What is Plain English?

Plain English (sometimes referred to as plain language) is a style of writting that is simple and direct. It “emphasise clarity, brevity and the avoidance of technical language”.

Why Plain English?

“Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any other document (or any part thereof)…”

All documents in plain English should be easy to read and use. Gobbledygook, jargon and legalese can be hard to understand, as it does not have the general audience in mind. It can also be time consuming and cost you money if you don’t understand what you’re reading -or signing.

Using Plain English

There are numerous government and non-government organizations that works to improve public communication by caimpaining in favor of plain English in public communication. These organizations believe that everyone should have access to clear and concise information.

In the late 1990s, President Bill Clinton made Plain Language a major initiative of his administration. In a presidential memorandum he formalized the requirement that all new rules and regulations of his government be written in this style.

The U.S. goverment has a Plain Language Website which aims at improving communication from the Federal Government to the public.

Plain Language in Spanish

Plain Language is not limited to the English language. The plain language campaign can also be found in Latin America.

Argentina

Since the mid 2000s, Argentina implemented a project entitled Comunicación en Lenguaje Claro, which is included in the technical assistance program in order to strengthening the National Public Investment System (FOSIP). It aims to follow guidelines similar to the Plain Language Movement. In its first stage, the project has focused on internal govermental communication; later it will regulate the communication between the government and the public.

Chile

In August 2004 the President of the Senate of Chile opened the seminar Transparency, language rights for citizen, in which academic leaders were involved. The seminar analized challenge of communicating legislative work to the public through clear language. The senate now face the challenge of transferring their work in a language that ordinary citizens understand.

Mexico

On October 5, 2004, President Vicente Fox launched the inniciative Citizen Language to begin to simplify the language used by the government. Its purpose is to communicate government messages in a simple, clear and precise way, to achieve full understanding and to prevent complex and obscure communication.

Plain Language in Translation

Using Plain Language means more customers can access the information and services you offer. When readers understand the material, they are more likely to respond favorably, make fewer errors filling out your forms, and comply more accuratly and quickly with requirments. And they need less support over the phone, online or in person.

Plain Language documents make foreign language translations easier and more cost effective. If your English documents are easy to read, use and understand, so will your translations. A Plain Language document typically can have up to 40% fewer words than the original. As translations are billed per word, translation costs will be lower.

For more information, visit Spanish Translation Solutions

She is known by many names: Malinalli, Malintzin(Spanish transliterations of her original name– the tzin suffix was added to indicate hierarchy and nobility), “Doña Marina,” or most commonly, La Malinche. Malineli Tenepatl (c.1502 – c.1529), a Mexican girl born into the upper class, was presented to Mayan chiefs in Tabasco following a war between the Mayans and Aztecs. As a result of this situation she fluidly spoke both her native language, Nahuatl, and the language of her new owners, Mayan.

The chiefs gave the young slave to Hernán Cortés after he defeated the Tabascans at the Battle of Centla. Cortes christened her “Marina” and gave her to one of his captains. Upon learning that she spoke Nahuatl, he began to use her as a Nahuatl-Mayan interpreter, with Jerónimo de Aguilar (a Spanish survivor of a shipwreck who was freed from captivity by Cortés) completing the circle by translating Mayan into Spanish. All of the exchanges between the Spanish and Aztecs were carried out in this manner, using three languages and two interpreters, until Malintzin learned Spanish: it is most likely that this did not take very long, based on the fact the indigenous records usually leave out Jerónimo de Aguilar and reference Malintzin as having been the sole interpreter.

Apart from serving as interpreter, Malintzin advised the Spanish on the local customs and military tactics, possibly performing what would today be called “intel” and “diplomacy.”

There are many legends and conjectures about Malinche, but the facts are harder to come by. The Spanish word “Malinchismo” is derived from her name, a term meaning a preference for something foreign over local, to want to appear foreign over Mexican, and opportunistic and willing to betray one’s own country to aid foreigners. The reality however is that as an orphan passed between tribes and countries, Malintzin did not have a country to sell.

A few people also consider Malinche to be the “First Mother of Mexico,” initiating the birth of a country and in a more general sense, motherhood itself.