The translator’s role is not a passive, mechanical one, and for such reason has been compared to that of an artist. Many may argue that literary translation is an art, not a science. Yet translators in other areas may consider their work to also be art. Such is the case of N. J. Lynn, a financial translator, who backs this up with strong arguments in Zen and the Art of Multilingual Financial Reporting.

Transcreation, a freer form of translation, which results in a text linguistically and culturally adapted for a specific country or region, can also be seen as an artistic form of translation. The difference between both concepts is explained in more detail in Translation vs. Transcreation in the Hispanic Market.

Yet in this new century, with the use of computer-assisted translation or machine translation, can we say that translation has become a science?  Or perhaps it has always been a science in the sense that it needs to follow principles and rules of syntax and grammar. For example, some universities offer a Masters of Science in Translation while others a Master of Arts in Translation.

Lastly, the argument that translation is a skill can also be made. It is certain that translation is more than just intuition and a six sense. Practical translation methods or processes can be taught and learned. Furthermore, this skill can be improved with experience.

The answer to this question will most likely depend on whom you ask.

In addition to knowing the functions, services, rights, responsibilities and obligations that are in the new place of residence, you also have to into account the abilities and skills needed to get a good job.

It is also important that professionals comply with other requirements which may differ and vary from one profession to another and from one state to state. Furthermore, it is crucial to know the rights and obligations in the workplace to those moving to a new country.

Students are also included in this process, especially college students, who sometimes need to perform equivalence on certain subjects, or those who lack resources to get a scholarship or some kind of assistance.

Here are some sites where you can find information or obtain this information, what can be done about it and where to start.

Hispanic jobs

Aemigrar.com

LosRecursosHumanos.com

Latino News

Opinion Abilene Christian University

United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Statistics – Information and statistics on the population and economic strength of Hispanics living in the United States.

The Hispanic Population – U.S. Census – United States census data relating to the growing Hispanic population in the U.S.

Hispanic Marketing -United States Hispanic Market – Demographic projections.

Pew Hispanic Center -Research center focused on: demography, economics, education, culture, identity, attitudes, immigration, labor, politics, remittances.

Hispanic Business -Online magazine that offers a variety of business services such as career placement, recruitment services, business research, surveys and advertising.

It is basic that immigrants know about government sites that provide help and information in the state where they are to live, as, for example, general knowledge on health, the education system, etc.

There are also other sites that provide social, economic, cultural, sporting, and religious information, among others, for people who have more experience or lived some time in the U.S.

Below are some general and specialized sites, in Spanish and English, where you can view and obtain information about different topics:

• Contacto

• PEW

• Ahorre.com

• Allied Media Corp.

• Negocios Hispanos

• Hispanos en USA… sólo para hispanos

• El Periódico U.S.A.

• Impre.com

• Intelamerica.org

Anaphraseus

An open-source translation memory integrated into OpenOffice.org. Anaphraseus was developed to work with the Wordfast TM format, but it can also export and import files in TMX format.

EsperantiloTM

An open-source translation memory application written in Tcl/Tk. Supports HTML, Open Document Format and XML, and the interchange formats TMX and XLIFF.

OmegaT

A free translation memory application written in Java. Some of its features include translation memory, fuzzy matching, and support for glossaries.

Sun’s Open Language Tools

Open Language Tools was originally developed for the localization of the company’s own documentation and written in Java. File types supported are: HTML, Docbook SGML, JSP, XML, OpenOffice.org: sxw, sxc, sxi; Open Document Format: odw, odc, odi; Plain text.

Transolution

An open-source translation memory application written in the Python scripting language. Almost any content can be localized with Transolution as long as there is a filter for it (XML, SGML, PO, RTF, StarOffice/ OpenOffice).

There is growing number of Latinos living in the United States, and their reasons are diverse and may range from economic to educational, to political and social.

Although several of them are prepared or have knowledge of the language, many of them enter the country without being bilingual or having the slightest knowledge of English.

This has made necessary the existence of bilingual material (educational, instructional, informational, commercial, medical, recreational, etc.) of every kind and presented in all formats, in order to help Latinos with limited knowledge of English to a better and more agile adaptation to their new home and country.

