Archive for the 'Latinos' Category

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Target an Audience of 650 Million with Spanish and Portuguese Translations

Published on June 15, 2011 in Brazilian Market, English Language, Languages, Latinos, Portuguese Language, Spanish Language, Spanish Translation and Translation Buyers. 1 Comment

As the competition in the global marketplace heats up, companies without a strategy for connecting with customers worldwide face a strong possibility of getting left behind. Savvy companies and organizations stand to capture upwards of a combined 650 million potential customers by incorporating Spanish and Portuguese translation into their business strategy. As the influence and economic power of emerging Spanish and Portuguese-speaking markets continues to grow, companies that invest in high-quality translations to target this audience will see dividends.

Spanish is the most widely spoken of the Romance languages, both in terms of the number of speakers and the number of countries in which it is the dominant language. With approximately 400 million native speakers worldwide, Spanish is currently the second most widely spoken language overall. At present, Portuguese ranks sixth among the world’s major languages, with some 250 million native speakers around the world. Portuguese and Spanish are both recognized by UNESCO as the fastest growing of the European languages.

Why Spanish Translation?

The expanding presence of the Spanish language coupled with increased Latino buying power has cemented the Hispanic demographic’s influence in the United States. U.S. Latinos‘ buying power is expected to reach $1 trillion this year. Given the Hispanic market’s incredible growth, size, and increasing purchasing power, businesses and organizations cannot afford to overlook this segment of the population.

As the emerging markets of Latin America, particularly Chile, Mexico, Colombia and Peru, gain a stronger foothold, they become increasingly attractive sources of new clientele for those businesses looking to target new audiences. A well-crafted, Spanish translation done by a professional translator will help corporations and organizations communicate with the Hispanic community, both at home and abroad, to take advantage of the business opportunities provided by these rapidly expanding markets.

Why Portuguese Translation?

Over the last twenty years, Brazil has steadily grown to become Latin America’s largest economy. With a robust economic outlook and a population of about 190 million people, companies can no longer ignore Brazil. Given the country’s strong, stable currency and a growing middle class with a hunger for imported goods, reaching the Brazilian market appears to be more crucial than ever before for businesses. Although Brazil is the sole Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas, approximately one-half of South America’s inhabitants speak the language. In today’s global economy, it pays to be able to communicate effectively with the Portuguese-speaking population.

Brazil also expects a significant tourism boost over the next few years as the country plays host to two major international sporting events: the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. Translation from Portuguese to a host of other languages will be necessary to accommodate the scores of foreign athletes, tourists and journalists who will descend upon Brazil for these events.

Translate for the Spanish and Portuguese markets to extend your business’ or organization’s reach, and connect with everyone from the customers right in your backyard to those in the far-flung corners of Latin America.

Are you looking for a Portuguese Translator? Visit TransPortuguese.
Are you looking for a Spanish Translator? Visit Transpanish.

Dirae: The Latest Tool to Search for Terms in Spanish

Published on May 27, 2011 in Languages, Latinos, News, Spanish Language, Spanish Translation, Tips for Translators and Translation Buyers. 0 Comments

Spanish speakers and students of the Spanish language now have one more handy tool at their disposal. The Real Academia Española (RAE) – the official institution responsible for policing the Spanish language – recently released the online tool known as Dirae, based on the RAE’s Diccionario de la lengua española (Spanish language dictionary). Unlike traditional dictionaries, Dirae functions as a reverse dictionary, enabling users to find words based on a set of general concepts.

Using carefully chosen search terms, Dirae also functions as an associative thesaurus, etymological search tool, and synonym finder. For example, by entering the search terms “‘del quechua’ maíz,” the tool will return Spanish words etymologically based in the Quechua language that are related to corn. Read more about this new tool and view examples of its use here [in Spanish].

Related Posts:
New Spanish Spelling Reforms from the RAE
New Inclusive Grammar Guidelines from the Real Academia Española

Lunfardo: Money Talk

Published on May 19, 2011 in Languages, Latinos, Lunfardo, Spanish Language, Spanish Translation, Tips for Translators and Translation Buyers. 0 Comments

Argentine Spanish is strewn with words and colorful phrases from Lunfardo, a rich vocabulary born on the streets of Buenos Aires in the second half of the 19th century. Now considered a fixture of the Spanish language in Argentina (especially in and around Buenos Aires) and Uruguay, linguists cite the use of Lunfardo as a defining characteristic of the Rioplatense dialect. Add a dash of Argentine flavor to your Spanish vocabulary with the Transpanish blog’s ongoing feature highlighting some of the most frequently used terms in Lunfardo.

