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 Camden, NJ

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 Camden

• Camden, Camden gets a bad rap. Crime rates in the city have been notoriously high over the past few decades, and parts of the city are a hotspot for drugs and violence. If you tell a local you’re planning to spend the day in Camden, they may warn you to be careful.
• Despite Camden’s hardships, it’s an incredible city packed with history, innovation, lots of family-friendly activities and attractions, and great food and drinks.
• Parking can be tough. Don’t be afraid to try the side streets: Camden’s main roads, Market Street and Broadway, pretty much only have metered parking, and those spots fill up quick. There are smaller, numbered streets off those larger avenues, though, and you can often find free parking along them.
• The Camden County Police Department uses a state-of-the-art, almost futuristic method of reducing crime: they’ve got eyes everywhere. Take a look at streetlight poles and along the rooflines of buildings and you’ll probably spot a camera. The monitoring efforts are working; crime in the city has dropped significantly in recent years, and when bad things do happen, the police response is incredibly fast.
• Rush hour can get a little crazy. Camden is home to one of the largest medical centers in the region, a big university, and the headquarters of a handful of huge corporations. That means lots of people are headed into the city around 9 a.m. and headed home at 5 p.m. Do yourself a favor, and don’t plan to drive around the city during rush hour.
• There’s also a ton of history
• Camden has been a center of industry since it was established as a fur trading post in 1626. Some of the most well-known figures in American history have lived in Camden at one time or another, and while it’s not the capital of New Jersey, it is definitely the capital of South Jersey and the best place to get to know the region’s history.
• If you hear a cannon, don’t panic. A big part of that history is docked on the waterfront. The Battleship New Jersey is a floating museum that welcomes visitors onto its decks and into the warren of hallways and ladders below. Every once in a while, VIP visitors to the ship get to set off a very large gun mounted on the deck. It shoots blanks, of course, but it makes a pretty serious boom.
• If you’re not city-savvy, stick to the waterfront. Just because Camden is bouncing back from its bad reputation doesn’t mean all its neighborhoods are friendly destinations for tourists. It’s not a big city, and if you get turned around it’s easy to end up in a not-great neighborhood. You’re safe along the waterfront, though, where you’ll find gorgeous views, art installations, and a world-class aquarium.
• There are hippos just around the corner. Remember that world-class aquarium we mentioned? It’s home to Button and Genny, two Nile hippos who weigh 3,000 lbs each. It’s the only aquarium in the world with hippos on exhibit, so don’t miss your chance to say hello.
• The best restaurants and bars are kind of hidden. You won’t find tons of advertisements to lure you into eateries and bars, and some of the best joints are tucked into alleys or side streets, or even parked along them (there are some great food trucks in Camden).
• By the end of the nineteenth century Camden began to industrialize with the foundation of the Campbell Soup Company by Joseph Campbell. Other companies such as the New York Shipbuilding Corporation and the Victor Talking Machine Company opened their operations and helped Camden move into an industrial economy.
• The city was consistently prosperous throughout the Great Depression and World War II. After World War II Camden manufacturers began closing their factories and moving out of the city. Camden’s cultural history has been greatly affected by both its economic and social position over the years. With the loss of manufacturing jobs came a sharp decline in population numbers. Suburbanization also had an effect on the drop in population. Civil unrest and crime became common in Camden with the decline in population. In 1971, civil unrest reached it’s peak with riots breaking out in response to the death of Horacio Jimenez, a Puerto Rican motorist who was killed by two white police officers.
• Originally a city the industry of which focused mainly on manufacturing, in recent years Camden has shifted its focus to eds and meds (education and medicine) in an attempt to revitalize itself. Of the top employers in Camden, many are education and/or healthcare providers: Cooper University Hospital, Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, Rowan University, Rutgers University-Camden, Camden County College, Virtua, Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center, and CAMcare are all top employers. The eds and meds industry itself is the single largest source of jobs in the city: of the roughly 25,000 jobs in the city, 7,500 (30%) of them come from eds and meds institutions. The second largest source of jobs in Camden is the retail trade industry, which provides roughly 3,000 (12%) jobs. While already the largest employer in the city, the eds and meds industry in Camden is growing and is doing so despite falling population and total employment: From 2000 to 2014, population and total employment in Camden fell by 3% and 10% respectively, but eds and meds employment grew by 67%.
• Camden’s role as an industrial city gave rise to distinct neighborhoods and cultural groups that have affected the growth and decline of the city over the course of the 20th century. Camden is also home to historic landmarks detailing its rich history in literature, music, social work, and industry such as the Walt Whitman House,[183] the Walt Whitman Cultural Arts Center, the Rutgers–Camden Center For The Arts and the Camden Children’s Garden.
• Camden’s cultural history has been greatly affected by both its economic and social position over the years. From 1950 to 1970 industry plummeted, losing close to 20,000 jobs for Camden residents. This mass unemployment as well as social pressure from neighboring townships caused an exodus of citizens, mostly white. This gap was filled by new African American and Latino citizens and led to a restructuring of Camden’s communities. The mass number of White citizen who left to neighboring towns such as Collingswood or Cherry Hill, leaving both new and old African American and Latino citizens to begin to rebuild their community. To help this rebuilding process, numerous non-for-profit organizations such as Hopeworks or the Neighborhood Center have been formed to facilitate Camden’s movement into the 21st century.

Reference Sources: TheCultureTrip, Kiddle Encyclopedia

Camden 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 Camden today a language interpreter can be a very underestimated professional in the world today. There are over 100 languages spoken in the Camden Metro area alone. Many of us know one language, and we specialize in one field of study. Our Camden 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 Camden

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 Camden

When it comes to communicating with hard-of-hearing or deaf audiences, there are a few reasons you might want to opt for a Camden 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 Camden 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.