Happy Hispanic Heritage Month!
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 […]
Serving the Latino Community: Health Care Translations
Many people experience anxiety when dealing with health care and medical situations, and this is especially true when English isn’t the first language of patients and their families. Treatment plans and other health-related documents can be filled with medical jargon that seems foreign even to native English speakers. As the population of Spanish-speakers continues to […]
A Client’s Guide to Making Translations Go Smoothly
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 […]
Google Translation Center Announced to Online Community
The online translation community is abuzz with the news that Google has announced the start of a Google Translation Center. The discussion revolves around two main questions: how exactly the service will work and how having an Internet giant like Google providing a platform for translation services will affect freelance translators’ business. How Will Google’s […]
Voting en Español: The U.S. Presidential Race
With an estimated population of 44.3 million as of July 2006, Hispanics are the nation’s largest ethnic minority in the U.S. It’s no wonder that the three main presidential hopefuls (McCain, Obama, and Clinton until just recently) spend a lot of time and money courting this powerful demographic. The political realm is always convoluted and […]
Tools for Translators
Translators use a multitude of tools to make their work easier and more efficient. However, many are quite costly so it’ll take time to acquire all of the resources necessary to make your work as fast and accurate as possible. Most translators use a combination of computer-based and hard copy resources. Of course, it depends […]
Targeting different Spanish-Speaking Audiences Through Translation
Last month, Transpanish posted an article about using Neutral Spanish to reach the widest possible Spanish-speaking audience. Those who translate documents into neutral or standard Spanish strive to remove any vocabulary or markers that would identify the text with a specific region where Spanish is spoken. Using neutral Spanish is useful when your document will […]
Spanish usage in US
On April 23, 2008 Transpanish posted a blog article about the movement to cultivate the usage of “proper” Spanish on the Internet. Remember that this movement originated in Spain. But what importance does this movement have on Spanish speakers residing in the United States? The usage of proper written and spoken Spanish may still be […]
Words with the letter eñe (ñ)
In our last post we discussed the importance of the use of the letter eñe. Below are some words with “ñ”. One tip: If your keyboard doesn´t have the Spanish layout, you may type the eñe by pressing and holding ALT and 164. España señor señora señorita señal compañero daño rebaño baño migraña muñeca riña […]
The Contested Eñe: “Pure” and “Impure” Spanish
While written Spanish is rife with diacritical marks (a.k.a. accent marks), there is none as sexy and symbolic as the eñe. Take for example, the commonly used word, año (year). Remove the eñe, and you’re left with ano, which is the Spanish word for anus. In most cases, leaving out the accent won’t result in […]
