Spanish Spelling Bee May Reflect a Rising Acceptance of the Language in the U.S.
The National Spelling Bee is a competition that is believed to have originated in the early 20th century in the United States, wherein a number of young contestants are required to a orally spell various words of increasing difficulty. The first official Bee was held in 1925, and the first champion was eleven years old. […]
How much should be spent on immigration translation?
Immigration translation is no doubt an important effort for any country with immigrants, as many arrive with little to no knowledge of the national language. By translating to a variety of languages, countries ease the already difficult process of immigration, lesson the sense of isolation and confusion. As a result, immigrants are likely to feel […]
Understanding the Hispanic Labour Force
As the largest ethnic minority group in the U.S., Hispanics constitute a significant and growing percentage of the workforce. Many of these workers are involved in the construction and landscaping industries, though they are present in just about every industry and region of the U.S. As such, it’s important that employers understand the complexity of […]
U.S. Border Patrol to Refuse Interpretation Assistance Requests from Other Law Enforcement Agents
Image courtesy of: U.S. Department of Homeland Security Towards the end of November 2012, an impactful memo was released to little media attention by the Deputy Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, David V. Aguilar. The memo simply stated that Border Patrol agents would no longer respond to requests for language assistance (e.g. Spanish […]
Social Media, Latinos, and the New Marketing Environment
As the marketing atmosphere changes and evolves faster than ever with new technological developments and new ways for companies to connect with their customers, we are seeing more companies reach out to their Spanish-language audiences. One way that they are doing this is by translating their web pages into Spanish. But they’re also going further […]
The Importance of Providing Written Translations of Company Policies
While US labor laws require that employers provide translations of certain kinds of information regarding company policies to Spanish-speaking employees, the laws which are currently on the books do not necessarily cover all of the information that these employees require. As a result, it is not unheard-of for employees with limited English abilities to be […]
Courting Votes and Taking Notes: The Delicate Act of Appealing to Latino Voters
A recent BBC article picked up on a gaffe U.S. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney made while trying to appeal to Latino voters in this year’s upcoming election. In fact, many news outlets ran the story, noting that it fits into a tradition of presidents or presidential candidates embarrassing themselves before the largest minority group […]
Hispanic Heritage Month is more important than ever
What is National Hispanic Heritage Month? National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated every year by all North Americans between September 15th to October 15th. The entire month is devoted to the celebration of the histories, cultures and contributions of the North American population whose ancestors originally came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and both Central […]
Spanglish Spoken Here
Spanglish, the love child born of the relationship between Spanish and English, features a rather inventive mix of the two languages. English words frequently get a “makeover” before being adopted by Spanglish users, with spelling often changed to loosely fit the rules of Spanish. Check out these examples of Spanglish at its finest. Breakfast might […]
English Words that Take on Alter Egos in Spanish
As a non-native speaker of Spanish, it’s a given that certain words will occasionally throw me for a loop during the course of a conversation. What I don’t generally expect is that those words will be from my own language! A number of words such as chequear (to check) and frizar (to freeze) have passed […]
