Cell phones can be used for more than casual conversation. For an immigrant it can be a tool to help traverse foreign land.

As World Changing notes, something simple like getting a prescription medication at a drugstore is complicated by language barriers. But instead of giving up at being unable to communicate complex needs, immigrants in Boston can use cell phones to instantly connect to translators who can help alleviate the language barrier.

Speakeasy, created by Jeremy Liu, Executive Director of the Asian Community Development Corporation and Tad Hirsch, a researcher at MIT’s Media Lab, does just that. It connects immigrants to translators that have volunteered to help in these tough situations.

By creating a simple cell phone network, the emerging service uses everyday technology to network multilingual volunteers, usually second or third generation Americans, who can answer questions, give advice, and provide language interpretation over the phone to people in their own community.

In early October, Columbia University received national media coverage after students rushed the stage in protest of speaker Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project. CTV news, the weekly Columbia Television Station, was there and obtained video footage of the event which was immediately posted to YouTube.com. For a week, the video was viewed by thousands who could not see it anywhere else.

Large media outlets including CNN, CBS, ABC, MSNBC, PBS, and FOX then requested a copy of CTV’s clip, said Bradley Blackburn, CTV news director. CTV gave the clip to the stations but recognized that YouTube is where the story started. “This story broke on YouTube and I believe that this is a trend that will happen more and more,” said Blackburn. Like TheSmokingGun.com, a Web site that aggregates paper documents, YouTube has breached into a similar realm thanks to the video footage it provides.