One thing to take into consideration is that the target audience for such bilingual material ranges from children to seniors, through all ages, singles, couples, groups or families, so this material must include all kinds of issues and cover all types of social and cultural levels.

Below are some examples of sites where you can find a variety of information in Spanish:

There are more than 50 million Latinos currently living in U.S., although less than two percent are involved in the film industry. Until recently, there were fewer than 23 Latino movie theaters in the country, which makes it almost impossible to watch movies in Spanish, much less every day.

The presence of Latino film is a minority in the United States and has very little support compared with what is received by any other producer.
However, Latin American cinema currently enjoys an outstanding quality level and is starting to get more money from the big studios, though still with some reservations.

Also, now the number of co-productions with the United States is increasing, despite the fear and prejudice that exist with respect to the Latin culture. It is hard to believe that this discrimination in the culture and society of the United States is so prevailing. In the past, this happened out of ignorance because many people were unaware of cultural aspects. But now that there is a greater understanding of the culture, the continued prejudice is worse. All this has contributed to quickly improving Latino film, and the good thing is that, even at a slow pace, it has progressed. In general, many things changed and improved. Currently there are many organizations that promote and help this purpose. Here are a few of them:

There is a website that targets its programming to the public in Latin America: Cinelatino.

It is the only channel in the U.S. that offers the latest movie blockbuster from Mexico, Latin America and Spain, of which the vast majority have been winning awards at international film festivals and acclaimed by critics worldwide. Cinelatino broadcasts 24 hours a day, without commercial interruption. It has a strong commitment when it comes to promoting and encouraging Latin American cinema in the whole region.

The International Latino Film Institute (LIFI) is a nonprofit organization that sponsors the International Latino Film Festival of Los Angeles (LALIFF) whose mission is to lead, develop, promote and support Latin American filmmakers.
Something very important is reflected in its mission to support the development of future school education for children of primary and secondary schools in the U.S., through visual arts. Edward James Olmos, actor and one of the most important independent filmmakers from the United States, who is also held in high esteem within the Hispanic community in Hollywood, contributed to the creation of LALIFF in 1996. He is currently the president of the organization.
Hopefully everything will continue progressing and improving, so that the wonderful talent of all these prominent Latinos is recognize, as they are increasingly contributing to development of Latino cinema in the U.S.

SAP, besides being a well-known ERP solution, stands for Secondary Audio Program. Every TV set that has been purchased in the last 10 years has this feature. It is commonly used in the U.S. to provide Spanish-language audio for English-language television programs.

However, not all TV programs are broadcast with SAP. It is a shame to see that few stations take advantage of this bilingual technology. Technical limitations, economic factors, marketing myopia and lack of interest from broadcasting stations have limited the capacity of many TV networks.

But despite these limitations, some have taken advantage of the technology. For example, ABC broadcasts its evening news and Monday night football games in Spanish in most major cities. And HBO also includes a Spanish audio option with some movies and original programming. Recently, it has even been promoting a separate all-Spanish network. Overall the use of Spanish-language SAP is limited mostly to areas with high populations of Spanish speakers.

Perhaps in a few years Spanish SAP will be more available, since the advance of digital technology will provide more flexibility for broadcasters. Until then, however, Spanish-language TV is likely to remain hard to find; the exception being stations devoted exclusively to the Spanish language.

Below are some cities in the U.S. where SAP is available:

1. Los Angeles, KABC-7

2. New York, WABC-7

3. San Francisco, KGO-7

4. Chicago, WLS-7

5. Houston, KTRK-13

6. San Antonio, KSAT-12

7. Dallas, WFAA-8

8. Phoenix, KNXV-15

9. San Diego, KGTV-10

10. Albuquerque, KOAT-7

11. El Paso, KVIA-7

12. Fresno, KFSN-30

13. Sacramento, KXTV-10

14. Denver, KMGH-7

15. Philadelphia, WPVI-6

16. Washington D.C., WJLA-7

17. Tampa-St. Petersburg, WFTS-28

18. Tucson, KGUN-9

19. Austin, KVUE-24

20. Boston, WCVB-5

21. Orlando, WFTV-9

22. Las Vegas, KTNV-13

23. Seattle, KOMO-4

24. Bakersfield, KERO-23

25. Atlanta, WSB-2

26. Santa Barbara, KEYT-3

27. Portland, OR, KATU-2

28. Lubbock, KAMC-28

29. Providence/New Bedford, WLNE-6

30. Raleigh-Durham, WTVD-11

31. Battle Creek, WOTV-41

32. Toledo, WTVG-13

33. Charlotte, WSOC-9

34. Flint, WJRT-12

35. Tulsa, KTUL-8

36. Lansing, WLAJ-53

37. Louisville, WHAS-11

38. Jonesboro, KAIT-8

I came across this article (in Spanish) that discusses one example of this issue. A common problem in the Spanish Forex is the lack of educational materials.

