Spanish Translation Blog: Spanish Translation US

English and Spanish Dictionaries and Glossaries

michelleb — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:02:21 +0000

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 and the general public.

English and Spanish Dictionaries and Glossaries

Accounting and Financial Dictionary English-Spanish dictionary provided by Spanish translator services, a site with free resources for English-Spanish translators

Biology Glossary English – Spanish glossary of technical terms used in ecology, evolution, and systematics

Business Dictionary English to Spanish terminology and vocabulary

Child Welfare Glossary English – Spanish child welfare terms from the Child Welfare Children’s Bureau

Deaf & Blind Glossary English – Spanish glossary of concepts and terms from the National Consortium of Deaf-Blindness

Dental Terms Glossary English – Spanish dental glossary to improve dentist and patient communications Courtesy of Wake Forest University

Election & Voting Glossary English – Spanish glossary of key election terminology from the US Election Assistance Commission

Fannie Mae Glossary of English and Spanish Industry Terms Mortgage, lending and borrowing terms

Financial Glossary English and Spanish terms from the Financial Monetary Fund website

Forestry & Wildlife Glossary English – Spanish terminology used in forestry, range, wildlife, fishery, soils, and botany from the USDA Forest Service

Free Dictionary Online English to Spanish dictionary

HUD Glossary of Mortgage terms English to Spanish glossary of mortgage and financing terminology from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development

Internal Revenue Service Glossary English – Spanish glossary of terminology used in Publications issued by the Internal Revenue Service

OSHA Dictionary-Construction Industry Terms English – Spanish glossary of Occupational Safety & Health Administration construction industry terms

Political Science Glossary English – Spanish glossary of important political science terms from Thompson Wadsworth Learning

Royal Spanish Academy Dictionary Spanish language dictionary

Special Education Glossary English-Spanish glossary of special education terminology provided by the Van Buren Intermediate School District

Superfund & WQARF Terms English – Spanish environmental quality glossary from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality

Technical English – Spanish Glossary Technical terminology courtesy of the Technological Institute of Buenos Aires

Tomisimo English-Spanish & Spanish-English dictionary

WordReference English to Spanish & Spanish-English dictionary

English Spanish Glossaries Portals and search engines that take you to a large number of glossaries on every topic imaginable, as well as general dictionaries, encyclopedias and other resources for translators. If you are looking for a very particular glossary that does not fall in the other categories, check the portals in this section

Tags: dictionaries, Dictionary, glossary, Spanish dictionaries, Spanish Dictionary, Spanish Translator, Translation, Translator

Spanish and the Latino Culture in the US Screen

michelleb — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:53:54 +0000

“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 housekeeper are faced with a language barrier, “the word ‘Spanglish’ is a metaphor for the collision of cultures in this house. It’s also a metaphor for the general limitations of language. To some extent, whether or not we speak the same language, we’re always interpreting the behavior of others.” The writer/director notes that “the cultural differences in our heterogeneous society can be profound. But with Flor and John, their similarities are profound.”

This film is unique because the main theme is Spanglish. Yet there are other films and several television series that are incorporating Latino characters and mixing Spanish in the dialogue. Abc guionistas discuss a study by Professor Nieves Jiménez Carra, from the University Pablo de Olavide (UPO) in Seville, Spain, about 5 television series (The West Wing, Friends, Without a Trace, Cane, and Dexter) and 2 movies (Quinceañera and Real Women Have Curves). The researcher analyzes the strategies used by the original writers to include Spanish in the script or characters of Latin American origin, and also discusses the subtitling and dubbing strategies that translators in Spain use to translate these “bilingual” scripts. It says that American writers tend to include English subtitles when the Spanish is spoken in a series or movie if it’s important to the story line. However, subtitles are not included if what the character is saying is not as important. “They prevent the public from knowing what Spanish speaking characters are saying,” says Jiménez Carra. “If there’s a recurrent character who speaks Spanish, as in Cane or Dexter, the character sometimes translates his or her own words. For example, if the character says, “¿Como estás?” it’s sometimes followed by “How are you?”

Maybe the answer is to teach Spanish at an early age … The same thing that happens in the above-mentioned series is even more obvious in children’s programs. PBS Kids, Disney Channel and Nickelodeon focus on acceptance over discrimination, and there are already several bilingual programs that feature Latin American culture.

