Tag Archive for 'latin america'

Castilian Spanish Versus Latin American Spanish

Published on August 25, 2010 in Languages, Latinos, Spanish Language, Spanish Translation, Tips for Translators and Translation Buyers. 1 Comment Tags: , , , .

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.

Read more about Latin American Spanish and Castilian Spanish

Translate your document to Spanish.

A Very Latino Christmas in the U.S.

Published on December 24, 2008 in Latinos. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

One of the joys of living in a country with such a high number of immigrants is witnessing how people from different cultures meld traditions from their home country with those of the U.S. Christmastime for Latino immigrants is no different, though the traditions brought from Latin America are much more evident in areas with a large Hispanic community. 

Latinos living in the States certainly don’t leave their Christmas traditions behind, but rather they add them to those they’ve found here.  As Latin America is predominantly Catholic, Latinos bring the focus on religion and family to their celebrations stateside, something that is often overlooked in the secularization of the holiday.

While each country in Latin America has different traditions, there are some similarities.  Posadas, which reenact the journey Mary and Joseph took to Bethlehem, are most famous in Mexico, but are also done in other countries.  Puerto Rico has a similar tradition called parrandas.  Follow this link to read a description of posadas. It’s not uncommon to see Latinos having posadas in their neighborhoods in the U.S. from December 16th to December 24th. 

Most Latinos have their big family meal on December 24th after attending midnight mass and reserve Christmas Day for relaxing.  Since Latin American Christmas revolves more around celebrating Baby Jesus and reuniting with family, Santa Claus and his gifts are brought into the equation because of American influences. 

The Hispanic holiday season continues on through January 6th, which is the feast of the Epiphany or El Dia de Los Reyes Magos.  On this day, Latinos celebrate the arrival of the three kings or three wise men and children receive gifts.  Some may argue that this day is even more joyous than Christmas Eve and many Latinos purchase a special bread called La Rosca De Los Reyes.  To read more about this tradition, click here for an article about how this day is celebrated.

Happy Hispanic Heritage Month!

Published on October 1, 2008 in Latinos, News, Spanish Language, Spanish Translation, Tips for Translators and Translation Buyers. 6 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , .

We are right in the middle of Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from September 15th to October 15th.  These 31 days are meant to celebrate the rich cultural heritage of the U.S.’s largest linguistic and ethnic minority.  The month-long homage to the contributions that Hispanics (those who trace their roots to Spanish-speaking countries) appropriately begins on September 15th, which is Independence Day for five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua.  Mexico’s Independence Day is September 16th and Chile’s September 18th. 

President Lyndon B. Johnson proclaimed the week that includes September 15th and 16th to be National Hispanic Heritage Week in 1968 and in 1988, the observance was expanded to an entire month.  Each year there is a theme, and the theme of 2008 is Getting Involved: Our Families, Our Communities, Our Nation, which was chosen from the top five suggested themes.

Local and federal governments, private industry, community organizations, and media all contribute to the offerings throughout this month and the Internet is a great resource to learn about the impact Hispanics have made on this country as well as events that are happening across the country.

The U.S. Census Bureau provides a great set of statistics on Hispanics in the U.S. in honor of this month in such categories as Population, Businesses, Families, and Jobs.  To read the stats and find links to the original sources of information, click here.

The Smithsonian Institute’s list of teaching resources gives a broad set of tools to begin exploring the range of ways that Latinos have contributed to our country. 

AOL’s Latino Tu Vida channel is a portal to popular Latino culture with quizzes, info about Latino celebrities, and recipes.  To sample these eclectic, entertaining offerings, start here.                                                               

These three links are just the beginning to exploring the rich and diverse culture that Hispanics bring to America.  With two weeks left to the month-long celebration, try to attend one of the many celebrations and educational events happening across the country.  Here are two links to calendars of events: Smithsonian calendar and National Council of La Raza calendar. 

More resources:

Hispanic Community in US

Spanish Language

Books: Hispanic Community/Latinos in US

A Client’s Guide to Making Translations Go Smoothly

Published on September 15, 2008 in Spanish Translation and Translation Buyers. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

When choosing a translator or translation agency to work with, you’re essentially starting a relationship with a business partner.  If your company launches itself into the international market or has constituents who don’t speak English, the quality of translations your business disseminates could make or break your business.  Below are some tips to get you started thinking about how to make your relationship with your translator more fluid and productive.

Determine Why You Need a Translation

Do you need a translation for information purposes or for publication purposes?  Have a conversation with your translator about why you need the translation: is it to sell your product abroad to millions or to inform 5 staff people in a foreign office of a policy change?  Of course, a great translator will make sure that any translation is suitable for its audience, but for-publication translations demand only the highest level of polish and accuracy while for-information translations transmit information.

Pay Attention to the Details in the Source Document

Make sure that your source document is clearly written and finalized before passing it along to your translator.  This will save both you and the translator time as she/he won’t need to contact you repeatedly for clarification of the message or wording of what you provided.  Also, be careful to send only source documents that are ready to be disseminated or published as sending draft copies will hold up translation of the document.  If there are significant changes to the source document that the translator already worked on, you might be asked to pay extra fees for the extra work. 

Keep in mind the cultural references and linguistic choices that you make in the source document, as they might not translate well into the target language.  Also, be aware of the target audience for your translation and make sure that your translator knows what you expect.  This will head off any misunderstanding that might occur if the translator wasn’t sure whether the document was meant for all of Latin America or only one country. 

Communicate, Communicate, Communicate!

Most misunderstandings between client and translator can be avoided if the client is forthcoming about the project and the translator asks questions when necessary.  It’s important to remember that some translations are more time intensive than others and that you need to communicate the details of a project ahead of time so that the translator can return quality work to you by the established deadline. 

For more tips, please read A Primer for Translation Buyers: Part One and A Primer for Translation Buyers: Part Two

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