While Lunfardo features a number of words to refer to money in general, it also employs several terms to describe specific currency denominations.

Term Meaning
guita one cent [also used as a general term for money]
mango one peso
diego [considered a non-standard term by Lunfardo purists] ten pesos
gamba one hundred pesos
luca one thousand pesos
palo one million pesos

Unless otherwise specified, these terms always denote Argentine legal tender. If the speaker wishes to refer to a foreign currency, there are special terms that are affixed to the quantity. For example, verde is used in reference to U.S. dollars (e.g. 5 gambas verdes = 500 dollars). Speakers tack on euro after the quantity if discussing euros, the currency of the European Union (e.g. 10 lucas euros = 10,000 euros).

In addition, it’s best to use the term for the largest quantity applicable, i.e. 20 palos instead of 20,000,000 mangos or 20,000 lucas to express the sum of 20 million pesos.

Also read
Linguistic Features of Rioplatense (River Plate) Spanish
Meaning of Guita
The meaning of Yeta
Meaning of Atorrante

Marketing to Latinos through Social Media

Published on May 3, 2011 in Languages, Latinos, Spanish Language, Spanish Translation, Tips for Translators and Translation Buyers. 0 Comments

In the past, marketing strategists rarely targeted Hispanics through social media or other forms of digital marketing. However, according to the latest research studies, companies have slowly come around to the idea of wooing the Latino population through social media campaigns, and with good reason.

The total number of Hispanics logging on to the Internet shot up 16% over the past year. During that same period, the Hispanic presence on Facebook almost tripled, bringing the total number of users on the social networking giant to some 22 million as of March 2011. Additionally, Latinos demonstrate active usage of the service, with Hispanics averaging 29 minutes per week on Facebook versus non-Hispanic whites who visit the site for 19 minutes.

In terms of Twitter, social media’s other darling, a study conducted last fall found that 18% of Hispanic respondents who go online have a Twitter account, versus 13% of non-Hispanic blacks and 5% of non-Hispanic whites. In fact, Latinos constitute the largest ethnic group on Twitter.

While it’s obvious that Latinos have caught social media fever, as marketing expert Gustavo Razzetti notes, “…There’s a huge gap between Latinos’ usage of Facebook and real engagement with brands through their Spanish pages.”[1]

So, how do marketers take advantage of Latinos’ growing presence in social media to promote their brands?

Marketers must realize that an effective social media campaign directed at the Latino segment will involve more than just a mere translation of the existing English-language campaign. Hispanics are eager to connect with content and engage in a dialog with their favorite brands, so companies should provide opportunities for consumers to interact bilingually or in their preferred language. In addition, they must consider how the English-language and Spanish-language pages can complement each other and create synergy, rather than just duplicating the message in another language, since many users will likely visit both pages if companies offer unique content.

Although Twitter offers a different format for customer engagement, the keys to successful corporate marketing on Twitter are to 1) jump in on existing conversations that are taking place within the Latino community to develop brand awareness and 2) get consumers to join in on the conversation about the company’s brand. Live chats on Twitter also provide sponsorship opportunities that may prove attractive to advertisers.

[1] Latinos and Facebook: The Marketing Gap by Gustavo Razzetti

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International SEO tips to expand your site’s reach

Top reasons why you should target the Hispanic Community

2010 U.S. Census Data Reveals Continued Growth of Hispanic Population

2010 U.S. Census Data Reveals Continued Growth of Hispanic Population

Published on April 7, 2011 in Latinos, Spanish Language, Spanish Translation, Tips for Translators and Translation Buyers. 1 Comment

According to the latest demographic information culled from the 2010 U.S. Census, the Latino population now totals 16.3% of the nation’s inhabitants. The Hispanic population increased 43% over the last ten years, growing from 35.3 million to 50.5 million. Demographers also reported that 56% of the country’s total population expansion in the last decade can be attributed to Latinos.