Traditionally the most developed countries represent the largest flow in the foreign exchange market. The power of their economies makes their currencies the most commonly traded in international markets: the U.S. Dollar, the Euro in the European Union, the Japanese Yen and British Pound.

Another reason why Forex has scant information in Spanish is that financial institutions, such as banks and corporate entities that use the Forex market to offset risks in exchange rates, have their operations and major customers in developed countries.

Most of the information and trading techniques that can be found online on the Forex market are in English.

Although there are few websites dedicated to the foreign exchange market, many of the terms used are in English and are impossible to translate. However, this does not mean that Spanish-speaking investors and traders have a disadvantage or don’t invest in this lucrative market. Suffice it to have an idea of what some terms mean, even if they can’t be translated, in order to be a good Forex operator.

Just like this example, there are many other areas where there is little information in Spanish.

To follow the World Cup in Spanish from a Latin American point of view, here are some interesting Spanish-language resources:

Fanáticos — From AOL Latino.

FIFA.com — The Spanish version of the official site of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association.

Mundial Sudáfrica 2010 — From El Tiempo of Colombia.

Mundial Sudáfrica 2010 — from the Mexican television network Televisa

Torneo Mundial de Fútbol 2010 — From the Spanish-language Terra portal.

UnivisionFutbol.com — Soccer from the leading U.S. Spanish-language cable network.

To follow the tournament in English, be sure to check out the FIFA’s World Soccer site.

The site answers questions relating to work immigration that include:

Hilton Hotels, for example, followed the hospitality and travel industry’s trend by reaching out to its customers in their own language and launched a Spanish-language website in 2007. Other companies which have launched Spanish-language websites include Marriott, W Hotels, Jet Blue and Delta.

Hispanic shoppers can also go to BestBuy.com/espanol and view Spanish-language content on more than 12,000 products, gift cards and service plans. “By making BestBuy.com bilingual and revising our store signage and staffing, we are taking another step toward fulfilling Hispanic customers’ needs,” says Jeff Weness, director of Hispanic Initiatives.

However, not all companies seem to realize that Hispanic consumers want to see a Spanish version of their website. Such is the case of Puma, one of sport’s biggest brand names, which has failed to target this critical customer market. Passionate consumers created a Facebook group to apply pressure on Puma to launch their US site in Spanish. Their slogan:  PUMA – Un millón de amigos para que PUMA nos hable en español (PUMA: one million friends to make PUMA communicate with us in Spanish).

The group complains that the official Puma website can be viewed only in English, German and French but not in Spanish. Nor do they have any representatives for those who speak Spanish. Apparently, Puma brand sneakers are very popular among US Hispanics (Who knew?).

For more information on website translation, visit Spanish Translation Solutions

To see the complete list visit Top 100 Language Blogs 2010

The U.S. book publishing industry is a $27 billion a year business and consists of approximately 2600 companies. There are 6 large publishers (all in New York), 3,400 medium-sized publishers and 86,000 small/self-publishers in the U.S. Four of the U.S. conglomerate publishers are foreign owned.

Lectorum and BPC are the two biggest Spanish-language book dealers in New York City. Grove is one of many New York houses that is exploring the broad market for literature about Spanish subjects written in English by Americans with roots in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Cuba and Guatemala. HarperCollins has also established a line for Hispanic literature called Harper Libros. And Vintage has created Vintage Espanol, which was started in 1994 and has published more than 50 titles, mostly in Spanish.

But what kind of books does the Spanish-speaking population read? Just like English-speaking audiences, there is a high demand for books on spirituality and self-help for Spanish-speakers. Also popular is literature in Spanish, which is among the richest in the world. And then there is a great deal of translated fiction of the best-selling works originally written in English. In addition, there is a wide array of educational books (scholarly, scholastic aids, middle school, high school, university, legal and medical), and references (dictionaries and encyclopedias).

