Dirae: The Latest Tool to Search for Terms in Spanish

Posted On May 27, 2011By TranspanishIn Languages, Latinos, Spanish Language, Spanish Translation, Tips for Translators, Translation Buyers/ No 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].

Lunfardo: Money Talk

Posted On May 19, 2011By TranspanishIn Languages, Latinos, Lunfardo, Spanish Language, Spanish Translation, Tips for Translators, Translation Buyers/ 1 Comment

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.

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

Posted On April 7, 2011By TranspanishIn Latinos, Spanish Language, Spanish Translation, Tips for Translators, 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 21^st 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

The Languages of Spain

Posted On March 5, 2011By TranspanishIn Did you know?, Latinos, Spanish Language, Spanish Translation, Tips for Translators, Translation Buyers/ No 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

Posted On March 1, 2011By TranspanishIn Latinos, Spanish Translation/ No 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

Posted On January 6, 2011By TranspanishIn Latinos, Spanish Translation/ No 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

Posted On December 27, 2010By TranspanishIn Brazilian Market, Languages, Latinos, Spanish Language, Tips for Translators, Translation Buyers/ No 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?

Posted On October 21, 2010By TranspanishIn Latinos, Spanish Language, Translation Buyers/ No 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.

Castilian Spanish Versus Latin American Spanish

Posted On August 25, 2010By TranspanishIn Languages, Latinos, Spanish Language, Spanish Translation, Tips for Translators, Translation Buyers/ 1 Comment

The use of the term “castellano” as opposed to “español” when referring to the Spanish language may be interpreted in a number of ways. Since there are several official languages in Spain including Catalan, Basque, and Galician, the word “castellano” is often used to differentiate the Spanish language from these regional languages. Castellano may also be used to refer to regional dialects of the Spanish language spoken in Castile, for example, Andalusian. Many times – particularly outside of Spain – castellano and español are utilized interchangeably and simply refer to the Spanish language as a whole.

The terms Castilian Spanish or castellano are often used to draw a distinction between the Spanish spoken in Spain (Peninsular Spanish) and Latin American Spanish; however, this usage is somewhat misleading since Spanish speakers in Latin America also speak what are essentially dialects of Castilian Spanish as opposed to a distinct language, as is often implied.

Many Spanish speakers in Latin America customarily refer to their language as castellano as opposed to español. For example, Southern Cone countries such as Argentina and Uruguay have a tendency to refer to Spanish as castellano, while other parts of South America alternate between the use of the terms español and castellano. In the U.S., Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, Spanish is almost exclusively referred to as español.

While there is no generic form of Latin American Spanish, many countries share several features of pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar that set apart Latin American Spanish from Castilian Spanish.

Translate your document to Spanish.

Spanish Speakers in U.S. Exposed to Dangerous Pharmacy Errors

Posted On April 10, 2010By TranspanishIn Latinos, Spanish Language, Spanish Translation, Translation Buyers/ No Comments

Apparently, speaking Spanish in the United States can be hazardous to one’s health. According to a recent study to be published in the journal Pediatrics, Spanish speakers are exposed to an unacceptable number of grave translation errors in the instructions provided with prescription medications. Pharmacists’ computers frequently deliver “Spanglish” translations, which ultimately pose a threat to patients’ health, as they are open to misinterpretation and therefore possible overdose. Overloaded pharmacists who are lacking Spanish-language skills simply do not have the time or ability to review the prescription labels for errors.

The best way that non-English speaking patients can protect themselves from misunderstandings when dealing with medical professionals is to request an interpreter or translator with expertise in the medical field in order to receive instructions and other vital information in their native tongue. In addition, the pharmaceutical industry should push for the hiring of more bilingual pharmacists and the development of more advanced pharmacy prescription software that produces clearer translations when the use of automatic translation is unavoidable.

Click here for more information on this story from HealthDay.com.

Visit our Pharmaceutical Glossary for English and Spanish terms and our Pharmaceutical Abbreviations section for English and Spanish Meaning of Latin Abbreviations in the Pharmacy Industry.

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