Bebés Latinos, a site “for Latino parents throughout the world,” comments on all these children’s programs that “teach” Spanish or include characters of Latino origin. Dora the Explorer is a bilingual series that has created a new interest in non-Latino children to learn Spanish while also learning aspects of the Latino culture. For Latino children living outside of Latin America, this is a character with whom they share something in common and to whom they can relate. Another bilingual program is Maya & Miguel, two siblings living in a culturally diverse neighborhood and with friends of many nationalities and races, who focus on being good family and community members. These characters and their relatives, of Mexican origin, use Spanish phrases and individual words translated into English. Dragon Tales tells the story of a 6-year-old girl and her 4-year-old brother, who are friends with four dragons in Dragonland. The program focuses on cultural diversity, emphasizing the Latino culture through games, songs and stories of Latin America. For smaller children Jay Jay the Jet Plane, which is about a 6 years old plane and his adventures with his plane friends, highlights teamwork, responsibility and cooperation. New episodes feature a red Latino plane named Lina who helps Jay Jay discover how airplanes fly and the five senses. Handy Manny features the adventures of Manny (Manuel García), a billingual Latino handyman always willing to help his neighbors and friends, who fixes everything in his town. Manny’s friends are his talking tools, and all use individual Spanish words and phrases (in the Latin American version, greetings and numbers and other simple phrases in English are incorporated, usually followed by a translation). It teaches the importance of cooperation, problem solving, teamwork and multiculturalism. The program makes reference to Latino customs and traditions and the opening has Latin music (the title song is performed by the band Los Lobos).

Surely there will be more integration and less discrimination, more knowledge of “other cultures” with these programs, but I wonder what these children speak when they are older, a mixture of Spanish and English (the familiar Spanglish)? Will these programs teach children to speak both languages well when they’re older? The other possibility … I’ll keep it to myself.

Source: Idioma español y cultura latina en la pantalla de EE. UU.

Tags: bilingual programs, dubbing, Spanglish

Website Translation & Spanish SEO

michelleb — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:13:32 +0000

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 process that will entail at least the following basic steps.

Page Translation

The Spanish Market in the US is a fastest growing consumer market and the largest online growth sector of new Internet users. It is estimated that the number of Hispanic Internet users will surge between now and 2012 and surpass 29 million. Chicago, for example, expects Hispanics to account for virtually all of the city’s population growth over the next decade. It is good idea to invest in a Hispanic-focused web site and SEO to tap into a market that will surely increase your business.

Page Optimization

Page optimization involves modifying keyword frequency in the URL, Title, Headings, Hypertext Links and Body text. It may also involve reducing redundant HTML codes produced by Web page authoring tools and restructuring the site to produce better linked and focussed page content.

Methods of obtaining better search results include:

Keyword Analysis: the study of the most frequently used keywords entered into a search engine by the users. Keyword research consists of finding as many keywords as possible relating to your web site, the most valuable keywords and analyzing the strength of competitors for potential keywords.

Coding & Content Optimization: editing a web site’s content and code in order to improve visibility within one or more search engines. The content should be properly structured with the use of Heading tags bold containing relevant keywords. Search-engines will only index a limited amount of text in HTML tags and using too many keywords will dilute the focus.

URL Revision (file names, keywords): in dynamic website URL’s contain a lot of special character (E.g. @, #, $, % and more…) that is not recognize/supported by the search engine. In that case rewrite search engine friendly URL.

META Tags (title, description, keywords): elements that are used to include information about your web page. Search engines use the text they find on the page as a description so it is very important that the first header and sentence describe the contents.

You need to have at least 1 page in Spanish optimized with your Spanish keywords and meta tags in order to be allowed to submit your site on Spanish search engines.

When translating your webpage choose a professional translation agency with translators that are native speakers and have a good command of both languages, English and Spanish. Aslo, your SEO service provider should be active in multilingual/multicultural SEO communities; understand the differences in markets in the USA, Latin America and Spain; knows your target market. For more information visit Spanish Website Translation .

Tags: Hispanic, hispanics, Spanish Search Engine, Spanish search engines, Spanish website translation, US Spanish Market

Spanglish: The Dreaded Future

michelleb — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 02:05:50 +0000

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?

