Top tips
— Ensure the service is accessible to non-English speakers by using interpreters and employing native speakers of EU languages.
Typically, people seeking reconnection do not have good English language skills, so it’s vital that clients have access to speakers of other EU languages. Make sure you have good links with local interpreting services. It’s also worth considering recruiting people with relevant language skills as volunteers to help with reconnections tasks where the volume of reconnection work makes this feasible.
Bear in mind that Russian is still widely spoken as a second language, especially amongst older people. Some languages, such as Polish and Czech, are sufficiently similar to make it possible for speakers of one language to be understood in the other in simple conversations. It’s therefore unlikely that you will need to provide access to all EU languages, even if you work with clients from all these countries.