Even though the Latino population’s growth in raw numbers over the last ten years exceeded totals from previous decades, in terms of the growth rate percentage, the Hispanic population increased more slowly than in years past. For example, the Latino population saw growth rates exceeding 50% in the 1980s and 1990s; however, the first decade of the 21st century witnessed a slightly more modest 43% increase in the number of U.S. Hispanics.

Hispanics, who may self-identify with any race or ethnicity, constitute the country’s largest minority group. By race, 53% of Latinos – 26.7 million people – identified themselves as white only. The next biggest group, 36.7% (18.5 million) of Latinos, identified themselves as “some other race.” A further 6% endorsed multiple races/ethnicities.

In terms of geographic distribution, the majority of the Latino population remains in nine states with significant, established Hispanic communities: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York and Texas. The trend over the last decade, however, is one of dispersion, with the percentage of Latinos living in other states on the rise.

Southeast states including Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee and South Carolina registered some of the most impressive growth in the Latino population. Maryland and South Dakota also saw their Hispanic populations double over the last decade.

In six states – Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island – an increase in the number of Latinos constituted all of those states’ population growth. In the event that the Latino population had not multiplied, those states would have seen negative growth.

The census count of the U.S. Latino population was slightly higher than anticipated. The 2010 Census results for Hispanics yielded 955,000 more people than the Census Bureau had estimated for this segment of the population.

Source: The Pew Hispanic Center

Related articles

Hispanic or Latino?

Marketing to Latinos through Social Media

The Languages of Spain

Published on March 5, 2011 in Did you know?, Latinos, Spanish Language, Spanish Translation, Tips for Translators and Translation Buyers. 0 Comments

The first language that springs to mind when one thinks of Spain is – not surprisingly – Castilian Spanish, the country’s official language. However, there are actually a number of other languages and dialects spoken there, a few of which have attainted co-official status in certain regions: Catalan/Valencian, Basque, Galician, and Aranese.

Here’s a brief snapshot of some of the languages spoken in Spain.

Castilian Spanish

Castilian Spanish – so named for its roots in the region of Castile – emerged from Spain’s many regional languages and dialects to become the primary language of the nation. Castilian Spanish was later brought to the New World through the colonization efforts of the Spanish, where the language enjoyed widespread adoption throughout the Americas.

Catalan/Valencian

Catalan, a Romance language spoken in Catalonia, Valencia and the Balearic Islands, currently boasts some 12 million speakers. Catalan has achieved broad usage as an everyday language in these areas. The language has become the medium of instruction in a number of schools, and it’s utilized to a large extent in government administration and the media. The version of the language spoken in the Community of Valencia is known as Valencian. Though some Valencians contest that their language is separate from Catalan, the majority of linguists consider it a dialect.

Galician

Spoken by approximately three million people in the northwest corner of Spain, Galician shares many linguistic features with Portuguese. The two languages are more or less mutually intelligible, but Galician relies on Spanish orthographic conventions. In fact, scholars have been debating for some time as to whether Galician and Portuguese are actually two distinct languages or just dialects of the same language.

Basque

Linguists consider the Basque language, spoken in the north of Spain in Basque Country, a language isolate (i.e. a language with no known linguistic relationship to another language). As such, Basque shares virtually zero mutual intelligibility with Castilian Spanish and the other languages of Spain, which all belong to the Romance language family.

Aranese

Aranese – a language spoken in the Aran Valley of Catalonia in northeastern Spain – shares co-official status with Catalan in that region. Approximately 90% of those living in the Aran Valley can understand Aranese, and some 65% of inhabitants can speak the language.

Read Differences between Latin American Spanish and Castilian Spanish.

Survey Finds Hispanics Not Connecting with American Companies

Published on March 1, 2011 in Latinos and Spanish Translation. 0 Comments

A recent survey conducted for management consulting firm Garcia Trujillo LLC found that 64.7% of U.S. Hispanics would show greater loyalty to companies that establish strong, visible ties to the Latino community, while over 66% indicate that they would be more likely to purchase products and services from such companies. Although survey respondents are interested in seeing companies create or tailor products and services to make them more culturally relevant to Hispanics, characteristics such as a greater number of Latinos in important corporate management roles and more community involvement rank much higher in importance for consumers.