According to Wikipedia, “Spanglish refers to the code-switching of English and Spanish, in the speech of people who are bilingual, or whose normal language is different from that of the country where they live” that is often confused with the use of Anglicisms in Spanish. For Ilan Stavans, controversial intellectual, essayist, lexicographer, cultural commentator, translator, storyteller, television show host, professor and scholar, Spanglish speakers use three strategies: [1] a mixture of codes (code mixing) and code changes (code switching) [2], automatic and simultaneous translation and [3] inventing new words. Stavans is also Chief Editor of the Enciclopedia Latina, which is dedicated to all aspects of Latino life in North America, author of several books on this particular language phenomenon and on the translation of Don Quixote into Spanglish. (For more information about Spanglish and Ilan Stavans go to Wikipedia).

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.

Much has been written on the subject. In the blog Voces en español (Voices in Spanish) the author states: “In my opinion, all human expression is inherently valid, simply because it is manifested in a place and circumstance. However, when Spanglish gains ground in Spanish, to the point where Spanish speakers forget and confuse the syntax and grammar of their own language, in all its forms, our language is impoverished, while Spanglish is enriched.

Other sites, such as Arte y cultura logia El Potosí, are strongly against allowing the progress of “this hybrid form of language. They do not realize they are being linguistically subjected by imperialism. It is a form of invasion and exclusion that the speaker voluntarily accepts and, with this simple fact, begins to lose the original culture bequeathed by their ancestors.” In a different site, which from its title indicates its “opposition”, Di NO al spanglish“,(Say NO to Spanglish) the author notes, however, that although some commonly used words in English have a correct translation which use we should prefer, it is difficult to forgo the use of certain terms in English such as blogger, as the translation into Spanish ( bitacorador) “sounds bad”.

There are other sites, like hispanicLA, which include a good language analysis, history and several quotes, that state: “we do not suggest here that Spanish-or otherwise Spanglish, in the future -must be adopted as a second language or official U.S. sublanguage. At least not yet. Our purpose is to suggest that the harmonious coexistence of two or more official languages in one country is possible.”

There is also a debate as to whether we are at the birth of a new language or a new kind of slang in the translation forum English Spanish Translator Org, titled “Spanglish vs. slang”, which also cites interesting examples of terms and phrases in “Spanglish” such as “exitar la autopista” (exitar for exit), “dropear” los estudios (dropear for drop) and the literal phrase “Dame una quebrada” (for” Give me a break “).

I conclude this article by adhering to professor Stavans’ own opinion (cited in the site Origen y perspectiva…) that “language can not be legislated. It is a free and democratic expression of the human spirit. And so, every attack against it is a stimulus, because nothing is more inviting than what is forbidden. “

Source: Spanglish: el futuro tan temido

Tags: English and Spanish, English Spanish Translator Org, Spanglish, spanish language, spanish market

Spanish Market in the United States

michelleb — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:56:49 +0000

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

Tags: spanish language, spanish speakers

Translation vs. Transcreation in the Hispanic Market

michelleb — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:28:42 +0000

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 an origin or ethnicity, not a race. For such reason marketing is not just about the language issues. It is also about cultural knowledge that allows connecting with the consumer.

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.

Translation is defined as a written communication in a second language having the same meaning as the written communication in a first language. Transcreation on the other hand is closer to creative writing, the result of which is a text linguistically and culturally adapted for specific audience. It takes marketing related material in one language and rewrites a creative and compelling text in another language.

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.

A good strategy to attract the Hispanic market is to translate and transcreate your website. This will allow your website to be submitted to Spanish search engines and Spanish SEO. It’s recommended to have at least 3 pages in Spanish that are optimized with Spanish keywords in order to submit to Hispanic search engines: Landing page, Products/Service page and Contact page.

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

Tags: Direct translations, Hispanic market, Hispanic population, Hispanic search engines, Spanish SEO, translation vs. transcreation, U.S. Hispanic market

Online Pronunciation Dictionary

michelleb — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 13:04:44 +0000

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 languages from native speakers, sometimes with different regional accents.

