Here in the US, the shift towards a Hispanic-based audience has been evident as well. The Florida Panthers, for example, announced in October of last year that they would broadcast three of their 2014‒2015 season games through Hispanic radio stations in the state of Florida. In November of the same year the Florida Panthers announced that the response to the three initial broadcasts exceeded their expectations, which has caused the CEO and president of the team to announce that for the 2014‒2015 season, every Florida Panthers game will be radio broadcasted in the state through Hispanic radio stations.

Not long after that event, the Florida Panthers announced that besides the radio broadcasting of the games, ESPN Deportes would broadcast a few, but not all of the Florida Panthers games, and all games would start to be streamed in Spanish at 1210espndeportes.com. Another announcement followed by Fox Sports Florida, who will start airing all Hockey games in Spanish as well. Seems that the Florida Panthers have started a trend which has opened the eyes of all the major sports networks into the probability, a very high probability at that, of the Hispanic influence that has awaken and is taking the world of Hockey by surprise, influence that can be a great opportunity, both in the lucrative and cultural factors.

The post Hockey, soon to be “El hockey” first appeared on Spanish Translation Blog: Spanish Translation US.

One thing that called my attention was that, while we were all in the same household, we were divided in two groups, those watching it in English in one room and those watching it in Spanish in another room. And that got me thinking, and later on doing some research. As it turns out, The NFL has seen a tremendous growth in the Spanish-speaking audience that witnesses this yearly event. I’m not only talking about those who have either migrated to the U.S. or are born in the U.S. to Hispanic parents.

Out of 54 million Hispanics in the U.S., 25 million were tuned to the Super Bowl and identify themselves as NFL fans. Also, Mexico is now the NFL’s second most attentive market. A prime example of what migration and intercultural relations can do. Super Bowl Sunday, which has been an American tradition to many, has witnessed and adapted to the cultural change that has been brought upon by the migration and intertwining of the cultures. Every NFL game is transmitted in both English and Spanish, and during the Super Bowl, even commercials have started to target both markets. This is an approach that, like many other sport leagues in the U.S., the NFL has adopted, and it has proven to both, bring the cultures together, and be very lucrative in the process. I wonder if hockey will be next, if they haven’t started doing it already, which now my curiosity will cause me to do some research and find an answer.

The post El Super Tazón: Our very own Spanish Super Bowl first appeared on Spanish Translation Blog: Spanish Translation US.

One of these things that I’ve learned recently in translating a document is that in legal English, once you use a term, you must repeat that term throughout the document you are drafting. If you use a synonym instead, it may be taken to mean something else than the original term you used. In legal Spanish, the rule seems to be just the opposite. Writers of legal Spanish seem to use every synonym they can think of to avoid using the same noun twice. Thus, for example, an Amendment may first be referred to as “Enmienda”. Two lines later, it may be referred to as “Modificación” (which is especially confusing for English readers). A few more lines and you might see it referred to as “Corrección”.

In the course of the document about the Amendment, the writer may refer to it with either one, if not all of these terms. Yet, every one of these expressions should be translated into English as “Amendment.” Why this occurs is something that I have not yet been able to understand, maybe I will, maybe I won’t. But whatever the case, this is by far the most bizarre aspect that I have learned from one of my translating projects.

The post Legal Synonyms In Spanish first appeared on Spanish Translation Blog: Spanish Translation US.

There are many more translations in Spanish for “Pen”; some of these are “Bolígrafo”, “Lapicera”, “Birome”, etc. The latter actually refers to the Hungarian brothers Biro who developed and got the copyright for a special pen with instant drying ink. So then the question would be, how do you know which one to use, and when? At first I thought, I’ll just stick to “Pluma”, which is the one I’ve always used, the one I recognized, but that didn’t work too well whenever I was talking to my neighbors or friends who are not Cuban like me. And so, after a few months, it became clear that, although all the different nationalities seemed to have their own noun to describe a “Pen”, one of them stood out from the rest and all the nationalities were able to recognize it right away and understand it. That term is “Bolígrafo”. I knew it and understood it since I was a little kid in my country and everybody else, from any and every other Spanish-speaking country understands it as well. And so, from that moment on, which was about 3 years ago, I have decided to stick to “Bolígrafo”, which would make it easier for everybody, myself, and whoever it is I’m talking to, regardless of which Spanish-speaking country they’re from.

