Do you speak Spanish?
by Bridget McCrea, 16th November, 2004
With Hispanics revealed by the 2000 Census to be the largest minority in the USA, demand for into Spanish translation looks set to continue its upward trend - indeed translation companies have become a hot commodity, as businesses reach out to the Hispanic market. Bridget McCrea investigates how some American media and translation companies have geared themselves up to tackle the exciting new challenges facing them.
Southwest Airlines knows the value of good translation. The Dallas-based low-fare airline also knows that the buying power of U.S. Hispanics is expected to reach $1 trillion by 2007, per the Selig Center, and that more than 22 million Hispanics currently live in the markets that the airline services. We want to be the airline of choice for U.S. Hispanics, says Edna Z. Ruano, spokesperson for the airline, which goes the extra mile to make sure its marketing, advertising, Web and other informational materials are properly translated into the Spanish language. To get there, Southwest enlists the help of professional translation firms Garcia Shilling International of Dallas and Akorbi of Farmers Branch, Texas. Currently, those firmsalong with Hispanic advertising agency Dieste Harmel & Partnersare working with Southwest to produce a Spanish-language media plan that contains targeted, culturally relevant advertising messages; bilingual airport directional signage; and a Spanish-language website. The company recently added a bilingual extension to its Adopt-A-Pilot program, through which its pilots are adopted by a fifth-grade classroom. We use Akorbis services to translate the program curriculum available to teachers and students, says Ruano. Its enabled us to provide both an English and Spanish curriculum to teachers participating in the bilingual component. Tapping opportunity## Southwest is just one of numerous U.S.-based companies that have come to realize the importance of having a reputable, professional translation firm in their corner. Ever since the 2000 census opened Corporate Americas eyes to the size and prowess of the Hispanic communitynot all of whom are fluent in Englishcompanies have been scrambling to produce materials that the growing community understands and responds to. After the census showed that Hispanics represent the largest minority in the U.S., offerings in Spanish have increased and become mainstream, resulting in more volume for the translation companies, says Renato Beninatto, vice president at Common Sense Advisory of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, a research and analysis firm that specializes in localization and international business. Personally involved in the translation industry for more than 20 years, including a stint as vice president for The Berlitz, Beninatto has also seen a new specialization in U.S. Spanish, in addition to the traditional European and Latin American variations. Still, Beninatto says most companies have yet to address the 13 percent of the U.S. population that is of Hispanic descent, primarily from Latin America, either via the Web or through traditional media channels. Thats 39 million people, says Beninatto, who adds that addressing that portion of the population isnt always easy, thanks to language and cultural differences. Even if they do recognize the opportunity, most companies only address one facet of the Hispanic population. They also tend to treat them as consumers, neglecting Latinos as shareholders, businessmen and rising entrepreneurs. Enter the professional translation firm which, if equipped with the proper experience and in-depth knowledge of the market, can help steer companies in the right direction when it comes to producing marketing materials, advertising, promotional items, press releases and other relevant materials. One such company is Into-Spanish.com, an Atlanta-based firm that provides English-to-Spanish translation services for a variety of clients. Guillermo Astigarraga, project manager and translator, started the company last year after his own freelance translation workload warranted the use of other professional translators. The company works mostly with U.S. firms that are targeting the domestic Hispanic community, offering translation and editing services, website translation and localization, on-site interpreting, and training for translators and translation students. According to Astigarraga, American companies targeting the Latino market face two key challenges: producing text that is grammatically correct, spelled properly, and that actually reads and sounds like Spanish; and creating text that can be easily understood by all Hispanics living in the country, including Mexicans, Argentines, Cubans, Colombians and Chileanseach of which use vocabulary specific to their country of origin. Companies looking for customers among those groups need to be able to reach them all at once with the same informational brochure, or other medium, says Astigarraga. To accomplish this daunting goal, he says companies have to be as neutral as possible, do the proper research and consult with linguists who grew up speaking Spanish in different parts of the Americas, to make sure everybody can understand the message being conveyed. Experienced translators usually manage to strike a happy medium, says Astigarraga. The expressions and vocabulary they use may not sound totally and completely familiar to everybody, but they can still be clearly understood. ##Market growth Reaching a group that not only speaks a different language, but that is also segmented into different variations of a language within itself, is no easy task. You have foreign-born Hispanics, native-born Hispanics, those that can barely speak English and those that speak English fluently, says Mario Garcia, Jr., president of Tampa-based Garcia Media, an information design firm that does consulting work for newspapers, magazines and corporate communication departments. For companies that try to reach these diverse groups, it is no easy task. The conundrum has led not only to the growth of the domestic translation market, but, thanks to advances in technology, to increased competition from translation firms based overseas, especially in Latin American countries. Such companies typically work for lower rates than American firms, according to Beninatto, who says U.S. companies usually translate for 10 to 20 cents a word (with smaller projects billed on a flat-fee basis), while foreign-based firms will do the job for as little as 3 cents a word. Because of the Internet, companies have been able to find excellent translators in countries like Argentina, Mexico, Colombia and Chile who work at lower rates, says Beninatto, who adds that companies need to do their homework before selecting a translation firm. Just because someone speaks Spanish does not make that person a translator. To differentiate themselves, many professional translators have received certification from the American Translators Association, a national organization of professionals whose program evaluates the competence of translators according to guidelines that reflect current professional practice. Although ATA certification is not a license to translatethe translation industry is unregulated in the United States, as opposed to the role of the translator in many Latin American countries, where translators and interpreters are licensed by the governmentwhat ATA certification does indicate is that the individual translator has passed a rigorous exam involving a specific set of source and target languages, and that the translator meets continuing education requirements. Martha E. Galindo, president and CEO of Coral Springs, Florida-based Galindo Publicidad, Inc., says the competition from overseas at lower prices not only puts pressure on the domestic translation industry, but it also confuses U.S. companies that need good translation services. Since 1993, her firm had been translating materials for marketing departments, ad agencies, human resources executives and attorneys nationwide. During the course of business, Galindo hears the horror tales from companies that outsourced their translation overseas only to end up with dismal results. The low prices being offered by overseas companies has created confusion in the minds of the U.S. corporations, Galindo explains, particularly if the people who are assigning the work or approving the project are monolingual. Where Galindo sees the most future potential for companies like hers is in forming strategic alliances with companies that offer complementary services, such as a multimedia- or video-oriented company that produces such materials for the Hispanic market. Going forward, I see more concentration of the pie by larger translation agencies, says Galindo, who points out that the national economic downturn took its toll on the translation industry. The economic recovery will be decisive for this industry to move forward. Astigarraga sees the demand for translation services continuing to grow in size and scope as a result of globalization in general, andin the U.S.to meet the demand of already large and diverse foreign communities whose populations do not count English as their first language. Many translation firms have come to satisfy this demand, says Astigarraga, but many others have gone, too.
© Hispanic Trends.com - September 2004
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