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| 1. What is International House? |
| International House is a non-profit organization
established in 1981, dedicated to serving the international community
of Charlotte and encouraging cross-cultural communication and understanding.
Currently, International House offers an extensive list of programs
and services, including citizenship classes, the English Tutor Program,
the Immigrant Advocacy Project, Internatinal Visitors Program, International House Book Club,
the Doorway's Women's Club, and more. It also serves as a resource center for internationals,
social service organizations, schools, businesses, the media and others.
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| 2. Does International House offer foreign
language classes? |
| While International House does not offer
formal foreign language classes, it does conduct several Language
Conversation Hours throughout the week. The Conversation Hours are
informal gatherings of languages learners, that provide individuals
an opportunity to practice their language skills. Currently, Conversation
Hours are offered for five different languages: English, French,
German, Farsi and Spanish. For more information on meeting times,
check the "Conversation Hours"
page on this site. International House also has a partnership with
inlingua, who offer discount rates in language courses and other
services for International House members. |
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| 3. How is International House funded? |
| International House is supported entirely
through its own fundraising initiatives, private donations from
individuals and corporations, and grants from foundations, community
agencies, and other not-for-profit organizations. One of the primary
fundraising events for the organizations is the fall Gala, featuring
a different country theme each year. Another siginificant source
of support comes through individual and corporate memberships to
the organization. Membership donations to receive the newsletter
and other regular mailings begin at $35.00 per year. For more information
on membership, please see the "Membership Information"
section of this site. |
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| 4. Does International House offer translation
services? |
| While International House does not provide
translation and interpretation services directly, we do maintain
an extensive referral list of Charlotte area interpreters and translators.
You can access this information under the "Information
Services" section of our website, where you'll find contact
information for interpreters and translators for over 65 languages.
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| 5. What is the difference between a translator
and an interpreter? |
| While both interpreters and translators
facilitate communication by expressing ideas in more than one language,
translators work with written material while interpreters work with
the spoken language. Thus, if you have a letter, document, or manual
you need written in another language, you would contact a translator.
If you need a person to orally communicate in another language,
you would contact an interpreter. Additionally, there are two types
of interpretation--consecutive and simultaneous. With consecutive
interpretation, the interpreter listens to the speaker and periodically
interprets while the speaker pauses. With simultaneous interpretation,
the interpreter delivers his or her interpretation while the speaker
is talking, usually making use of some form of audio equipment (e.g.
the interpreter will speak into a microphone while the audience
listens to the interpretation through headphones).
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| 6. Where is International House located? |
322 Hawthorne Lane, Charlotte.
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