The post “Pen” vs “Pen”??? first appeared on Spanish Translation Blog: Spanish Translation US.

In June of 2013, I made a trip to Puerto Rico with some friends, one of them Puerto Rican, who invited us to go see his island. There I understood why they call it the Island of Enchantment, as I was enchanted by its music, culture, colors, people, and of course, by El Yunque, Puerto Rico’s rainforest.

Everything was going perfect, until on the way to the taxi, we’re walking on the sidewalk and we see a little bug walking along our feet, which one of my friends was about to step on, at which I yelled “Cuidado con el bicho” (Watch out for the bug).  To my surprise, my Puerto Rican friend along with her entire family are staring at me, jaws to the floor for about 15 seconds until they start hysterically laughing with no consolation.

Needless to say I couldn’t be more confused, until my friend explains to me, while still unable to breathe due to laughter, that the term “bicho”, which by the way is used in many Spanish speaking countries to describe a bug, has a different meaning in Puerto Rico. There, it is a “bad word”, a slang used for that body part that boys have and girls don’t, and no, I’m not talking about the Adam’s apple. Needless to say, my face turned red with embarrassment. This time it was no more than a big joke that made everyone laugh for a few minutes, but it could’ve been worse, it could’ve been a very bad or degrading term, even though unintentional, could’ve ended up as being very offensive.

The lesson that I learned that day, and one of my priorities whenever traveling to another Spanish-speaking country that is not my own, is to find out what these “bad words” and slang terms are, either by asking someone from that country or through the internet. That way, we can, not completely, but greatly reduce our chances of an embarrassing moment due to terminology differences between countries and/or regions.

The post Be Ready Before Traveling first appeared on Spanish Translation Blog: Spanish Translation US.

I started my point by telling her that since the beginning of “Marriage” as we know it, when the priest ends with the words “I now declare you Husband and Wife”, the translation has always been “Ahora los declare Marido y Mujer”, never has the phrase “Esposo y Esposa” been used in a wedding ceremony. Now, just because it has been the tradition for thousands of years to use the “Marido y Mujer” terminology, does not make it the right terminology, time changes, and traditions change with it. Therefore, I went a little deeper; I searched for the Real Academia Española’s definition of these two terms. The Real Academia Española defines “Esposo” as someone who is married, very generic and general, and has the same definition for “Esposa”, a very generic and general one. In contrast to this, the definition for “Marido” was a married man, in relationship to his wife, and the definition for “Mujer” in terms of marriage, was a married woman, in relationship to her husband. I agreed with her, in the sense that “Esposo y Esposa” was a generic and general definition, which is to a point, fitting with this new age and era, but I think she was able to understand my point when she saw that the definitions for “Marido y Mujer” was not just a man and woman who got married, but that they were married in respect to the husband and the wife.

It seems to me, that although this ancient definition may seem sexist and demeaning to women, when you look at the definition, it clearly states that “Marido y Mujer” are not just married people, but married people who belong to each other, he belongs to her, and she belongs to him. And I’m not sure if I was able to convince her, but she did at least agree with me that she would rather have a terminology that clearly states that she and her husband are now one, belonging to each other in marriage, than just a simple and generic “married people” title. Call me “old school”, but I think this definition has a deeper, more meaningful definition of what it means to marry someone, and share a life together as one, and belonging to each other. But, what do you think? Would you agree with my ideology that “Marido y Mujer” has a clearer, deeper definition of what Marriage is? Or do you agree with my friend that it should be changed to “Esposo y Esposa” as it should more fitting with today’s times?

The post Husband and Wife: Not so simple in Spanish first appeared on Spanish Translation Blog: Spanish Translation US.

