Transpanish Blog’s Newest Feature: “Did You Know?”

Posted On September 28, 2010By TranspanishIn English Language, Languages, Tips for Translators, Translation Buyers/ 1 Comment

As American author and scholar William Lyon Phelps noted, “One of the secrets of life is to keep our intellectual curiosity acute.” So, in the interest of uncovering some engaging linguistic facts and promoting intellectual curiosity among our readership, here at the Transpanish blog we have decided to add a new feature titled “Did You Know?”

This new section of the blog will highlight interesting language and translation-related facts through a series of light, brief articles. With facts such as the current number of languages spoken in the world and information about the world’s oldest surviving language, you’re sure to learn something new each time you visit the Transpanish blog. Satisfy your curiosity and keep your eyes peeled for some interesting facts and tidbits from the world of linguistics and translation.

Some Linguistic Features May Be Genetically Linked

Posted On September 24, 2010By TranspanishIn Languages/ 1 Comment

Linguistic researchers came to a consensus some time ago that humans’ capacity for language is genetically hardwired. It would seem, however, that with over 7,000 languages currently spoken worldwide, that this hardwiring of language is rather flexible. It’s no wonder, then, that scientists recently began to explore whether some of this tremendous linguistic diversity can be attributed to genetics.

Linguists at the University of Edinburgh investigated whether there exists a genetic difference among speakers of non-tonal and tonal languages (i.e. languages that use pitch in addition to consonants and vowels to impart meaning). The researchers discovered a correlation between genes and tonality, and based on their findings, they further hypothesized that linguistic tone is influenced by a pair of genes that influence brain growth and development. Further scientific study has shown that certain linguistic features such as tone and the presence of front rounded vowels may indeed be “genetically anchored,” and as such, these features are much more likely to persist over time.

For more information on this topic, visit The Economist.

Cutting Translation Costs

Posted On September 4, 2010By TranspanishIn Translation Buyers/ No Comments

Everybody who has ever needed to translate a document knows that translation costs can be expensive. There are several ways in which you can make your translation cheaper. In this article, we discuss tactics that can help you lower your quote by a good margin. All translation buyers can adhere to the following tips, and cut costs.

Format: The cheapest format is a plain text. If you have resources for formatting your document, email a Word document as formatting will need DTP and costs more. By doing so, you can now get the translation done for cheap and then format it the way you want.

Target audience: Instead of opting to translate your document for a specific audience, you can choose to translate it to reach a broader audience, by translating it to Neutral Spanish. By doing so, you can even pay less for your translation as it takes longer to search for a translators for a specific audience. Care has to be taken to make sure that when translating to Neutral Spanish terms that are easily understood by any Spanish speaker are used

Certified Translation: It is highly recommended that you only request for a certified and/or notarized translation only if you have to present the translation to an institution or organization that requires a certified translation as the translation will be more expensive. We do provide a Certificate of Accuracy without an extra fee applied to Certified Translations but this service is available only by fax.

Read more about Cutting Translation Costs.

Take advantage of our Translation Discounts!

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

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. Over time, Latin American Spanish has evolved in its own right to contain various features that distinguish it from European Spanish.

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 Language Among Top Three on Internet

Posted On August 18, 2010By TranspanishIn Languages, Spanish Language, Translation Buyers/ No Comments

Spanish has earned a place among the top three most widely used languages on the Internet. Trailing behind English and Chinese, it’s estimated that 136 million users – or roughly one third of all Spanish speakers – communicate and consume content on the web en español. Spanish speakers account for eight percent of the world’s total population of Internet users. The presence of Spanish speakers on the Internet has grown considerably over the past three years, and there are now some 681 million pages in Spanish according to Google.

About 8.4 million Spaniards get their news online through the computer, with an additional 2.9 million users accessing news links through their mobile phones. Twenty percent of these users spend three hours per month catching up on the news, a reality that has helped online newspapers overtake traditional print media. The profile of an average consumer of digital media in Spanish is a male under the age of 45.

Get more details here at Tendencias 21 [in Spanish].

Translated Literature Reveals Cultural Similarities

Posted On August 14, 2010By TranspanishIn English Language, Languages, Tips for Translators, Translation Buyers/ No Comments

Americans notoriously read very little in the way of foreign literature. With translations representing a paltry 3 to 5 percent of books being published annually in the United States, authors and translators alike are crying out for more fiction to be translated. Intellectuals argue that exposure to writing by foreign authors will help us to bridge gaps of understanding and bring us out of our cocoon of cultural isolation.

After reading a collection of short stories by various European authors, writer and translator Tim Parks observes that he is “struck by how familiar these voices are, how reassuringly similar in outlook to one another and ourselves.” The elements of humor and narrative forms found within the collection only serve to underscore the similarities. “Across the globe, the literary frame of mind is growing more homogeneous,” Parks writes.

There’s no doubt that translated foreign literature deserves a spot in the bookcase, but perhaps we should shelve the idea of greater cultural awareness through these works.

Read more about the topic here on The New York Review of Books.

