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 was a good foreshadowing, in my opinion, of the future. And, in passing, I mention the existence of Spanglish, but never stopped to analyze …

What is Spanglish, really?

A common thing in Spanglish is to confuse the meaning between Spanish and English words that sound alike (false friends). An example of this would be the phrase ” vacunar la carpeta” (in English: “vacuum the carpet”) instead of “aspirar/pasar la aspiradora a la alfombra”. Another example of this type of speech would be a sentence in which both languages are used: I’m sorry I cannot attend next week’s meeting porque tengo una obligación de negocios en Boston, pero espero que I’ll be back for the meeting the week after.

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 language is used by 7-8% of the world’s population, although that figure will increase significantly.  These figures account for the population of countries with Spanish as their official language, including 30 million people in the United States who speak Spanish on a regular basis. Hispanics are the largest ethnic minority in the United States and Spanish ranks second as the language spoken most widely at home.

These numbers clearly indicate a tremendous growth in the demand of Spanish media communication, information, entertainment, websites and so on.  Companies are starting to realize that translating their websites into Spanish is a must if they are reach a consumer market that continues to increase at a significant rate. Although most Hispanics live in big cities, states such as Georgia, Arkansas, Tennessee, North and South Carolina and Virginia are experiencing larger migration.

Communication media tries to meet market demand by offering quality Spanish programming, as the Spanish media and publicity market in television, newspapers and magazines published in Spanish continues to grow. However, the demand is not only for Spanish content but for quality Spanish content, i.e well translated material.

I have already mentioned that there is no single form of Spanish. Each target market should be considered when a products being launched into the Spanish language (Mexican, Columbian, US Spanish), Latin American Spanish in general (or what we call “neutral Spanish”) or Spanish from Spain. By taking into account this information, a good translation service can deliver a good quality product specific to each customer and thus provide the Hispanic market in the United States with the translations needed. Follow the links to find general information about the Spanish translation for the United States, specifically the online Hispanic market or Hispanic market research.

Source: Mercado de español en los Estados Unidos

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.

The assimilation of generations and diverse countries of origin within U.S. Hispanics has created a complex culture. There are many factors that make the Hispanic consumers unique: historical, contextual, cultural, demographic, and financial.

Direct translations and general market strategies tend to miss emotional and culturally relevant elements. This is where translation vs. trancreation comes in.

For example, in the marketing industry the language used in a transcreation should have a similar impact on the target audience. For this reason, marketers cannot simply transfer directly to the Hispanic market an idea, product or a service that works with the general market.

For more information go to Hispanic Market Research Services and Spanish Website Translation