Translating is a difficult feat for obvious reasons, and when translators are faced with the dichotomy of stylistic aesthetics versus textual fidelity, one “correct” choice is often impossible to come by. This dilemma is only deepened when one speaks about literary translations. Literary translations are a whole different realm, a literary work in their own right, and translated versions of novels, plays and poems often garner as much attention and praise as the original text. This is so because literary translators are faced with the arduous task of turning a into b, without losing a’s meaning or style – both deliberately built up by the original author.

Saussure spoke famously about the differences between the signifier and the signified, and this classification is useful for thinking about literary translations. The translator’s task is to create a new signifier through the use of words (signifiers of their own) from a different language, all while maintaining the original meaning or signified message. This becomes all too difficult when we delve into the world of poetry. How do we translate, for example, the avant-garde? E.E. Cummings’ poem “l(a” is a perfect example of the obstacles faced by literary translators – especially when they’re dealing with poets such as Mallarme or Apollinaire or Cummings himself, poets who transcended the classic notion of the poem as such and turned visual elements into equally important components for their work. How, then, do we translate a poem such as Cummings’ aforementioned one?

l(a

le

af

fa

ll

s)

one

l

iness

It’s easy to see that it’s not so simple anymore: Cummings tells us that a leaf falls, but he shows us that on the page as well through the very movement of the words themselves. The translator will now have to deal with both content and form in ways uncommon and perhaps unknown to most.

The post A Rose by Any Other Name first appeared on Spanish Translation Blog: Spanish Translation US.

Translators come from different backgrounds and hence have different styles based on their experiences and educational qualifications. Hence it is imperative to select the right team for a specific project. When several translators and editors work on different sections of the same document simultaneously, inconsistencies are bound to occur. Also, the source text may not be final. This is a time consuming process and it is difficult to identify recurrent units in the source text manually.

Individual translators making up a translation team will also have individual criteria for choosing a certain translation or even choosing from a set of possible translations. Every industry has its own language. For example, consider the term “drive.” As a verb, it can describe several different actions, such as operating a vehicle or machinery. In many companies, however, it is used as a noun to describe an internal computer component that stores data.

Choosing the right word is a deliberate decision. It is imperative that the linguists and the editors working on a certain project use the same term for the same concept. All of this becomes even more complex as you attempt to provide this same information in multiple languages. If a word has multiple meanings, translating terminology from one language to another can be extremely complex, time consuming, and expensive. That’s why approximately 15 percent of all translation project costs arise from rework, and the primary cause of rework is inconsistent terminology.

Thank you for taking the time in reading this. Next month, we will dig in further and understand glossary and its importance and how it helps us in providing quality translations.

The post What is inconsistent translation? first appeared on Spanish Translation Blog: Spanish Translation US.

The championship has been awarded every four years since the inaugural tournament in 1930. Over 30 teams from around the world participate in this tournament that is held every four years.

The qualification process usually starts as early as three years before the final tournament and last over a two year period. Over 200 countries have entered qualification for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Football or Soccer as we call it here in the US is the “numero uno” sport in the world. This sport is now getting some serious consideration here. The US men’s soccer team participated and did fairly well this year in the FIFA tournament. They qualified for the knockout stage, but they lost to Belgium with all three goals scored in extra time.

In the US, over 25 million Americans play soccer. Over thirty percent of American households contain someone playing soccer, a figure second only to baseball. Increasing numbers of Americans, having played the game in their youth, are now avid spectators.

Soccer is ranked as the fourth most popular team sport in the United States. It is also ranked as the second most popular sport in the country for 12-24-year-olds. An Argentine player; Lionel Messi was recently ranked among the Top 10 most popular athletes in the US.

In addition, as Latin American immigration increases throughout the nation, so does the popularity of soccer. The increase in popularity of soccer in the United States is also the result of other factors such as globalization, the continued presence of the US team in international competitions such as the FIFA World Cup, and the continued building of soccer-specific stadiums in the country.

Several marketing firms around the US have contacted us for their marketing needs for this year’s FIFA tournament and we were happy to oblige. After all, this is not a sport to be ignored!

