VALLEY OF THE ISMS

Translation Hora and Chismoso. Chismoso is gossip, as an analogy, one might say a derivative from the Hebrew term Loshen Hora, or evil speech. (Anger, gossip, slander)

Where does the “Best” Spanish come from? On the surface the best Spanish is from Real Academia in Madrid. In a sense it also is the “Royal Spanish”.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_Academia

However in Barcelona, Catalan is spoken. If you go to Asturias, you have another dialect, and as you travel to the South of Spain, dialects change once again.

I call “Translation Hora”, a descent into the valley of the –ismos. When you leave Spain and go to Latin America and the Caribbean, every country has its own vernacular and way of speaking Spanish. There’s a commonly held opinion that outside of Spain, the best Spanish is spoken in Colombia. But this again is a matter of educated opinion.

The quality of translation is best left up to the individual translator. I believe in starting with a Tabula Rosa , everyone translates well and is a good translator. Afterwards we can apply certain criteria.

Let’s list a few –ismos.

Cuban-ismos

Puerto Rican- ismos

Mexican-ismos

Argentinia-ismos

Ismos can be charming, but when it comes to discussions in language forums, the infighting or Translation Hora can get vehement. The best example I recall is a Mexican, from a user group telling a Spaniard, ‘We threw out the Conquistadores long ago, and we are not going to let you tell us how to speak Spanish”. The Argentinians also have their own way of speaking Spanish. You can listen to different Spanish language radio stations, and get an idea rather quickly. Everyone likes to believe their Spanish is the best.

There are two approaches. The first is to use a Neutral Spanish, and the Second is to localize the translation to a specific market or region.

A translation for Mexico City may not go over well in Bogota, or a translation localized for Puerto Rico, may not have the best acceptance in Santiago , Chile, or in Madrid.

If you use a Neutral Spanish, it can be clearly understood by professionals and laymen throughout the Spanish speaking world. The client pays only once, rather than numerous times. We had one example where the client wanted a localization for Mexico City, and another for Madrid Spain. No tail feathers were ruffled.

One example of localized speech would be to watch the film, Amores Peros, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, who does an excellent job of time splicing. As comparison , watch Almodovar’s , Volver. You can acquire a love of culture and language, and acquire a bit of affectation for colorful words.

Spanglish is another delightful topic where English is mixed with Spanish.

I once lightly joked about starting the “Real Academia Spanglish de Miami.”

Often technology and innovation surpass language, dictionaries and language academies. In a translator’s repertoire of tools and dictionaries, one has to be up to date with online research capabilities, and a support infrastructure. This is not taught at Universities or in translations schools, it has to be developed on one’s own.

A translator has to research proper usage and conventions, and have these documented. Upon many occasion in technology especially, English terminologies are easy to use, and convenient. An experienced translator, has to make the distinction of when an English term is appropriate or find the right term in Spanish.

Editing is often more challenging, and a lot more work than translating itself. Translation can

offer literary quality and eloquence.

Visit us at http://www.cistranslations.com

Have a nice day.

Shel