passage: Neighborhood Legal Services , which provides free legal services to the poor , has expanded into the San Gabriel and Pomona valleys , areas with large Asian populations , many of whom speak limited or no English .
  Language is their biggest obstacle , but the Asian communities ' cultural isolation and service providers ' lack of cultural expertise also play a part , said NLS executive director Neal Dubovitz .
  And with 13 percent to 15 percent of the Asian population in the U.S. living below the poverty line , NLS services are badly needed , Dubovitz said .
  " Although it is a significant part of the poverty population , Asians historically have not been able to participate in the services and programs available to the poor , " he said .
  From simple telephone advice to complete legal representation in court , the agency provides free consumer , health , family , immigration , housing , public benefits and labor legal services to people who earn under $ 1,380 per month .
  Legal service providers have long served large Latino populations , who have cultural diversity but share a common language .
  " I remember the days when there were only a handful of people in the legal offices who spoke Spanish , " Dudovitz said .
  " Now Spanish and English are interchangeable .
  Our goal is to have that for the major Asian languages as well . "
  Before the expansion , only a few NLS lawyers spoke Asian languages , said attorney Rebecca Yee , who was hired by NLS in April 2002 to design and head the project .
  " Now we have people speaking Cantonese , Mandarin , Thai , Khmer ( from Cambodia ) , Korean , Vietnamese , Japanese and Tagalog , " Yee said .
  One of the 13 attorneys hired to work with the program is Irene Mak , a family law attorney who speaks Cantonese , Mandarin and Thai .
  Mak was a partner at a private law firm before she went to work for NLS two years ago , earning up to $ 20,000 less a year working on domestic violence cases .
  " The job is more satisfying than the money , " said Mak , who grew up in Hong Kong and Thailand before coming to the United States .
  " I could use my language skills and wanted to give back to the Asian community . "
  NLS expanded when Legal Services Corp. , the federal agency that funds providers of free legal services nationwide , reduced the number of grantees in the Los Angeles area from five to three , Dudovitz said .
  NLS won the competitive grant over the Legal Services Program for Pasadena , San Gabriel - Pomona valleys .
  That boosted its client base from 16,000 to around 25,000 , and NLS opened an office in El Monte .
query_and_answer: What are some of the languages are now spoken by employees of the NLS ? || Thai
evidences: Neighborhood Legal Services , which provides free legal services to the poor , has expanded into the San Gabriel and Pomona valleys , areas with large Asian populations , many of whom speak limited or no English . " Now we have people speaking Cantonese , Mandarin , Thai , Khmer ( from Cambodia ) , Korean , Vietnamese , Japanese and Tagalog , " Yee said . Language is their biggest obstacle , but the Asian communities ' cultural isolation and service providers ' lack of cultural expertise also play a part , said NLS executive director Neal Dubovitz . " Now Spanish and English are interchangeable .