There are thousands of Spanish fiction and nonfiction books including bestsellers and classics. Books stores often have books originally published in Spanish, also English books in Spanish translation, and Spanish books translated into English. In addition, there are Spanish audiobooks, Spanish book downloads or Kindle books in Spanish.

In terms of translations, according to Three Percent, the University of Rochester’s weblog about international literature, “only about 3% of all books published in the United States are works in translation.”  And as they mention, although it’s more books than any one person can read in a year it’s still a very low number. On the other hand, when it comes to translations from English fiction titles into other languages, they are often translated first into Spanish, before being translated into French, German or Italian.

The weblog Random Stuff that Matters discuss in their article Large market for Spanish-language books in the US the bilingual publishing trend in the U.S., and how “the 2000 census and its revelations about the fast-growing Hispanic population sparked renewed interest among US publishing houses in meeting the reading wishes of Spanish speakers.” They use as an example Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code which became one of the best-selling translations into Spanish of all time, adding that ” while successful Spanish-language titles in the US typically sell between 15,000 and 20,000 copies, more than 300,000 copies of El Código Da Vinci were scooped off bookstore shelves across the land, ushering in what some described as a new era for Spanish-language books in America.”

If you’re interested in translating a book into Spanish, visit Spanish Language Translation

What to read:

Online resources

The book club Mosaico for ideas about what to buy

Críticas and publisher catalogs such as Ediciones Serres, Random House Español, and Ediciones TUTOR

Spanish is becoming increasingly more common in the U.S., stimulated by an increasing growth of the Hispanic population. Many Hispanics, even those fluent in English, want to maintain their cultural identity by continuing to learn and speak Spanish. Finally, there is a growing group of English-speaking, non-Hispanics who are learning Spanish as a second language.

Below is an excellent list of online resources for Spanish and bilingual publications.

Latino Book & Family Festival (LBFF)

The Latino Book & Family Festival promotes literacy, culture and education.

Barnes and Noble Bestseller List

“The best selection of Spanish-language books, music and movies” according to their page.

Publishers of Spanish Language and Bilingual Books

Arte Público Press

Emphasizes U.S. Hispanic culture and cultural recovery.  Includes fiction, poetry, autobiographies, anthologies, drama, non-fiction, and reference.

Continental Book Company

Importers and distributors of books in Spanish, French, German, Italian, bilingual Spanish, and ESL English.  Spanish collections include text books, videos, critical studies, readers, and much more.

Dominie Press

Spanish K-3 reading materials, including books, magnetic letters, parental involvement tools, and alphabet books.

Editorial Pax México

Leading Mexican publisher trade and educational titles, distributed in the U.S. through Whitehurst & Clark Book Fulfillment.  (website is in Spanish)

Grupo Editorial Norma

Translated and bilingual books for children and adults.  Features text books, literature, and titles of general interest.

Lectorum

An imprint of Scholastic, Lectorum publishes translated versions of familiar old and new classics, including Franklin, Dr. Seuss, and Arthur books.

Lee & Low Books

Publisher of multicultural books for children, website includes booktalks and classroom guides.

Libros Sin Fronteras

Latin American, Spanish language and bilingual books for children and adults.  Core collection development services are provided as well.

Mariuccia Iaconi Book Imports

While not a publisher or an imprint, MIBI’s catalog consists of children’s books in many foreign languages, including Spanish and bilingual titles.

Océano Grupo Editorial

An imprint of the Gale Group.  Specialty is reference materials for children and adults in the arts, computing, math, history, science, and more.

Pinata Books

An imprint of Arte Público Press, features books for children of all ages.  Most picture books are bilingual; fiction books for older kids are about Hispanic cultural identity and maintaining a sense of self.

Spanish Book Distributors

Most titles are translations into Spanish. Catalog includes books in a variety of topics including business, computers, health, history, parenting, reference, religion, travel, and much more. Translated current fiction best-sellers and romance titles are also available.

Barahone Center for the Study of Books in Spanish for Children and Adolescents – (also bilingual)

Has a frequently-updated database of recommended titles in Spanish. You can search by author, title, publish, etc.