The post The Lure of the FIFA World Cup! first appeared on Spanish Translation Blog: Spanish Translation US.

Independence Day

As a practical matter, the Declaration of Independence publicly announced to the world the unanimous decision of the American colonies to declare themselves free and independent states, absolved from any allegiance to Great Britain. But its greater meaning -then as well as now- is as a statement of the conditions of legitimate political authority and the proper ends of government, and its proclamation of a new ground of political rule in the sovereignty of the people.

So, how do people celebrate Independence Day? For the quintessential Fourth of July experience, don’t miss America’s National Independence Day Parade, which features marching bands from all over the country, military and specialty units, patriotic floats and VIPs. It’s a great start to a full day of Fourth of July events.

Add a splash of international culture to your all-American holiday and make your way to the National Mall for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival here in DC, which typically runs over two long weekends around the Fourth of July. The annual celebration of cultural diversity turns the National Mall into a global bazaar with music, dancing, crafts and demonstrations exploring different cultures.

Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbeques, fairs, picnics, concert, baseball games, family reunions political speeches and ceremonies, in addition to various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the National Day of the United States.

We will be running lean during the holiday weekend. Please be sure to contact us in advance for all your upcoming translation or interpretation needs. We will do our best to meet your deadline.

The post Independence Day first appeared on Spanish Translation Blog: Spanish Translation US.

The presence of a father figure in children’s lives is seemingly important and helps shape children’s health and wellbeing. Children need and love their fathers, but the positive impact an involved father figure has on the social and emotional wellbeing of a child will influence them into adulthood.

Father’s Day hasn’t always occupied this spot in the middle of June. The first one was celebrated during the early 20th century in the United States as an official equivalent to Mother’s Day for male parents. July 5, 1908, a West Virginia church held a Sunday sermon in memory of the 362 men who perished during explosions at the Fairmont Coal Company mines in Monongah during December of the previous year. This was presumed a one-time event to pay homage to the deceased fathers of more than 1,000 children. The following year, a Washington woman named Sonora Smart Dodd petitioned among local churches, merchants and government officials for support to establish the nation’s first event in honor of fathers. Washington State celebrated the nation’s first statewide Father’s Day on July 19, 1910.

Over time, the popularity of Father’s Day presented the perfect opportunity to extensively market the event. During World War II, merchants maintained that celebrating Father’s Day was a way to honor American troops and support the war. In 1972, a proclamation was signed by Richard Nixon finally making Father’s Day a federal holiday.

This upcoming Father’s Day let us remember the true importance of fathers and honor them with respect and love.

The month of June and specially the first two weeks have been quite busy for us. We have been working on flyers and brochures for events that commemorate Father’s Day throughout the US. Contact us today for all your marketing needs. We are here to serve you.

The post Father’s Day in the US first appeared on Spanish Translation Blog: Spanish Translation US.

However, Memorial Day has the word “memorial” in it for a reason: This holiday was first celebrated on May 30th, 1868, when Union General John A. Logan declared the day an occasion to decorate the graves of Civil War soldiers. Twenty years later, the name was changed to Memorial Day.

On May 11th, 1950, Congress passed a resolution requesting that the President issue a proclamation calling on Americans to observe each Memorial Day as a day of prayer for permanent peace and designating a period on that day when the people of the United States might unite in prayer. President Richard M. Nixon declared Memorial Day a federal holiday in 1971. It is an occasion to honor the men and women who died in all wars.

As mentioned, Memorial Day has now long been a federal holiday. Most Government offices are closed, as are schools, businesses and other organizations. Most public transit systems do not run on their regular schedule. Many people see Memorial Day weekend as an opportunity to go on a short vacation or visit family or friends. Many people also choose to hold picnics, sports events and family gatherings on this weekend. This day is traditionally seen as the start of the summer season for cultural events. Most of our offices will be running lean on Memorial Day. However, feel free to contact us for all your urgent translation and/or interpretation needs. We will do our to meet your deadline.

The post The Significance of Memorial Day first appeared on Spanish Translation Blog: Spanish Translation US.

