01/11/2022

Do I need my website translated into Spanish?

If you have an English speaking website for your business, you could easily leverage the work you’ve already put into building an effective website by translating your website into Spanish. Let’s take a closer look at the benefits that come with translating your website into Spanish and the important considerations to keep top of mind regarding Spanish variants

Reasons to Translate into Spanish

There are many benefits associated with translating your website into Spanish, here are a few of them.

  • Increased audience. A study by Common Sense Advisory found that most consumers only spend time online visiting websites in their preferred language. By not having your website translated into Spanish, you risk Spanish-speaking visitors leaving your website confused and frustrated, and without them converting. 
  • Number of Spanish speakers. There are 41.8 million Spanish speakers in the US and more than 559 million people globally. That’s a massive audience you can tap into by investing in translating your website into Spanish. 
  • Loss of revenue. Speaking of the millions of U.S. Spanish speakers, they have major buying power and your revenue can face limitations if you don’t present information about your business in a way that is accessible to them. 
  • Get an edge over the competition. You’re not the only business that has yet to take the time and effort to translate their website into Spanish. If your competitors are sleeping on the potential of a translated website, you can get a leg up on them and build brand loyalty with a massive audience. 
  • Demonstrate commitment to diversity, inclusion, and your community. A professionally translated website is a strong way to show your brand’s commitment to diversity and inclusion while serving more members of your community. Not only are you doing right by your customers, but you’re doing right by your brand’s reputation. 

Important Considerations Regarding Spanish Variants

Where your business is located will affect how you translate and localize your website’s content. It’s important to keep Spanish variants in mind when you’re translating your website. 

Since Latin American Spanish will cover the most territory, your business will benefit greatly if you choose to translate into the Spanish variant that the bulk of your Spanish-speaking audience speaks. If your company is based in the U.S., then you can adapt your website content to the U.S. Spanish variant. If you think your product or service is a good fit for a European audience, then you can translate it to European Spanish.

If you don’t know which variant best suits your Spanish speaking customers, take a look at your website’s Google Analytics data. You can see which parts of the world your traffic is coming from and can focus on translating your website content into the Spanish variant that aligns with the bulk of your Spanish speaking website visitors. 

Not sure what the different types of Spanish variants are? We break down the differences between the following Spanish variants in this blog post!

  • LATAM Spanish
  • Mexican Spanish
  • U.S. Spanish
  • European or Iberian Spanish
  • Neutral Spanish
Discover what The Challenges of Translating Gender Neutral Language are
30/08/2022

The Challenges of Translating Gender Neutral Language

A push for a shift to gender neutral language is garnering a lot of attention worldwide. While there is no universally agreed upon answer for how we should handle gender neutral language across a variety of cultures and languages, some individuals and even organizations are choosing to make the shift to not using gendered language choices. 

If you have a source text that has gender neutral language in it and it needs translating, what do you need to know about gender neutral language? Let’s investigate. 

What Gendered Language Is

Gendered language refers to language choices that assign a gender to a noun, verb, pronoun, or adjective. It’s especially common to see gendered language choices in both French and Spanish where nouns have gender inflections. Around the world there is a push happening to embrace gender neutral language. In order to achieve gender neutrality, most languages have to stray away from traditional grammar and linguistic standards and embrace new ones. While some people are more than ready to make this shift, others are fighting to hold onto more traditional language standards. 

Why Gender Neutral Language Matters in Translation

When working on a translation project, it’s important to understand what is happening in the source text in order to decide how it should be translated. If the original document is using gender neutral language, then there is an explicit intention of the author, writer, or company to be inclusive in their communications. Because of this, it would make sense for the translated text to take those gender neutral language choices into account and incorporate them in the translation to the target language to the extent possible.

To What Extent is Gender Neutrality in Translation Possible?

Because gender neutral language may not be as developed in that target language or even target country, it can be challenging to provide a clear and concise translated text that honors the desire of the original creator to use gender neutral language while making sure the newly translated text is easy to understand by the reader. 

Some languages are already genderless, in which case the translator won’t run into any problems. Some cultures are starting to use gender neutral alternatives so translating the text into one of those target languages may also present less roadblocks. 

