Bilingualism and Translators in San Diego, San Francisco, and San Jose

California has been a multi-cultural and multi-lingual territory and state throughout its history. For example, the cities of San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose have all been an attraction for a broad base of language translation and interpretation professionals.

Because San Francisco is ideally located; it has always been at an excellent location for commerce and trade. As a result, San Francisco has been able to attract immigrants from all over the world. San Francisco is often described as having an international flair that at times can be dominated by Asian or Latin cultures. The San Francisco area is unique in that it has a number of established ethnic communities for Italian, Hispanics, Koreans and Chinese. San Francisco Chinatown is the largest Chinese community on the West Coast, and the second largest in the United States next to New York City’s settlement. It was completely destroyed in the fire of 1906, and its inhabitants moved temporarily across the bay to Oakland, but by 1910 the quarter had been practically rebuilt in an improved manner, yet retaining its markedly Asian characteristics. The new Chinatown gained considerably in sanitation and in the housing of its commercial establishments. Because the new Chinatown was rebuilt at its original site on valuable property, the improved construction and sanitation allowed businesses such as San Francisco Translation Services to prosper.

Like San Francisco, San Jose is another northern California city on the Pacific Coast. Located about 46 miles southeast of San Francisco, San Jose was founded in 1777 and was the first Spanish pueblo of California. This area was founded in 1777 when the village at Santa Clara was established and in 1797 the village of San Jose was founded. Throughout the Spanish-Mexican period, San Jose was a place of considerable importance. In 1840 its population was about 750. Historians are quick to point out that even during San Jose’s early days the area had a unique Hispanic culture. In the last years of Mexican dominion it was the most prominent of the northern settlements in which the Hispano-Californian element predominated over the new American element. Although Mexico lost California and the Mexican soldiers retreated back into Mexico, that didn’t stop the settlement of San Jose from growing and prospering into the major U.S. city that it is today. This was partly due to the success of San Jose Translation Services. Between the time that the U.S. took control of California and the year 1847, the native Indians in the San Jose area led a brief fight against the town. Just three years after a short skirmish with Indians, San Jose was deemed a city and classified as the state’s capital.

While San Jose and San Francisco are both located in the north quarter or California, we will also spend some time discussing San Diego which is in the Southern section. It’s hard to believe that the original Spanish settlement that still stands today can be toured and is only a few miles away from the busy downtown business district. Through numerous occupations and change of hands combined with its relative proximity to Mexico meant that it was an important language center. It can be said that as a result, the San Diego Translation Services that are located here grew and prospered. By 1867 the population of the city had decreased so considerably, that a land developer laid out a new city about 3 miles south of the old town. The location of the new city remains the location of San Diego as it is known today.