For example, in Spanish the word “lluvia” (rain in English), has 8 different pronunciations. One is pronounced by a female voice and the rest are by male voices from Argentina, Columbia, Spain, Bolivia and Chile. The site even shows you a map with small flags for each country, which are links to the audio. You can also help others by recording your pronunciations in your own language.

For example, the database has over 30,000 words pronounced in Spanish and over 48,000 in English. However, it is not a language learning site but an online dictionary that helps you with pronunciation.

A colleague of mine sent me the link to a site called Forvo, which I found very interesting. Forvo claims to be the largest word pronunciation dictionary in the world. Ask for a word or name, and another user will pronounce it for you. You can learner how to pronounce in over 220 languages from native speakers, sometimes with different regional accents.

For example, in Spanish the word “lluvia” (rain in English), has 8 different pronunciations. One is pronounced by a female voice and the rest by male voices from Argentina, Columbia, Spain, Bolivia and Chile. The site even shows you a map with small flags which are links to indicate the country an audio is from. You can also help others by recording your pronunciations in your own language.

For example, the database has over 30,000 words pronounced in Spanish and over 48,000 in English. However, Forvo is not intended for

learning a language but to hear pronunciation from different places.

Source: http://blog-de-traducciones.spanishtranslation.us/pronunciacion-2010-01-05.html

Tags: pronunciation, pronunciation dictionary, regional accents

Tips for Interpreters

michelleb — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 18:06:53 +0000

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 a previous blog we discussed the need to use professional interpreters, but…

When is an interpreter needed?

In congresses, conferences, seminars, television or radio interviews, business meetings, company guided tours, legal proceedings, telephone conversations, etc; a court of law, for example, requires services of a legal interpreter (a function that is governed by law); simultaneous interpretation is used in conferences, in booths, with at least two professionals (one interpreting and the other helps him or her and takes over after some time); and what works best in a business meeting or a telephone conversation is the simultaneous interpretation of someone who alters his or her translation with the speakers discourse, by segments.

I’d like to share with you some tips for beginners that can also be useful for those in need of an interpreter. That way, you’ll know what to ask of a professional when hiring him or her for an interpretation job.

Be prepared: as early as possible (one week before a conference, a few hours before a telephone conversation), request material and read informative texts (not glossaries) about the subject, in both languages. For example, the speaker of a conference should provide ahead of time the text or the slides to be presented or any other related material.

Be informed: 1) about the place where the interpretation will held and the time; 2) about the speaker or speakers: know how to pronounce his or her name, know what country he or she is from, education, and other details of his or her biography that may be mentioned in the event (if the speaker writes books, essays, etc. if he or she gives classes, etc.); 3) about the target audience of the even (professionals, students, general public, etc.); 4) the form of the event (if there will be a Q & A session), etc.

Other practical aspects (important, although they may seem to only be details):

• dress properly and do not wear bright colors that may draw attention away from the speaker (in case of consecutive interpretations) and avoid strong perfumes;

• arrive early to check the location and try to talk to the speaker;

• ask for water (flat water not sparkling, because it may spoil the natural flow of the discourse); and

• (in case of conferences/discourses) test the microphones.

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 a knowledge of language, will also have experience and training in the field.

In a previous post Justin discussed the need to use professional interpreters, but…

When is an interpreter needed?

In congresses, conferences, seminars, television or radio interviews, business meetings, guided tours, legal proceedings, telephone conversations, etc; in a court of law, for example, which requires the services of a legal interpreter (a function that is governed by law); in conferences, simultaneous interpretation is held in booths, with at least two professionals (one interpreting and a second helping who takes over after some time); and in a business meeting or a telephone conversation what works best is simultaneous interpretation of someone who alters his or her translation with the speakers discourse, by segments.

I’d like to share with you some tips for beginners that can also be useful for those in need of an interpreter. That way, you’ll know what to ask of a professional in an interpretation job.

Be prepared: as early as possible (one week before a conference, a few hours before a telephone conversation), request material and read informative texts (not glossaries) about the subject, in both languages. For example, the speaker of a conference should provide ahead of time the text or the slides to be presented or any other related material.

Be informed: 1) about the place where the interpretation will held and the time; 2) about the speaker or speakers: know how to pronounce his or her name, know what country he or she is from, education, and other details of his or her biography that may be mentioned in the event (if the speaker writes books, essays, etc. if he or she gives classes, etc.); 3) about the target audience of the even (professionals, students, general public, etc.); 4) the form of the event (if there will be a Q & A session), etc.