In some cases, the translators may be able to use workaround word choices that are perfectly correct grammatically and that convey gender neutrality, but some others deviate from the traditional grammar structure. Regardless of whether it’s grammatical or ungrammatical, the use of gender neutral language may not be spread equally within the country or even within certain age groups. In some other cultures, gender neutral language is not even in the conversation.

Because of the various approaches currently being taken to adapt language (or in some cases not adapt it) to being gender neutral, the choice to translate your already gender neutral material is not as simple as it may seem. It’s super important to assess your target audience and consult with in-country linguists regarding the current climate surrounding this for that target audience and country, so you can be informed about what the best way to proceed is.

For those looking to adapt to gender-inclusive language when working with the English language, the United Nations has created helpful strategies that can be applied to any type of communication, including oral or written content, as well as formal or informal speech.

How Can We Be More Inclusive in Spanish?
23/09/2021

How Can We Be More Inclusive in Spanish?

Humans continuously evolve, but as we do, we struggle to let go of what is familiar. In recent years, a debate has emerged about if the gendered aspects of the Spanish language should evolve with us or be left alone. Currently, the Spanish culture is divided. Feminists are fighting against the plural masculine in order to make the language more inclusive not only of women, but also of non-binary people. Whether or not it’s been “officially” decided, Spanish is evolving and this can be seen and heard in the streets and in the media. 

Creating a more inclusive Spanish language would take work, but is doable. Let’s look at a few ways to make nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and articles more inclusive. 

Double Up

Those who support inclusive language are proposing “doubling up” on genders. An example of this would be instead of saying “the school children”, they would explicitly mention the masculine and feminine children at once by saying, “the school girls and boys”. This is not a perfect solution as it doesn’t represent the individuals who don’t consider themselves to fall under the binary representation of male and female. 

People who aren’t a fan of this solution also argue that when you double up, you’re providing an unnecessary and artificial linguistic workaround. Plus, the text can become unnecessarily wordy. Proponents of this change argue that it does give visibility to women and avoids confusion caused by ambiguity. 

Using Collective or Abstract Nouns 

The use of collective or abstract nouns that don’t show gender can also be a potential solution. A good example of making this work, can be seen with “the citizens” which in Spanish is “los ciudadanos”. Instead, you can say “la ciudadanía” which is a non-gendered collective noun and translates to “the citizenry”. You can make similar swaps with other nouns, but do have to be careful as there can be a slight change in meaning which may not provide the right contextual fit. 

The Letter “E” in Articles, Adjectives, and Nouns

Because there are only two genders in Spanish, when a group that contains both the female and male genders is addressed, the speaker will traditionally default to the masculine plural. To make language choices in these scenarios more inclusive, whenever you have an adjective, noun, or article, you can change the “O” at the end to an “E”. Let’s look at how to do this. You can swap gendered nouns like “los niños” or “las niñas” with “les niñes”. If you want to make a singular word gender-neutral, you would make the same swap for the feminine “A” or the masculin “O” at the end of the singular word.

The “Elle” Pronoun

The “E” can also be used when referring to those who are non-binary by using the word “elle” as the personal pronoun. Elle, is the Spanish equivalent of “they”. The Spanish speakers in support of these changes argue that “E” is an existing letter in the alphabet and the pronunciation is easy. On the flip side, those against this change don’t appreciate how against the norm it is and feel that Spanish already has mechanisms that can work to avoid using gendered expressions that don’t require making such a drastic change. 

More Solutions Exist

While these are a few of the more common solutions being used today, other options exist for making Spanish more inclusive. If you’re interested in learning more about them, Modii offers a non-sexist language guide in Spanish that is worth checking out.

Spanish: A Gendered Language Seeking to be More Inclusive
16/06/2021

Spanish: A Gendered Language Seeking to be More Inclusive

In recent years, the term “Latinx” has been proposed — and begun to come into use in the U.S. — as a shift to a more inclusive Spanish language when it comes to gender. In other countries of Latin American and even in Spain, people are also looking for ways to be more inclusive. In order to understand why some people are arguing for a shift towards gender-neutral or non-sexist language, it’s important to look closer at how gender works in the Spanish language and how the language can evolve. 