The results of the study show the need for technical assistance programs in areas such as marketing, business plan development,accounting, information technology and tax preparation. There is also a need for banks to provide the means to enable these businesses to grow and invest. However, “The numbers are encouraging and the study’s findings are consistent with our mission to provide technical assistance, promote economic growth and produce economic structures and policy initiatives needed to empower Latino businesses,” said Jorge Corralejo, President and CEO of LBC-GLA.

Additional data:

• In 2002, nearly 3 out of 10 Hispanic-owned businesses operated in the construction and services area such as personal services, repair and maintenance.
• In 2002, businesses owned by people of Mexican origin accounted for more than 44% of all Hispanic businesses.
• The retail and wholesale trade accounted for 36% of the income of Hispanic-owned businesses.
• There were 29,184 Hispanic-owned businesses with one million dollars or more in revenue.
• There were 1510 Hispanic businesses with 100 employees or more, worth over 42 billion U.S. dollars in gross income.
• The states with the fastest growth rates for Hispanic-owned businesses between 1997 and 2002 included New York (57%), Rhode Island and Georgia (56%), Nevada and South Carolina (48%).
• The counties with the largest number of Hispanic-owned businesses were Los Angeles, California (188,472), the Miami-Dade, Florida (163,188), Harris, Texas (61,934) and the Bronx, New York (38,325).

Online Help

There are numerous resources in many websites devoted specifically to Latin American business. SCORE (Counselors to America’s Small Business) provides a list of sites for “minority bushiness, among which are the following:

• Hispanic Business Women’s Alliance “, which contains a directory of businesses owned by Hispanic women;
• Hispanicsmb.com, has forums, blogs, news and more;
• Latin Business Association, whose mission is” to build economic wealth and opportunities for Hispanic entrepreneurs “
• Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of the United States, which provides information on conferences and seminars, news, legislation and other resources.

Additional websites

• LatinoBiz.org, with a map search box in the Latino Business, information about the chambers of commerce in different regions and events;
• The web site of the Latino Business Chamber of Southern California (CELATINOS), an nonpartisan nonprofit association that offers training seminars and various conferences and
• HispanicBusiness.com magazine that, in addition to offering stories, information, job offers and more, you can search businesses by state, city and name or category in the “Hispanic Business 500 Directory.”

The tasks related to the 2010 Census in the United States began on April 1 with the questionnaires that were sent by mail. Efforts will continue until late July with door-to-door visits to those who do not return the questionnaire. The official census website contain information (also in Spanish) such as dates, activities, history and questions found in the census. It also states that: “Most of the country will receive only English materials. Households in areas with high concentrations of Spanish speaking residents may receive a bilingual questionnaire (English / Spanish).”

Dora the Explorer, Nickelodeon’s famous bilingual character, is the new spokesperson for the 2010 Census for Hispanic families. She will empathize the importance of counting children and not miss a “historic opportunity.”

This new assessment will show how much data has changed in the last ten years (from the previous 2000 Census). It will also collect information to analyze how many Latinos are living in the United States and their demographic … before the next census.

Numbers: There were 35.3 million Hispanics in the 2000 Census. The Latino population grew by 38% since 1990 while the total U.S. population only grew 9% over the same period.

• Youth: 12.3 million are under 18 years,  or 17% of the total.
• Older People: Hispanics make up 4.8% of the U.S. population older than 50 years.

Self-perception of young people: According to the National Survey of Latinos of the Pew Hispanic Center, more than half (52%) of the Latinos between 16 and 25 years identify themselves by their families’ country of origin… An additional 20% use the terms “Hispanic” or “Latino”. Only one in four – 24% – of the total describe themselves as “American.”

Where do Latinos live: The states with the largest number of Hispanics are California, Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois, Arizona, and New Jersey. Moreover, more than half of Latinos within the U.S. live in the states of California and Texas. Also, Latinos are clustered in the towns and urban areas.

Politics: Latinos represent 5.5% of U.S. citizens registered to vote.

Marriage and divorce: 50% of Hispanics over age 15 are married. The divorce rate is lower among Hispanics than among whites.

Poverty: The average poverty level among Hispanics (30%) is similar to African Americans, but significantly higher than among non-Hispanic whites (8.5%).

