people know what American Sign Language is, the same cannot be said for Communication Access Real-Time Translation. Often referred to as CART, this communication method for the deaf and hard of hearing is best described as subtitling for live discussions. Unlike ASL, which relies on a professional interpreter, CART services are provided by a well-trained stenographer or transcriptionist. They transcribe anything said and then broadcast the resulting text to a phone, computer, or TV screen.

CART is often seen as a cost-effective and efficient way to ensure everybody can follow along. While often used to help deaf students in the classroom, CART captioning benefits anyone that can read.  Much like ASL interpreting, it can be done both onsite with a physical transcriptionist or remotely with an offsite one.

Why You Should Consider CART for the Lansing Market

Communication Access Real-Time Translation is growing in popularity due to the following characteristics:

• It Serves a Wider Array of Deaf People: If you do a little math, you will realize that 65 percent of hard-of-hearing people in the USA do not speak ASL fluently. CART makes it so these people can join in on the conversation as well.
• CART Makes It Scalable: While people in the front rows can easily make out what an interpreter is signing, it gets harder as the distance increases. Since captions can be beamed to multiple screens simultaneously, they do not have to factor speaker distance into the equation.
• The Text Provides a Written Record: Having a transcript of everything your professor said would be a godsend come finals. Having a record of a meeting can also provide clarity to all those involved as well. The physical nature of CART recording makes that possible. This ability is one reason so many college students opt for CART over traditional ASL interpreting. 

About American Language Services

Founded in 1985, American Language Services was there to help pioneer the rise in remote ASL interpreting options. Our dedication to quality and client satisfaction in interpreting allowed us to shift from a one-woman agency into one of the most successful language agencies in the world. Our language experts provide ASL & CART interpreting services to people all around the world. Because of our 24/7 availability, you’ll never have to worry about us not being available, on off times, for an assignment.

AML-Global has some of the most impressive linguistic talents in the world. These highly skilled language professionals are recruited, screened, and tested to ensure high-quality work.

Contact us by email at interpreting@alsglobal.net or via phone at 1-800-951-5020 for a free estimate on our ASL and CART services.