How Gender Works in Spanish

In the Spanish language, all nouns have a gender. Other words used in conjunction with nouns agree in gender as well, so articles and adjectives are also gendered. Typically, masculine nouns end in an O and feminine nouns end in an A. Spanish is not the only language structured like this. Spanish is just one of many gender-based languages that defaults to a generic masculine ending. If the gender of a subject is not specified or known, or if the noun is representing a group with both masculine and feminine members in it, then the masculine ending will be used. For example, in Spanish the word for boy is “niño” and the word for girl is “niña”, but when you have a group of children of mixed genders, the word used would be “niños”. 

For example, in Spanish the word for boy is “niño” and the word for girl is “niña”, but when you have a group of children of mixed genders, the word used would be “niños”. 

Inclusion of Female and Non Binary Individuals

Those who are fighting for more inclusion of women and non-binary individuals are changing how they speak and write. In many cases, they are replacing the masculine O and the feminine A with a gender-neutral E. Let’s look at how this may work in practice. The default word for the word friends is “amigos” (which is masculine). Those looking to make changes in the language are using “amigues” instead. 

 In many cases, they are replacing the masculine O and the feminine A with a gender-neutral E. Let’s look at how this may work in practice.

Not everyone wants to see these changes made. The Royal Spanish Academy in Spain wants to leave the current gendered structure of Spanish as is. From their perspective, the default masculine plural is intended to be inclusive and represents females as well as males. 

It’s important to highlight, though, that without making formal changes to the language, there are ways to make Spanish more modern and inclusive in everyday life. It does take a little bit of creativity, but workarounds for avoiding using default masculine nouns do exist.

How Should Translators Proceed?

When it comes to translation work, should translators observe the norm or adapt? There is no one correct answer here. Who your audience is will largely influence whether or not you should stick to the traditional structures or should adapt to these modern solutions to making the language more inclusive

Language is a living entity that changes and evolves over time, it does not remain stagnant. There is room for change, the question is, is your audience ready for that change? While the Royal Spanish Academy may say no, plenty of young individuals are fighting for change. Take your target audience into account when deciding how you want to communicate your message. Will they be more likely to engage with your content if you make gender-neutral changes or will that push them away? Sticking with what your audience is most comfortable with may not please everyone who comes across your content, but will hopefully keep the base of your audience happy. For a translation project to be successful, you need to aim to deliver your message as effectively as possible, so consider how you can make that happen.

Hispanics, Latinos, and Latinx Are They the Same
05/05/2021

Hispanics, Latinos, and Latinx — Are They the Same?

We live in a very big world that is full of diverse and rich cultures, places, and people. There are many differences between our many cultures that we should celebrate, but far too often overlook. One such example of letting lines blur too easily, are the terms Hispanic, Latino, and Latinx. All three of which tend to be used interchangeably and incorrectly. These three terms are not the same and necessarily don’t represent the same groups of people. Let’s explore what each of these terms means and the one unifying factor that links these different groups together. 

Hispanics vs. Latinos vs. Latinx

Before we look at what unites these different groups, let’s look at how they differ and where some of the confusion about their differences may stem from. In many cases these terms overlap, but they do mean different things. 

  • Hispanic. The term hispanic is used to refer to those that come from a Spanish-speaking background and does not reflect their geographic location. 
  • Latino. This term does in fact relate to location and not to language. In order to classify someone as Latino, they generally need to come from the geographic region of Latin America. The term Latino includes people from many areas in Central and South America, alongside the Caribbean. In many cases people identify as both Hispanic and Latino, as both terms apply to their backgrounds. For example, someone from Brazil is a Latino, Latina or Latinx because they are from Latin America, but their language is not Spanish, it is Portuguese. Whereas someone from Colombia is both a Latino, Latina or Latinx and also Hispanic (because they speak Spanish).
  • Latinx. While the term Latinx is relatively new, it is becoming an important term used in conversations about gender equality and inclusion. Spanish is a gendered language, which means words are associated with the female or male gender. A Latin American woman is a Latina and a Latin American man is a Latino. Latinx has appeared as an alternative to being inclusive of people who don’t associate with either gender. Essentially, Latinx is a gender-neutral alternative to Latino or Latina. If someone is Latino, they are also Latinx and vice versa. The primary purpose of this term is to be inclusive of people who don’t consider themselves to be female or male.