Other practical aspects (important, although they may seem to be only details):

• dress properly and do not wear bright colors that may draw attention away from the speaker (in case of consecutive interpretations) and avoid strong perfumes;

• arrive early to check the location and try to talk to the speaker;

• ask for water (flat not sparkling, because it may spoil the natural flow of the discourse); and

• (in case of conferences/discourses) test the microphones.

Tags: consecutive interpretations, Interpretation, interpretation job, Interpreter, simultaneous interpretation

Business Translation

michelleb — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:49:00 +0000

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 dictionary is free.

The dictionary covers the following subjects:

Banking
Stock Markets
Accounting
Money and Currencies
Corporate Banking
Retail Banking
Money-Laundering
Retail Banking
Money-Laundering

Readers interested in professional translation services may find this website useful : Business Translation Spanish.

Tags: Business Translation Spanish, English and Spanish, rofessional translation service

A New Grammar from the Royal Spanish Academy

michelleb — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 21:23:41 +0000

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 Language. The new grammar books seeks to unify Spanish language. This is the first time the grammar at an academic level covers all varieties of Spanish Language.

Tags: Association of Spanish Language Academies, Royal Spanish Academy, spanish language

Glossary of Neutral Spanish – Part 4

michelleb — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:57:40 +0000

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 (bacon)
tontería (silly thing)
traje de baño (swimsuit, bathing suit)
trasero, nalgas (butt, bottom, bum, buttocks)
trozo (piece, bit)
tubo, tubería (pipe, pipes)
velada (evening/night)

I’d like to remind you once more that this glossary was created mainly for subtitling and voice over. Although it’s a useful guide, some terms are debatable.

Tags: neutral spanish, subtitling, Translation, voice over

The Legality of Translations in Court

michelleb — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:48:37 +0000

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 may then choose which version to believe. United States v. Rosenthal, 793 F.2d 1214, 1238 (11th Cir. 1986) (citing Llinas, 603 F.2d at 509).

For more information, please visit:

http://www.leagle.com/unsecure/page.htm?shortname=infco20091124124

Tags: foreign language, legal, transcript, Translation

Glossary of Neutral Spanish – Part 3

michelleb — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:27:47 +0000

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 (rubber)

jalar (pull)

junta (meeting)

la semana entrante (next week)

lanzar (throw)

lavandería (laundry room)

letrero (sign, post)

litera (bunk = built-in bed)

lodo (mud)

lunático (crazy, mad)

mantequilla (butter)

marcharse/largarse (go, leave)

matrícula patente (license plate, license number)

mejilla (cheek)

melocotón (peach)

moteado (spotted)

mujerzuela (whore, prostitute)

niña, muchacha, joven (girl)

niño, muchacho, joven (boy)

obsequio (gift, present)

ocurrir, suceder (happen, occur)

palabrotas (profanity)

paleta (lollipop)

panecillo (muffin, cupcake, bun, roll, etc.)

papel tapiz (wallpaper)

parque (square, park)

pastel (pie, cake)

patata (potato)

pequeño (small, little)

periódico (paper, newspaper)

perro caliente (hot dog)

piña (pineapple)

piscina (swimming pool)

plátano (banana)

pluma (pen)

preparatoria (high school)

prisa (hurry)

prisión (prison, jail, gaol)

(To be continued and finalized in the next post. Until next time.)

There are many variants in the Spanish language and one is not better than the other. In some fields, such the movie industry, it would be recommendable to reach some sort of agreement regarding the most commonly used words (all those in the Dictionary of the Spanish Language of the Royal Spanish Academy). That was the idea behind this Neutral Spanish Gl

There are many variants in the Spanish language and one is not better than the other. In some fields, such the movie industry, it would be recommendable to reach some sort of agreement regarding the most common used words (all those in the Dictionary of the Spanish Language of the Royal Spanish Academy). That was the idea behind this Neutral Spanish Glossary.

