A dictionary is a simple tool which helps us with the pronouciation, spelling and grammar needed for correct and effective communication. A glossary is an alphabetical list of technical terms in some specialized field of knowledge. The list below are helpful resources for general and specialized terminology in English and Spanish aimed for students, teachers, professionals [...]

“Spanglish” is the title of the 2005 comedy starring Adam Sandler (John), Tea Leoni (Deborah) and the Spanish actress Paz Vega (playing a Mexican housekeeper, named Flor), in which the characters come to understand each other without words. According to the executive producer of the film, in which an American married couple and a Latino [...]

For those businesses that want to test the potential of their products or services with the US Spanish market, those ready to employ a more proactive approach, or those fully committed to their Spanish speaking consumers, I recommend translating part, if not all, of your website into Spanish and developing a search friendly website. This [...]

I recently wrote about the growing Spanish market in the United States and prior to that I discussed the intent of the North American Academy of the Spanish Language (ANLE) to improve Spanish use in this country. I also commented on the mix of English with other languages spoken in the film “Code 46“, which [...]

The current population is estimated to be 6 million. However, the United Nations expects this number to increase to 90 million by the year 2025. And the world’s population is expected to reach 9 billion in 2050.
According to UNESCO data, there are approximately 400 to 500 million Spanish speaking people in the world. The Spanish [...]

The Hispanic population is a consumer segment that is growing faster than any other minority group in the United States. Already many businesses are starting to implement new approaches and strategies to target Hispanics.
And yet there is no one “Hispanic market”, even if language unifies U.S. Hispanics. This is because “Latino” or “Hispanic” mainly refers to [...]

A colleague of mine sent me the link to a site called Forvo, which I found very interesting. According to the website, Forvo is the largest word pronunciation dictionary in the world. Ask for that word or name, and another user will pronounce it for you. You can learner how to pronounce in over 220 [...]

Tips for interpreters
What is interpretation? In a nut shell, interpretation is “oral translation”. That is, an interpreter is responsible for transferring someone’s oral discourse into an equivalent discourse in a different language. By definition, translators are interpreters -although a good interpreter, besides having language knowledge, will also have specific experience and training in the field.
In [...]

I’m always looking for glossaries, dictionaries and other resources that can help working professionals. Thanks to a Venezuelan colleague, in her blog La Traducción al descubierto, I discovered Invertext.com -a dictionary that covers different business areas. It has around 100 terms in English and Spanish with definitions that are constantly updated. All are welcome to contribute. [...]

The Royal Spanish Academy and the Association of Spanish Language Academies present a New Grammar for Spanish Language. This is the first time the academy produces a grammar book since 1931.The two volumes, and a third one being published soon, is a result of eleven year of work from the twenty-two academies of Spanish [...]

As I promised here’s the last part of the glossary of Neutral Spanish terms, which I shared with you in previous posts.
quitar (take off, take out)
rabo (tail)
rasurar (shave)
refresco (soda,”coke”)
refrigerador (fridge)
renta (rent)
retrete, excusado (toilet)
rosquillas  (donuts)
sabroso (tasty, yummy)
sala (living-room)
salchicha  (hot dog)
sanitario (lavatory, w.c., bathroom)
sofá (couch, sofa)
sortija (ring)
sostén (bra)
sudar (sweat, perspirate)
sujeto (guy,chap)
tienda (store, shop)
tienda (de campaña) (tent)
tina (bathtub)
tocino [...]

In the US, when a transcript contains a translation of conversations spoken in a foreign language, a qualified witness must authenticate and verify the translation. See United States v. Llinas, 603 F.2d 506, 509-10 (5th Cir. 1979).
A party who wishes to challenge the accuracy of a translation is responsible for presenting another translation. The jury [...]

This the third part of the glossary (just one more left) is a continuation of the previous posts 1 and 2. Below are words from letter F to P.
falda (skirt)
fontanero  (plumber)
fregadero  (sink; kitchen)
fresa (strawberry)
frijol (bean)
gafas, lentes (glasses)
galleta (cracker, cookie)
gaveta (drawer)
golpiza (beating, thrashing)
goma de mascar (chewing/bubble gum)
grifo (faucet, tap)
guapo, apuesto (good-looking, handsome)
guisado (stew, casserole)
guisante (pea)
hornear (bake)
hule [...]

Spanish is the second most-common language in the United States. There are 45 million Hispanics who speak Spanish in the United States, making it the world’s second-largest Spanish-speaking community. German, Italian, Polish, Russian and Greek are also spoken among older generations of immigrants. Also spoken are Tagalog, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. And let’s not [...]

This is part 2 from the previous post. Included here are terms in Neutral Spanish from letters C to E. I’d like to remind you that this list is specifically for subtitling and voice over; there may be different options. Feel free to leave your comments or suggestions to add to the list.
cabello (hair)
cafetería (coffee [...]

Here an additional note on Neutral Spanish. I’d like to share with you the first part of a list of neutral terms (not exclusive), complied for the use of the movie industry, mainly for subtitling and voice over. As I mentioned in a previous article, these terms are only a standardized version, that is, the [...]

Remember the Telephone Game? Most of you probably remember it from childhood. You would whisper a short sentence into someone’s ear and so on until it went full circle. When the message reached the last person it was totally different from the original and it had everyone laughing out loud. You’re probably thinking, “Yes, I [...]

To wrap up my previous post, I’d like to make a brief comment on this subject.
A translation targeted towards different Spanish speaking regions or countries should be translated into “Neutral Spanish”. As I mentioned before, it’s very important that the client be aware of this. What we’re talking about is a standardized version of Spanish, [...]

Can anyone stop the ever growing Spanglish movement in the U.S.? After all, Spanglish is not a language but rather people who speak English and Spanish badly. The North American Academy of the Spanish Language (ANLE, for its initials in Spanish) has taken on this challenge. Seen by some as the “language police”, the Academy [...]

It is commonly believed that any bilingual person can translate. However most fail at written translations. This is because such informal translation is oral, not written. For an informal translator, any translation which communicates the main idea of the message suffices. But in a professional translation, the original document must be understood thoroughly and accurately. [...]