A Diverse Presence in the US

The US Census Bureau counts anyone who says they are Hispanic as Hispanic, which allows residents to choose how they identify. As cultural norms evolve surrounding what it means to be Hispanic, Latino, or Latinx in the US today, this enables those self-reporting to identify as they see fit. As of July, 2019 it was estimated that almost 61 million Hispanics lived in the U.S. accounting for 18.5% of the nation’s total population. 

What Unites Them

Ultimately, all of these terms are labels and very wide labels at that. Within each label, there is so much diversity and many countries of origin that fall under them. Sometimes, the only thing that unites these groups is a shared language — Spanish. In the US, many Hispanics from different countries are united by their shared language. Because all these Spanish speakers of different nationalities coexist in the US and interact with each other and with English speakers, the language has and continues to evolve and adapt. The Spanish language one can hear in the US is known as US Spanish.

Localizing Games Effectively for Latin America
14/04/2021

Localizing Games Effectively for Latin America

In March of 2021, Terra Translations’ CEO Marina Ilari moderated a panel on “Localizing Games Effectively for Latin America” at the Game Global Digital Summit. One major topic the industry experts on the panel covered was the peculiarities of the Latin American market and how to address them. Let’s take a look at some of the valuable insight the panelists shared!

Celebrate Diversity 

Connecting with players in a new audience requires adapting to their cultures, religions, and history. Games can celebrate diversity by including music, outfits, and home designs that a wide audience can relate to. During the localization process, you can make references to popular shows and create events that celebrate the new audience’s holidays. Gamers want to feel heard, seen, and included. Kassi O’Connor of Glu Mobile expressed the importance of not just emphasizing diversity, but of implementing it the right way. “We want to make sure we represent them in a respectful and truthful manner,” O’Connor said. 

Prioritizing diversity is especially important in Latin America, where people are united by the same language, but separated by it at the same time. Games will resonate with players if they receive a culturally relevant experience. For example, in trivia games, as Ulises Uno of Etermax explained, this means asking questions about their immediate context.

Leverage the Common Ground 

For Priscilla Bermea of Riot Games, Latin American players have more similarities than differences, so they try to leverage that common ground in their games. Latin Americans are known to be very competitive and passionate. From the publishing standpoint when it comes to diversity, Bermea said that “Our vision for LATAM stems from one simple truth, but it is a very powerful truth, that Latin American gamers have more similarities than we have differences.” This creates a unique challenge to try to find common ground while also highlighting unique experiences. 

Partner with a Team of Localization Experts 

Hugo Miranda of Blizzard recommends game developers work with a well-structured localization company with linguistic expertise, whose translators are diverse and have knowledge of the entire region. In order to avoid falling into any kind of regionalism, a good practice to follow is to have a translator and reviewer of different nationalities work together. This way, they can collaborate and discuss any terms that generate confusion or that may be misconstrued across different nationalities. 

Encourage Feedback 

Receiving feedback is always valuable and you should encourage the linguistic team to speak up if they have any linguistic concerns regarding a particular term, feature, or another key element. This way, you avoid uncomfortable outcomes after the game’s release. “I can not stress how important it is to empower that team to provide feedback and be part of that process,” O’Connor explained.

Outside feedback can also provide valuable perspective. Pursuing player feedback can be extremely useful as in the end, the game is for them and their suggestions should be taken into account and analyzed.

Boosting Employee Retention and Engagement by Translating HR Materials into Spanish
29/10/2020

Boosting Employee Retention and Engagement by Translating HR Materials into Spanish

As the US workforce evolves, employers need to evolve with it. Hispanics are the fastest-growing US-born segment of the US population and as of 2018, Hispanic workers accounted for 17.5% of the US labor force. Because of this growth, and the fact that researchers have discovered that businesses that prioritize diversity can benefit financially, it is important to adapt on the job resources for Spanish speakers

Millennial Values are Key to Employee Retention & Engagement

While having a high employee retention rate and a staff that is engaged in their work is always important, it is especially important now that millennials are the bulk of the workforce. Like all generations, millennials have their own unique set of values (although it is expected Gen Z will follow in their footsteps). To help employees feel a strong sense of personal engagement, and lower turnover risk, it’s essential to understand what millennial employees value.