In the United States and Canada, mother’s day is one of the most celebrated holidays after Christmas. People reflect on the importance of mothers in their life and thank them for their unconditional love and support. This tradition to honor and celebrate motherhood started in the United States during the early 20^th Century. By 1920 it became highly commercialized and today we still follow that same tradition of honoring our mother, grandmother or mother figure by gifting flowers, presents a card or a symbolic item.                                                                                                          For those whose mother may reside in a different country or perhaps do not speak English, a large variety of cards in many languages have been made available. Many times you may find a same card with a beautiful and profound message in more than one language. Cards with poems are also very popular. Generally the poet will redact these messages in their mother tongue and contract a company or team of translators to interpret their message.                                                                                                                                                                   It’s important that professionals are used in these cases as a literal translation would simply not suffice as acceptable. Professional translation companies will ensure the true significance of the author’s words have been appropriately captured in the new language.

I would like to wish all you mom’s out there a very happy mother’s day and may you be celebrated as the special woman you are.

The post Mother’s Day first appeared on Spanish Translation Blog: Spanish Translation US.

Thinking outside the box entails your finding creative ways to maximize the accounts that you have. Think about focusing on multiple contacts within an account, seeking to match your company’s resources, including people, to your clients’ needs. Maybe you have to be a bit more persuasive and spruce up your techniques, but your personal impact will be the key to improving organizational awareness on both sides of the sales equation.

A good account manager promotes tier-level selling in his customer’s organization as well as in his own organization. This is a method of getting client referrals. This is a way to get others to sell your products or services on your behalf.

Review your accounts and isolate the ones that have multiple branches and/or locations. Now reach out to your contacts and find a way to tap into these branches. Perhaps you can contact their corporate office and apply yourself to understanding their structure and find a way to be part of their vendor database. So the next time they are in the market for some translation services, they will consider giving you a shot.

You can also ask for a referral from one of your clients. Don’t be over-ambitious or overtly persuasive about this; be casual and if your client is happy with the quality of the translations and services that you are offering, he will surely be happy to recommend you. All it takes is an email introducing you, and the rest is up to you.

A good account manager thinks outside the box and practices scenario planning. Always try to be a short-term planner and a long-term strategic thinker.

We hope we were able to provide you with some useful tips. Please feel free to contact us for all your translation/interpretation needs.

The post Thinking Outside the Box first appeared on Spanish Translation Blog: Spanish Translation US.

Offer benefits for recurrent clients

This is a concept that has been around for a long time and has been adapted by all multinational businesses. Offering benefits, such as discounts or expedited translations at no additional cost are simple but effective ways of encouraging your recurrent clients to return to you. Another benefit often used is to offer your recurrent client a discount for providing referrals to your business, which clearly leads to additional business.

 Show flexibility

When faced with a problem or complaint, do not always stick to the protocol, but rather do everything possible to try and solve the problem by being flexible and going the extra mile. Resolving an issue for a client could mean earning their long-term loyalty, since clearly a client likes to receive empathy and also likes to be respected and valued.

Provide added value

Differentiate yourself from your competititors and make sure you provide added value to your customers. An added value by definition is the additional or extra service offered to your client. This can be a translation of a paragraph for free or a translation project delivered one business day earlier than scheduled. Try to surprise your clients with additional benefits, and you will see these will truly satisfy your customers and keep them loyal.

In case you are interested in experiencing our customer service and translation services, then please do not hesitate to contact us at www.trustedtranslations.com  for a free quote.

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The post Understanding Sales in the New Century first appeared on Spanish Translation Blog: Spanish Translation US.

Well, chances are, you may be absolutely correct. You might have been a hotshot yesterday, but are you one today? Are you bringing in the same numbers as you were about 3 or 4 years ago?

You see, things don’t change overnight. You have to constantly polish your skills. Today’s markets are being populated with rock-star type sales people. These so called rock stars are equipped with the latest knowledge and sales know-how. They might not have spent their time on the phone, but they have the willingness to go the extra mile and will challenge you every step of the way. Hence, you need that edge and you have to always want to skate where the puck’s going to be and not be constantly chasing the puck.

