Portuñol: A Blend of Spanish and Portuguese
Portuñol or portunhol – a dialect based on code-switching between Spanish and Portuguese – has resulted from prolonged contact between the inhabitants of border areas. Emerging over time as a sort of lingua franca for those living in immigrant communities or in trade zones where speakers lacked fluency in the other group’s language, portuñol can […]
The Languages of Spain
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 […]
Linguistic Features of Rioplatense (River Plate) Spanish
The dialect of Spanish spoken in and around Buenos Aires, Argentina is known as Rioplatense or River Plate Spanish. The dialect’s sphere of influence extends to other major cities within the River Plate region including La Plata, Santa Fe, Rosario, Paraná and Mar del Plata in Argentina, and Montevideo in Uruguay. While significant dialectical differences […]
Prescription Medication Labels and Translation: Meeting the Needs of Non-English Speakers
A bill is currently being deliberated in the California State Senate that would require pharmacies to take “the needs of patients with limited English proficiency” into consideration when labeling prescription medications. Medication errors, a leading cause of medical accidents, may be reduced when patients have improved understanding of how to take prescription drugs. With approximately […]
Top reasons why you should target the Hispanic Community
– There are 48.4 million Hispanics in the US today. – The Hispanic online population reached a record 20.3 million visitors in February 2009, representing 11 percent of the total U.S. online market. – The projected Hispanic population of the United States on July 1, 2050 is 132.8 million.. According to this projection, Hispanics will […]
Should American Students Learn Spanish or Chinese?
With China on track to secure a position as a leading economic force in the 21st century, schools across the United States are beginning to offer Mandarin Chinese to prepare American students to deal with the Asian powerhouse. While there’s little doubt that fluency in Chinese will provide a competitive edge in the future, New […]
The Spanish Language in Brazil
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 […]
Spanish in the World
With approximately 400 million native speakers worldwide, Spanish is currently the second most widely spoken language, just behind Mandarin Chinese and ahead of English and Hindi/Urdu. Spanish is also the second most commonly used language on the Internet, trailing English. Most linguistic studies indicate that English, Spanish and Chinese will dominate as the languages of […]
The Future of Spanish in the United States
Many scholars and researchers agree that the Spanish language’s future in the United States looks promising, though it seems highly unlikely that Spanish will unseat English as the nation’s dominant language. There are those, however, who argue that Spanish faces the possibility of diminishing influence in the United States over time, the result of a […]
The RAE Discards Some Proposed Spanish Spelling Reforms
The Real Academia Española (RAE) recently announced a number of proposed changes to spelling conventions, causing quite a stir throughout the Spanish-speaking world. Many academics and writers scoffed at the RAE’s plans to introduce these spelling reforms, which, according to some, were bound to create unnecessary confusion. Following the academy’s recent meeting in Guadalajara, Mexico, […]