For millennials, it is important to feel valued and as if they have opportunities to connect with their managers or superiors in a way that feels personal to their career and benefits their progress in the workplace. They’re looking for more than just an annual review in terms of feedback and guidance. Millennials are also team players and they want to advance the welfare of their entire team, as well as their own welfare at work.

This millennial generation wants to feel like they belong and are a part of a group that shares their interests, values, and goals. Employers can take advantage of these desires by finding ways to cultivate a sense of community for their employees. One way to foster a sense of respect for employee values and create a feeling of belonging is by speaking their language and providing proper safety and HR materials for employees.

Why the Translation of Company Communications is Beneficial

As the Hispanic workforce grows, it is becoming increasingly important to provide HR materials, as well as any safety training or manuals, in Spanish. As most of these materials only require a one-time translation (they can be used any time new hires join the organization), this is not a huge endeavor and is worth the benefits of employee satisfaction. Previous translations can be used as a base if updates are needed down the road, which makes the continued translation of these materials very sustainable. 

There are many other benefits associated with translating these materials. The proper distribution and understanding of both HR and safety materials are imperative for avoiding dangerous accidents or costly lawsuits. On an equally significant note, they can help create a culturally inclusive work environment. Businesses need to ensure that their Spanish-speaking personnel understand their company’s policies, procedures, forms, and internal communications clearly in order to have productive, happy, and safe employees.

Other Solutions For Boosting Employee Engagement & Loyalty

Alongside the translation of HR materials and safety materials into Spanish, there are other steps employers can take to make all of their employees, including any Hispanic employees, feel respected and valued.

  • Developing benefit designs that account for the extended family make-up of many Hispanic millennials
  • Implementing effective diversity training programs
  • Creating diversity councils
  • Establishing top-down diversity targets for recruitment and retention

The translation of important work materials into Spanish is imperative for building a diverse and engaged team of employees. Providing accessible training and support to Hispanic employees is an investment that is bound to make returns when it comes to employee performance, contentment, and retention.

09/09/2020

The Impact of the Hispanic Population on the US Workforce

As of 2018, Hispanic workers make up 17.5% of the US labor force and that number is only expected to rise in the coming years. As the US workforce becomes more and more diverse, it’s important that employers adapt. Embracing diverse employees, and their needs can be greatly beneficial. Research has found that businesses that prioritize diversity more than other companies can see larger financial returns. 

Hispanics are the fastest-growing U.S.-born segment of the population. From 2014 to 2060, a 115% growth in the US Hispanic population was expected, meaning there is an increasingly greater need for employers to celebrate diversity. 

The Changing US Workforce

As the Hispanic population grows in the US, it’s easy to see how the Hispanic presence in the workforce will grow. This shift will be even more palpable once the Baby Boomer generation phases into retirement. In 2016, one out of every four Americans under the age of 18 was Hispanic, with 66,000 Hispanics turning 18 every month. This means that the Hispanic youth will be quickly replacing less diverse workers from the Baby Boomer generation as they retire. 

With more than 83 million people born between 1982 and 2000, the millennial generation is much more diverse than past generations. Around one-quarter of all millennials are Hispanic and the number of Hispanic millennials, and the projected rapid growth for the overall Hispanic demographic, are expected to be catalysts for significant changes to the U.S. workforce. 

Embracing Diversity at Work

The US working world will continue to evolve, there is no doubt about that. Employers have to capitalize on the value their workforce can provide and they can do so by providing proper resources to their employees. Embracing and encouraging diversity is beneficial to all parties and is necessary to effectively compete in a global marketplace. A movement for change in 2020 has changed America for the better, especially when it comes to promoting fair hiring practices and diversity in the workplace. There are ample diverse workers available for hire with unemployment rates so high, so now is a prime opportunity for companies to commit to hiring a more diverse workforce. 