The truth of the matter is that we have been going through an evolutionary process, which has been accelerated by a huge progress in technology and information distribution. The point is, if you were an ‘A’ player sales person in the noughties, then chances are you have learned and practiced many of the techniques that are out there.

Now, all you have to do is to continue to learn and refine your skills. If you haven’t changed your style, learned new practices based on improved customer intelligence, and if you still believe in the sales model developed in the old 20^th century, you are probably struggling to maintain market share. Seek out additional training and advice. Look for a mentor. I’m betting that the majority of the readers fall into the first category. Now, what is the first category? It is the old school mentality, where people refuse to change and are set in their ways. They are not interested in trying out new innovative ways and are content with where they are and what they achieve.

This is not you, you have been involved in the evolutionary process and you should be eager to face the challenges of the new century.

One of the key points we encourage here at our corporate facility is the weekly production meeting. Here we seek out ways to educate the sales force and learn from our production team. Our production team is in touch with the latest tools that are being introduced in the translation services industry, and it is critical for our sales staff to understand what’s out there and offer cost-effective solutions to our clients.

So remember: be fluid, be creative, evolve constantly and always stay ahead of the curve. Call us today for a free quote and we guarantee a cost-effective, quality solution for all your translation needs, one that is attuned with the latest developments in the industry.

The post Why Should Change Be Your Constant? first appeared on Spanish Translation Blog: Spanish Translation US.

The post Valentine’s Day Celebrations first appeared on Spanish Translation Blog: Spanish Translation US.

It is a well known fact that it is a lot more expensive to gain new clients than to retain existing ones. In the U.S. alone, only around 50% of all small- and medium-sized businesses have actually proactive strategies in place that ensure their recurrent clients come back for repeat jobs. It is very important not to underestimate the potential an existing client can have for your business, as an interesting statistic shows that an increase of 5% in client retention can lead to an average of 75% increase in the average business’ profitability.

Here are some important strategies that can help you retain customers and increase their loyalty:

Put yourself in their position

Know exactly what the driver for the translation project for your client is: Time, Cost and/or Quality. Ask sufficient questions and listen to what your client is telling you. Communication is the key.

Be proactive and don’t wait for a miracle

Observe any unusual behavior patterns, such as declining quotes after the client has always approved the quotes, or a client is not getting back to you for quote requests. It is very common that an unsatisfied client will not inform you about the poor service they received and will just keep quiet and never get back to you. Being proactive gives you the chance to detect these patterns and can give you the chance to fix problems or issues—this will impress your client and help you retain him or her.

Ask for feedback

Asking the client for feedback regarding the service and/or translation quality can make the difference in keeping or losing a client. Find out what the client is happy or unhappy with and resolve the issues. Also surveys can be implemented as a alternative last resort.

In my next blog I will inform you on further strategies and steps which can be implemented to sustain customer loyalty.

Please do not hesitate to contact us at www.trustedtranslations.com  for a free quote.

The post How Can We Boost Customer Loyalty first appeared on Spanish Translation Blog: Spanish Translation US.

CART services were first used in 1996 to provide a hearing impaired student access to classroom lectures. Today CART services are being used by many universities and institutions of higher education to provide the same services to the hearing impaired.

Many groups are benefiting from this technology from students with hearing and visual impairments to students with various learning disabilities and even Attention Deficit disorders. Students are provided with transcripts which can be used as study notes and reference materials.

Trained captionists attend classes with the student that requires these services. A laptop placed in front of the student is connected to a stenograph machine and equipped with Real-Time software applications. As the professor speaks, the CART reporters use a phonetic language called Steno which is a combination of sounds, when keys are pressed together they present certain phonemes. The text is displayed on the laptop or monitor which is viewed as a word for word rendition of what the professor says.

Trusted Translations offers competitive rates for CART services which have been proven to be a valuable tool for students from elementary schools through higher institutions of learning. CART is gaining recognition as it promotes independent learning, full involvement and equal access.

The post What Is CART? first appeared on Spanish Translation Blog: Spanish Translation US.