Lionbridge Translation and Localization

Spanish Translation, Part 1: The Big Picture of the US Market

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Please welcome guest blogger, Teodoro Alonso, Manager of the Project Management team in the Lionbridge Santiago office.  Today is Teo's first in a three-part series focusing on US Spanish.

See also:

• Spanish Translation, Part 2: Choosing the Right Spanish Variant
• Spanish Translation, Part 3: Deciding Which Spanish Variant to Offer

Spanish is the official language in 21 countries, with a large percentage of speakers in four other ones. Today, about 400 million people speak Spanish as a native language, making it one of the three most spoken languages in the world, and the third internet market by number of users. Spanish is also becoming more and more popular as a second or third language in several countries due to interest towards the many Spanish speaking nations; this is especially strong in Brazil and the United States.

In spite of being the language for countries in four continents, basic spelling and syntax are virtually identical for all Spanish speakers, and the main differences lie in pronunciation, terminology and grammar. But - as for English - educated speakers can understand each other regardless of their national origin: I, European Spanish native, can read Chilean newspapers, watch Mexican soap operas or chat with my Colombian colleague in Framingham without any major problem.

What happens in the Spanish speaking community in the US? Differences among Spanish speakers in the United States are mainly due to the fact that Hispanic Americans came originally from different countries. Also, factors like level of education and acculturation can affect the type of Spanish spoken by a given person in the US.

US Census Bureau provides useful information about the distribution of Hispanic Americans. For instance, more than 50% of Spanish speakers in California, the Southwest, Texas, and the greater Chicago area are of Mexican descent; the majority of Spanish speakers in the New York City area are from Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic; a large percentage of Hispanic population in Florida are of Cuban, Central American, or Colombian descent...

We should keep these statistics in perspective. Firstly, not all Hispanics speak Spanish; stats said 78% of Hispanics use the language in their normal life, and 60% of them prefer this language to English. Second, even when the majority of Spanish speakers in a specific region may be from a particular descent, there could still be a significant amount of other Spanish speakers that can potentially be offended by a specific translation.

That's all we'll say for today.  But watch this space next week for more...

See also:

• Spanish Translation, Part 2: Choosing the Right Spanish Variant
• Spanish Translation, Part 3: Deciding Which Spanish Variant to Offer

Next time:  "Universal Spanish, US Spanish, Hispanic/Domestic Spanish... what variant should we use for the US market?"