This third part of the glossary (just one more left) is a continuation of my previous posts. 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 (rubber)
jalar (pull)
junta (meeting)
la semana entrante (next week)
lanzar (throw)
lavandería (laundry room)
letrero (sign, post)
litera (bunk = built-in bed)
lodo (mud)
lunático (crazy, mad)
mantequilla (butter)
marcharse/largarse (go, leave)
matrícula patente (license plate, license number)
mejilla (cheek)
melocotón (peach)
moteado (spotted)
mujerzuela (whore, prostitute)
niña, muchacha, joven (girl)
niño, muchacho, joven (boy)
obsequio (gift, present)
ocurrir, suceder (happen, occur)
palabrotas (profanity)
paleta (lollipop)
panecillo (muffin, cupcake, bun, roll, etc.)
papel tapiz (wallpaper)
parque (square, park)
pastel (pie, cake)
patata (potato)
pequeño (small, little)
periódico (paper, newspaper)
perro caliente (hot dog)
piña (pineapple)
piscina (swimming pool)
plátano (banana)
pluma (pen)
preparatoria (high school)
prisa (hurry)
prisión (prison, jail, gaol)

(To be continued, and ended, in the next post. Until next time.)

Tags: neutral spanish, neutral terms, spanish subtitling, subtitling, subtitling and dubbing, voice over

Should the US adopt Spanish as a Second Language?

michelleb — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:54:54 +0000

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 forget that there is also a small population of Native Americans who still speak their native languages.

However, it may surprise you to learn that the United States does not have an official language, even though the majority of the population speaks English. According to an ACLU briefing paper, the proposal was “rejected as undemocratic and a threat to individual liberty” by the Continental Congress. Needless to say, the proposal of any official language in the United States is simply out of the questions.

Tags: hispanics, Spanish in the U.S., Spanish in the United States, spanish language, spanish speakers

Glossary of Neutral Spanish – Part 2

michelleb — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:45:38 +0000

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 shop, café, cafeteria)
calcetines   (socks)
calle (block)
camarero (waiter)
cantinero (bartender)
carretera (route)
cartera (wallet, billfold)
club de desnudistas (strip joint/bar)
cojín (cushion)
col (cabbage)
columpio   (swing)
computadora (computer, PC)
condón (condom)
conducir (drive)
consentir (pamper, spoil, mollycoddle)
costoso (expensive, costly, dear)
cubo (bucket)
chaqueta, abrigo (jacket)
chispas de chocolate (chocolate chips)
demorar (take long)
deprisa, velozmente (quickly)
derramar (spill)
desdichado (miserable)
desnudista (stripper)
detener, detenerse (stop)
dinero (money)
dulce (candy, sweet)
ebrio (drunken)
económico, poco costoso (cheap)
echar de menos, echar en falta (miss)
el biquini   (bikini)
elevador (elevator, lift)
emparedado (sandwich)
enfadado (angry, upset)
enseñar/mostrar (show)
enviar (send)
escoger (choose, pick)
escuela (school)

(To be continued…)

Tags: neutral spanish, neutral terms, spanish subtitling, subtitling, subtitling and dubbing, voice over

Glossary of Neutral Spanish – Part 1

michelleb — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:03:40 +0000

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 translation most commonly used by the largest amount of people. There are other possible translations.

Some terms might sound strange and you might think that “yours” is the better word. In other cases, you’ll think it’s strange that you already use what’s considered to be “neutral”. Whenever you need to translate into neutral Spanish, you should look for a term that has the same meaning for an Ecuadorian, Uruguayan, Hispanic speaker in the United States and Spain. Even if a word sounds more lindo, chulo, mono, majo o rico than the other, you should choose the “prettier” one, el más bonito.

This list can help you with this task. Here is the first part (letters A and B):

acera (sidewalk, pavement)

adinerado (rich)

afortunado (lucky)

aguacate (avocado)

aguardar (wait)

alardear (brag)

alcalde (Mayor)

amar (love)

amarrar (tie, tie up)

anciano (old person)

apartamento (apartment, flat)

apenado ( embarrassed)

apodo (nickname)

apresurarse, darse prisa (hurry)

arete (earring)

atemorizar (to scare)

ático, desván (attic)

atrapar, sujetar, tomar, asir (catch, grab, hold, take)

automóvil (car, automobile)

autobús (bus)

ayuntamiento (city hall)

barbacoa (barbecue)

barbilla (chin)

barniz de uñas (nail polish, nail barnish)

batería (battery)

beber (drink)

biberón (bottle [baby])

blusa (blouse, shirt)

boda (wedding)

boleto (ticket, plane ticket)

bolos (bowling [game])

bolso (purse, handbag)

bonito (pretty, cute, nice)

bragas (panties, knickers)

brincar (jump)

We’ll continue with this later.