Findings from the study include:

  • Almost 42% of Hispanic consumers think that American companies have little respect for them as customers.
  • 94% feel that products or brands in the U.S. should be represented by Spanish-speaking spokespersons in marketing and informational campaigns.
  • 15.5% want to see products and services developed specifically for Hispanics.
  • Over 60% think Latino workers face major obstacles to climb the corporate ladder. Language (almost 60%) and a college degree (21.7%) were cited as the biggest hurdles to advancement.
  • 60% think companies show commitment to their Latino employees, yet survey respondents estimated that less than 10% of leadership positions in U.S. companies are filled by Hispanics.

Sol Trujillo, chairman of Garcia Trujillo, notes: “This data demonstrates the strategic opportunities for companies and brands to connect with Latinos in meaningful ways.” With the Hispanic population in the United States growing at breakneck pace, American corporations would be wise to start wooing this segment of the market sooner rather than later.

For a copy of the full study, visit www.garciatrujillo.com.

Digital Marketing Is Essential in Building Brands With Hispanic Consumers

Published on January 6, 2011 in Latinos and Spanish Translation. 0 Comments

A new digital marketing study conducted by comScore and commissioned by Terra reveals that Hispanics are the ideal online consumers. The stunning results of the Terra comScore Ad Value Research Study show a full spectrum of engagement by Hispanics across multiple digital platforms including new data about how marketing initiatives positively influence brand perception. It also shows how Hispanics are in most instances more active in a wide variety of online activities and more receptive to new technology than non-Hispanics. The research also re-affirms that the Internet is the main media source of information for Hispanics when researching information about any service or product and goes even further by including an analysis of online engagement by category known as cognographics.

Fernando Rodriguez, CEO of Terra, said: “This study breaks ground on several fronts with new information on the impact Internet advertising has in building a brand in the Hispanic market. We are excited to share the in-depth results with our clients in order to provide insight as to how better reach the Hispanic consumer online,” added Rodriguez.

A key finding which represents a great opportunity for marketers is that if spoken to and reached with culturally relevant messaging in English and Spanish, Hispanics will react positively to brands online more so than non-Hispanics. While non-Hispanics may tend to look at interactive advertising as intrusive, Hispanics seem to be appreciative of the brands that are trying to reach out to them.

For example, Hispanics are more responsive to targeted ads with 37% saying they would likely respond to them vs. 30% for non-Hispanics. 35% of Hispanics vs. 27% of non-Hispanics said they are more open to advertising on sites where they read or contribute user generated comments. 37% of Hispanics vs. 25% of non-Hispanics enjoy the interactivity of online video ads, and the ability of obtaining additional information which is unavailable through a traditional TV ad. Furthermore, 36% of Hispanics vs. 24% non-Hispanics claim that Internet advertising has motivated them to visit a retail establishment while 35% of Hispanics vs. 25% of non-Hispanics are likely to attend movies based on their online campaigns.

The study also shows Hispanics are more open and willing to explore new technology presumably to stay up to speed with trends. In addition, these initiatives are likely to enhance their perception of the brand with 60% of Hispanics vs. 42% of non-Hispanics saying that they react positively to I-Pad demonstrations, virtual shoppers, mobile coupons, live streamings and others.

Hispanics are as engaged in social media as non-Hispanics; however they are more receptive to receiving updates for offline activities through mobile text alerts, Twitter feeds and Facebook. These include shopping for large retail items, and looking for entertainment information such as movies, concerts, events and places to eat. They are also more likely to visit a brand’s fan page and to follow Twitter updates from artists. Hispanics also show a higher rate of participation than non-Hispanics in numerous social media activities.

Use of Social Networks Hispanic
(A)		 Non-Hispanic
(B)
Viewed a live stream 24% 18%
Posted ratings and reviews 26% 16%
Searched for a job 22% 12%
Purchased a product due to a recommendation 18% 12%
Sought out customer support for a product/service 17% 7%
Sold a product through a social networking posting 11% 6%
Found a new job 12% 4%

With 30 million Hispanics online, or 60% of the population, and a continued trend showing more use of the most advanced features such as video and social media, the study shows that the digital divide is now becoming a thing of the past as Hispanics are at the forefront of embracing Internet and Technology.