Hispanic workers can help address expected workforce skill shortages if they have the proper tools and support to make these achievements a reality. Compared to other millennials, Hispanic millennials are more likely to search for a workplace that makes them feel comfortable and where they see a long future. To begin the process of prioritizing diversity and ensuring that all employees feel respected and supported, businesses can adopt diversity and inclusion programs. These programs can help foster loyalty, which is a trait millennials tend to lean towards if they feel valued.

If organizations make the effort now to have a more diverse workforce, the future will look very promising for them, as they will attract and retain workers that are loyal, eager to learn, and who are able to evolve as technology and trends evolve.

Spanish Variants Explained: What are they and which should I localize to?
23/10/2019

Spanish Variants Explained: What are they and which should I localize to?

As the official language of 21 countries, Spanish continues to evolve and establish itself as a globalized language. There are currently 577,256,327 Spanish speakers in the world according to a 2018 report from the Spanish government’s Cervantes Institute. This figure is five million more than the previous study published in November 2017. Although the number of Spanish speakers is on the rise, it’s important to note that within the single language are significant differences in speech. Grammar to expressions vary within the Spanish language highly dependent upon geography and migration. In addition to vocabulary issues, there are words or phrases that are actually inappropriate in some countries but not in others. In translation, the most common Spanish variants include LATAM, Mexican, U.S., European or Iberian, and neutral

So what variant is best for your translation and localization needs? Let’s take a closer look at Spanish variants around the world.

What is LATAM Spanish?

The culmination of Spanish, Portuguese, and French, Latin America is a group of countries that stretch from the northern border of Mexico to the southern tip of South America. There are 33 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean today, according to the United Nations. Out of these 33, Spanish is the official language of 18. Because the territory is so large, there is no “uniformed” Spanish. Every country’s dialect is unique and varies greatly. In order to cater to the majority of Latin American Spanish speakers, translators developed what is referred to as “LATAM Spanish”. This “Generic LATAM Spanish” avoids country colloquialisms but still sounds familiar with the general audience. LATAM Spanish is considered to be a broader variant than Mexican Spanish.

When localizing cultural references such as food, pop-culture, legal, and marketing texts, in-country linguists may be best to accurately reflect the target country’s expressions. However, in many cases, LATAM Spanish will suffice for the localization

What is Mexican Spanish?

Although Mexico is considered part of Latin America, the region has a variant all of its own. From vocabulary to idioms, there lives a dialect that is unique and specific to the country. In many cases, Mexican Spanish is the selected variant because of its large demographic and reach. When compared to other Spanish-speaking countries in the Americas, Mexico is ranked first. In the U.S., Mexican Spanish is often studied in schools more than any other dialect. This variant works perfectly for a Mexican audience but won’t effectively garner desired results in other Spanish-speaking markets. 

What is U.S. Spanish?

At over 50 million Spanish speakers, the U.S. now has the second-largest Spanish-speaking population in the world. There is a misconception that its proximity to Mexico means the U.S. Spanish variant is predominantly a Mexican variant. In actuality, the U.S. displays vibrant influences of Puerto-Rican, Dominican, and other Latin American countries. The influence of Hispanics who have migrated to the U.S. from various Latin American countries over generations has cultivated a Spanish variant of its own. The coexistence of the English and Spanish language has also transformed the way U.S. Spanish is spoken and written. The most distinct characteristic of this variant is that it reserves many of its the English formatting conventions such as date, decimals, time, and even capitalization.

What is European Spanish or Iberian Spanish?

European Spanish (or Iberian) is truly unique because it is the most isolated dialect from the rest of the variants. The Spanish spoken in Spain is called Castilian, a term that refers to the province of Castile located in central Spain. It is said that the Spanish language originated there.

Take an in-depth look at its vocabulary, grammar, and phonetic in our blog post Latin American Spanish vs. European Spanish.

What is Neutral Spanish?

Neutral Spanish is the “universal” variant. From the U.S. to Europe to Latin America, this variant can be understood on a global level. Neutral Spanish is the attempt of linguistic authorities to standardize the language across borders. Determining a common vocabulary is designed to ensure maximum understanding amongst speakers and readers, cutting out local variations and colloquialisms.