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 translation most commonly used by the largest amount of people. There are other possible translations.

Some terms might sound strange and you might think that “yours” is the better word. In other cases, you’ll think it strange that you already use what’s considered to be “neutral”. Whenever you need to translate into Neutral Spanish, you should look for a term that has the same meaning for an Ecuadorian, Uruguayan and Hispanic speaker in the United States and Spain. Even if a word sounds more lindo, chulo, mono, majo or rico than the other, you should choose el más bonito (the “prettier” one).

This list can help you with this task. Here’s the first part (letters A and B):

acera (sidewalk, pavement)
adinerado (rich)
afortunado (lucky)
aguacate (avocado)
aguardar (wait)
alardear (brag)
alcalde (Mayor)
amar (love)
amarrar (tie, tie up)
anciano (old person)
apartamento (apartment, flat)
apenado (embarrassed)
apodo (nickname)
apresurarse, darse prisa (hurry)
arete (earring)
atemorizar (to scare)
ático, desván (attic)
atrapar, sujetar, tomar, asir (catch, grab, hold, take)
automóvil (car, automobile)
autobús (bus)
ayuntamiento (city hall)
barbacoa (barbecue)
barbilla (chin)
barniz de uñas (nail polish, nail barnish)
batería (battery)
beber (drink)
biberón (bottle [baby])
blusa (blouse, shirt)
boda (wedding)
boleto (ticket, plane ticket)
bolos (bowling [game])
bolso (purse, handbag)
bonito (pretty, cute, nice)
bragas (panties, knickers)
brincar (jump)

We’ll continue with this later.

Tags: neutral, neutral spanish, neutral terms, standardized

Machine Translation Plays the Telephone Game

michelleb — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:54:07 +0000

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 remember that game. But what does it have to do with Machine Translation?” Machine Translation is playing a fast-growing role in the translation industry. Some companies admit that it’s only partially effective (some say 70%); I beg to differ. Let’s play the Telephone Game and see what happens after 10 consecutive translations of the same text.

If you have a text you need translated, we recommend professional translation services from our comapny, Trusted Translations.

Tags: machine translation, professional translation services, Translation, translation industry, trusted translations

Neutral Spanish

michelleb — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:35:29 +0000

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, especially in terms of vocabulary, so that all Spanish speakers can understand its meaning. We already established that there is only one Spanish language, but it’s spoken differently throughout the world. Grammar -the syntax itself will be basically the same regardless of any variations. But the choice of certain terms and idioms (phrases, loanwords, sayings, idiomatic phrases, etc.) will need to be adapted in order to reach a middle ground. The use of the RAE Spanish dictionary (Royal Spanish Academy) is essential. This is the bible and guide for translators in search of what Wikipedia defines as “a version that tries to avoid terms that may be identified with specific countries (“ordenador” is most used in Spain while “computadora” in turn is used in America) or linguistic regional phenomena (the Latin American voseo)…”.

Tags: drae, latin american spanish, neutral spanish, rae, spanish language, spanish speakers, standarized spanish

TRYING TO KEEP SPANISH PURE IN THE U.S.

michelleb — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:11:53 +0000

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 has teamed up with the U.S. government to improve and standardize the use of Spanish particularly in government public service communications. Their mission is to help implement the use of correct Spanish for the 40 million Hispanics living in the U.S.

For more information, please visit: www.nydailynews.com/latino/2009/05/14/2009-05-14_academy_to_become_spanish_inquisitor_.html

Tags: ANLE, North American Academy of the Spanish Language, Spanglish, Spanish in the U.S., Translation, U.S. Spanish

Accuracy: Professional Translators Make a Difference

michelleb — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:50:01 +0000

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. There are professional standards which a translator needs to follow. And while bilingual interference may not be as important in an informal translation, it is a serious problem in professional translation. Later I’ll continue on the subject by talking about the importance of Consistency.

Tags: bilingual translation, professional translation, Translation, translation standards