• Unemployment: The unemployment rate in the United States on March 2010 stood at 9.7%, but 12.6% among Hispanics in the country, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
• Business owners: At a national level, Hispanics own about 1.2 million business. New Mexico has the highest proportion (22%), followed by Texas (16%), Florida (15%), California (13% ) and Arizona (9%).

Member of the catholic church: Pope Benedict XVI appointed Archbishop Jose Gomez, Mexican,  as the successor of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles when the current archbishop retires in February 2011. He will be the first Latino leader of the Catholic Church in Los Angeles.

Modalities of Spanish: There are four Hispanic dialect regions or areas: the Southwest, predominantly Mexican population; Florida, Cuban-majority, the Northeast, with a predominance of Puerto Ricans, Dominicans and Cubans, although the latter is the most heterogeneous area, which represents all Hispanic origins. And finally, Chicago, which has groups of Mexicans and Puerto Ricans. In short, there are four territories and three major dialects: Mexico (over 60%), U.S. (more than 12%) and Cuba (over 5%).

DECEMBER 2010: By law, the Census Bureau gives the President the population data for the apportionment of congressional districts.

MARCH 2011: By law, the Census Bureau finishes delivering data to the states for the legislative redistribution.

The Census Bureau’s goal is to count everyone, regardless of immigration status. “It’s very important that we have an accurate count of everyone so that we know how public services can be fairly distributed and what the needs of the country will be with regards to different populations.” says Janet Murguia, president and CEO, National Council of La Raza (NCLR). Also, for the first time, the Census Bureau is providing a bilingual form for Spanish speakers. The Census is completley confidential and is not shared with other government agencies. There is a growing effort to make sure Latin communities know that their census form responses are safe and confidential. You can display this poster in your community to create awareness of the coming census.

More information on: Facts on the Hispanic or Latino Population Hispanic Population of the United States Toolkit for Reaching Latinos

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

In a post in Revista Ñ from March 18, the author notes that “few things say more about human beings, their progress and their barbaric and inevitable mutations, as changes in language and speech. Each linguistic interpretation holds a way of seeing the world, of understanding politics.” On the same note, the secretary of the North American Academy of the Spanish Language, José Ignacio Covarrubias, ponders with the president of another language academy about this “laboratory”, the most important one in Spanish and for the future of the language. Both scholars believe that much of the future of the Spanish language will be shaped in America.

The article summarizes the history of Spanish. Born in a small area of the Peninsula, it expanded throughout Spain, became the official language, and spread in America with the Spanish colonization. By the time the country achieved political independence they were irreversibly bound to Spanish. They are declarations of independence, constitutions and laws written in Spanish, which is now by spoken almost half a billion people. In the U.S., the Hispanic community surpasses in size the African-Americans community and is the first minority with more Spanish speakers than Spain. In other words, you can travel from Tierra del Fuego to Canada without changing language.

In the Obama administration, the  is the reference point for Spanish in the U.S. government. In addition to regulating Spanish publications in the official government website, the Academy broadcasts television messages regarding the correct usage of language in their attempt to determine “the rules of correct Spanish.” It also seeks to “guide Spanish speakers on how to speak correctly” and “promote bilingualism, so that people learn properly both languages.” Although the Academy also tried to ensure that none of the Spanish variants override the each other, Mexican idioms are well established along the southern border and other forms, such as Cuban and Dominican, have also gained ground.

Spanglish is growing among the immigration population, and just as we did in this blog, the author of the article asks: “Is it a setback, a sign of vitality, an inevitable process?” Covarrubias says: “It is a clash of two languages. Spanish is the first language after English. There is an inevitable clash, such as in Portuñol, the Franglais, and we have the Spanglish. Experts define it as a Spanish dialect, sometimes it is due to ignorance, sometimes it is done for convenience.” Covarrubias also specifies the task of the Academy: “We play a normative role; we only make suggestions because nobody owns the language. We have to accept the rules imposed by usage.”

These scholars do not seem to be concerned about the language distortions made by young people who are influenced by new technologies, abbreviations, usual chat phrases, and other, since they are considered to be slightly different from educational deterioration. Rather than describing a reality, educators worry that young people are able to integrate into society and are able to say what they want with precision and firmness, which is essential in a democracy.