World Cup Attracts Multilingual Audiences

Posted On June 5, 2010By TranspanishIn English Language, Languages, Spanish Language, Spanish Translation, Translation Buyers/ No Comments

The FIFA World Cup – soccer’s premier sporting event – is coming to African soil for the first time in history. South Africa will play host to 32 national soccer teams and 350,000 foreign visitors during the month-long event, requiring that both linguistic and cultural barriers be bridged for the global cast of players, organizers and fans who will be in attendance.

Demand for website localization, translation, editing and voice-over projects has increased exponentially in advance of the international sporting event. Written translations for the World Cup are mandatory for each of the 11 official languages of South Africa, in addition to the languages of the participating teams. In an effort to reach as many fans as possible, the World Cup website has been translated into Arabic, English, French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Organizers predict that 450 to 500 million viewers from around the globe will tune in to this year’s World Cup.

For more information, see this article at Global Watchtower.

Recent Translation and Language News

Posted On June 4, 2010By TranspanishIn English Language, Languages, Spanish Language, Spanish Translation, Tips for Translators, Translation Buyers/ No Comments

Here are some of the top language-related stories from the last month:

1. The recently elected president of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla, sports an animal last name. Could the warm and fuzzy appeal of her name have helped her to get elected?

2. As part of the state’s new comprehensive immigration reform, Arizona now requires that any teacher instructing students in the English language speak without a heavy accent.

3. Renowned scientist Stephen Hawking ponders what sort of language humans would require to communicate effectively with extraterrestrials should they one day make contact with our planet.

4. Bad translations are the order of the day. A recent diplomatic visit to Washington D.C. by Mexican President Felipe Calderón was marred due to lackluster interpretation of his comments by a substitute interpreter.

5. The Eurovision Song Contest is perennially plagued with bad English translations, and this year was no exception.

6. Icelandic-English translators can barely keep pace with the flood of financial documents resulting from Iceland’s economic collapse.

For more information, visit this article at The World.

Concern for Trademark Infringement in Spanish

Posted On May 22, 2010By TranspanishIn Languages, Spanish Language, Spanish Translation, Translation Buyers/ No Comments

With an ever-growing number of businesses looking to cash in on the growth of the Hispanic market in the U.S., English-language trademarks have become increasingly susceptible to infringement by companies looking to take marketing shortcuts.

So, what exactly constitutes trademark infringement? To qualify as infringement, the translation into Spanish must be determined to be direct and literal. In addition, it is difficult to prove copyright infringement in cases where the English-language trademark consists merely of a service or product description (e.g. jeans branded with the name “Rugged Pants”).

In order to protect your business’ English-language trademark, first hire a professional translator to produce one or more possible Spanish translations of your copyrighted name. The following steps may then be taken to avoid trademark infringement:

1) Hand over the translations to a trademark-watching firm, which will warn your company of any potentially conflicting trademarks.

2) Set up a Google Alert to receive notifications about a specific word or phrase to sniff out companies that may be using your trademarked name online.

3) Monitor new trademark registration application filings at http://www.USPTO.gov.

4) Ask Spanish-speaking colleagues with a finger on the pulse of the Hispanic community to remain vigilant.

Read more about this issue at the Richmond Times-Dispatch website.

What Do Translators Expect from Agencies?

Posted On May 16, 2010By TranspanishIn Spanish Translation, Tips for Translators, Translation Buyers/ No Comments

As freelance translators, we all know the importance of making a good impression on our clients and maintaining a healthy professional relationship with them; however, what about the impression the client makes on you? The translator-agency relationship can vary significantly from vendor to vendor, depending on factors such as the size of the agency, the experience of the project managers, and the overall attitude of the agency toward the translation process (quality vs. quantity). A translation agency or client with concern for the translator will strive to meet the following expectations:

» Ideally, agencies express interest in negotiating rates, deadlines, payment methods and terms, etc., instead of forcing their own terms upon the translator. If a project requires urgency or overtime, the agency offers the appropriate incentives.

» A friendly yet professional tone. When communications from the project manager are overly formal, it’s easy for translators to feel like they’re talking to a robot instead of another human being. A touch of small talk and/or pleasantries can go a long way to humanizing the relationship with the agency.

» Tactful feedback. Translators do occasionally make errors, and while they appreciate feedback about their mistakes, it’s more helpful when the criticism is given in a tactful and constructive manner.

» Keep it simple. The agency that excels at simplifying the communication process, even for the most complicated projects, makes the translator’s life much easier and more productive.

» The agency sends the complete file for the translator’s review before expecting him or her to accept the project.

» Reasonably prompt communication. Translators understand that project managers or other team members are often swamped with work; however, a quick response to a question or doubt, especially on an urgent project, is much appreciated.

» Deft handling of administrative matters. Translators rejoice when the purchase order is sent in a timely manner, the agency confirms that the invoice has been received, etc.

» Timely payment. Translators put a great deal of stock in agencies that pay reliably and within acceptable timeframes.

What do you look for in your relationship with a translation agency or other vendors?

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