For technical and specialized texts, a universal Spanish could be acceptable. Unlocalized variants that don’t reflect specific regions or communities also work well for the translation of informative texts such as instruction manuals, medical prospectuses, and the description of products. 

Despite offering an efficient solution for technical information, this model is not recommended for translations related to artistic or creative activities such as literary translations, film subtitles, video games, and advertising. Failure to localize can disrupt engagement and negatively impact source credibility.

In conclusion, know your audience!

Neutral Spanish is an acceptable practice that most Spanish speakers will easily understand. However, to truly resonate with an audience, it’s best to localize to your target market as closely as possible. By taking the extra step to understand and learn the culture as well as the dialect of the target market, you will create materials that genuinely relate to audiences. Your audience will feel closer to your message and your business will gain a higher opportunity to engage. A strategic and successful campaign will be the launching pad to expand to more countries and craft messaging to new local audiences. 

When launching a project, marketing campaign, document, book, or movie in a Spanish-speaking market, be sure to do your research. Depending on what you’re creating, you may need to use a more localized Spanish dialect for maximum impact.

Spanish Voice-overs How to Get it Right
25/03/2019

Spanish Voice-overs: How to Get it Right

Spanish is one language with a shared basic core. However, colloquialisms, dialects, and even grammar can greatly vary from region to region. Spanish spoken in Latin America differs to the Spanish spoken in Europe. Even Spanish spoken across the U.S. differs due to the migration patterns of people from various Spanish speaking countries and where they settled in the states. These unique dialects make this dynamic language more complex and translators must keep every difference in mind when translating voice-over scripts.

Biggest Spanish Voice-over Mistake

One of the biggest mistakes a company can make is recording a voice-over with an individual who has a strong accent and dialect that does not reflect the target market (unless otherwise stated in the creative brief). For example, utilizing talent from Chile would be extremely disruptive for an e-learning course in Mexico. The speed and emphasis on syllables differs tremendously between the two Spanish-speaking regions. An equivalent to this would be British talent recording a voice-over for an American literature e-book. The British accent and pronunciation differences would be an unnecessary distraction to a U.S. audience.

There are 20 countries where Spanish is the official language, as can be seen in the map above, but there are other territories where Spanish is widely spoken, like the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Argentina, Chile, Spain, Mexico, Cuba, Colombia, Venezuela, etc. all have very unique sounds. Even those Spanish regions that sound similar may have different ways to refer to the same action, attribute, object, etc. Language nuances such as these can severely impact understanding and even credibility. Poor voice-over works can destroy campaigns, confuse audiences, and even go viral for its unintentional hilarity.

Improving Spanish Voice-overs

To minimize issues, one solution is recording the voice-over as neutral as possible. Neutral voice-overs abstain from slang and incorporate expressions that are well known to most regions. This will allow brands to create one deliverable for multiple projects. The upside to this method is that it lowers costs. The downside is that the expressions and vocabulary can be viewed as “watered-down” or too generalized for audiences.

For an optimal translation, it’s best to localize the voice-over to the region of the target language. For broader scopes of work, another option is hiring several talents from various regions to record multiple versions of the copy. When scouting for voice-over professionals, talent will often specify the Spanish regions they represent.

It’s possible to find talent that can record in several different Spanish variants, however, you should proceed with caution. Often times these multi-regional talents make mistakes such as mispronouncing a regional word or not picking up on the local cadence of conversation. Audiences can hear the doubt in the talent’s voice when these moments arise. There are many elements to an accent, therefore, it’s very difficult to sound like a native in different Spanish variants.

Keeping up with Globalization

Rapid globalization created opportunities for businesses of all sizes to reach international markets. More than half of all U.S. companies (58%) have some foreign market involvement according to a survey by USForex. Layered on top of this trend is the growth of Spanish speakers around the world. An estimated 754 million people will speak Spanish by 2050 accordingly to a 2017 study from the Cervantes Institute.

Translation service providers are quickly adapting to this change by fine-tuning their strategies to fit the global needs of their clients. This means that companies will need to ensure that all elements of a voice-over align with the audience it’s intended for. Terra Translations specializes in translation and voice-over of all forms, including e-learning courses, institutional videos, and audio books.