Methodology
A total of 2,300 surveys were completed between September 13 through October 18, 2010. The nationally representative sample was recruited from comScore’s online panel. All participants reside in the USA and are aged 13+ years. The data were weighted to national online targets for age, gender, household income, region of residence, and language preference (Hispanic only). The margin of error (95% confidence level) for a sample of this size is +/- 2.04 percentage points.

Source: Terra

Read our article 2010 U.S. Census Data Reveals Continued Growth of Hispanic Population

Reach out to the Hispanic Community with a Spanish Translation.

The Spanish Language in Brazil

Published on December 27, 2010 in Brazilian Market, Languages, Latinos, Spanish Language, Tips for Translators and Translation Buyers. 0 Comments

The popularity of Spanish as a foreign language continues to grow in Brazil, the only Portuguese-speaking nation on a continent dominated by Spanish. Brazil shares a border with seven Spanish-speaking countries, and it conducts a substantial amount of trade with countries where Spanish is spoken (1/4 of exports and 1/5 of imports).

A significant number of non-Brazilian Spanish speakers, estimated at about 1 million people, call the nation home, mostly as the result of immigration from surrounding countries. Sephardic Jews – who speak both Ladino and Spanish – settled in Brazil and now compose a small portion of the country’s Spanish-speaking peoples.

With an eye toward more fully integrating Brazil with its Spanish-speaking neighbors and partners in the South American trade bloc Mercosur, the Brazilian Congress passed an education bill in 2005 requiring all secondary schools to offer Spanish as a second language. This legislation spurred an increase in resources dedicated to Spanish, and the number of Brazilian students studying español has increased from one million to five million in a period of just five years. A recent agreement between Spain’s Cervantes Institute, an organization devoted to promoting the Spanish language worldwide, and the Brazilian Ministry of Education provides for the training of 26,000 Spanish teachers to manage the increased demand sparked by the 2005 bill.

Hispanic or Latino?

Published on October 21, 2010 in Latinos, Spanish Language and Translation Buyers. 0 Comments

The terms “Hispanic” and “Latino” are frequently tossed around by the United States government and the media. But, what exactly is the difference between these two labels?

The term “Hispanic” generally refers to any descendent from a Spanish-speaking nation of Latin America, while the term “Latino” refers to any descendent from a Latin American nation where the main language spoken is derived from Latin (Brazilians and Haitians, for example, speak Portuguese and French, respectively, which are both Latin-based languages).

It is important to note that the terms “Latino” and “Hispanic” do not denote a particular ethnicity or race. Instead, individuals who fall under the label “Latino” or “Hispanic” share a common cultural/language background.

A 2006 Pew Hispanic Center survey uncovered that 48% of Latino adults normally identify themselves by their country of origin first as opposed to Hispanic or Latino. In terms of a preference for the Hispanic or Latino label, a 2008 survey by the Center found that 36% of those questioned prefer the term “Hispanic,” 21% prefer the term “Latino,” and the rest stated no preference.

Tips for Using the Terms “Hispanic” and “Latino”

Although both terms are considered acceptable by most people, some individuals or groups may show a keen preference for either “Latino” or “Hispanic.” An effort should be made to identify and respect these preferences.

When possible, use specific references such as “Mexican” or “Cuban-American” or “Costa Rican immigrant.”

“Latino” and “Latina” may be used as both an adjective and a noun.

The New York Times style guide defines “Hispanic” as “descended from a Spanish-speaking land or culture.” However, there is debate over the definition and usage of this term. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “Hispanic” as “of or relating to the people, speech, or culture of Spain or of Spain and Portugal.” So, should Brazilians and Portuguese speakers be lumped into this category as well? Are Spaniards considered Hispanic, too?

In most cases, Brazilians are not categorized as “Hispanic,” but they may be accurately referred to as “Latino.” Spaniards are not generally considered Hispanic or Latino, since the use of these terms is normally reserved for descendents from countries in the New World. You can reduce ambiguity by using a more specific label, as previously stated.

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