[Sigia-l] Translating Spanish Content on the Web

[alfred at thunderstick.com]

Under the same philosophy that says that amazon.com has basically figured
out everything that works for ecommerce, starmedia.com has basically
figured out the neutral terminology for the Spanish and Portuguese
speaking crowds. I did several projects for them and they have a group in
Mexico and a group in Brazil who handle all translation projects. You
could do worse things with your time then spending some browsing that site
to see what their choice of wording is.

Likewise, the Social Security Administration does a great job in the
government sector. If you go to their site, you'll again find a good
example of tons of neutral language that addresses all the Spanish
speaking variations. (You choose Spanish on the top right of the
www.ssa.gov site).

One final site, (only because I did work on it - I wrote the postcard app)
- www.kodak.com.mx also has good examples.

Regards,
Alfred Werner

On Thu, 3 Apr 2003, Bryan Skelton wrote:

> Courtney:
>
> Some comments on your question based on our experience. We haven't done
> any rigorous testing, just the feedback we have accumulated from native
> speakers in a couple of different Spanish cultures:
>
> 1.  Word for word translation rarely works.  Transcreation is much more
> effective, however you need to be careful not to make the text
> culturally specific.  For example, do not use Mexican colloquialisms
> and/or regional syntactical text unless specifically intenting to cater
> to a Mexican audience.  So,  it is not only specific words that you
> need to be careful about, but also how common words are used and
> arranged.
>
> The best Spanish content is the one that is the most culturally
> generic, and that typically requires native speakers to review it.
>
> 2.  Again, in our opinion, the question of what dialect most Spanish
> speakers use is irrelevant.  There is a correct, generic, Spanish that
> can be used.
> Every country has their own "dialect", nevertheless there is a common
> underlying generic Spanish that all Spanish speakers understand.
>
> It functions much the same as English.  Every English-speaking country
> and region of the US have their own words, accent and  colloquialisms,
> but there
> is an underlying basic phraseology and syntax that everyone can
> understand.
>
> For example:  Soda, Pop, Soft Drink; Eraser, Rubber; Truck, Lorry;
> Lads, Blokes, Guys
>
> All these examples have a word(s) that can be used to universally
> describe them. Its the same in Spanish.  Joven = chavo, guero, pelado,
> guey, man
>
> Joven is universally understood by the Spanish-speaking world as the
> word for young man.
>
> 3. Anecdotally speaking, Spanish audiences are not fundamentally
> different from other European or American audiences in how they use the
> web. That is admittedly a broad statement, with exceptions, I am sure,
> but nothing comes to mind that would seem to warrant a different way to
> do IA categorization/classification, language and content issues aside.
> Others may have a better answer on this particular issue.
>
> We're just a couple of blocks away if you want to discuss it further ;-)
>
> Bryan
>
> On Thursday, April 3, 2003, at 10:10  AM, courtney.crowell at wachovia.com
> wrote:
>
> > I am working on a large financial services website and exploring ways
> > to
> > better serve our Hispanic/Spanish speaking customers and am looking
> > for any
> > information on the following:
> >
> > 1) Are there accepted standards/best practices regarding translating
> > and
> > integrating Spanish content on the web from one language to another? To
> > what degree is word for word translation vs. "transcreation" (creating
> > appropriate content in a culturally sensitive context) considered the
> > best
> > way to approach providing multilingual content on the web?
> >
> > 2) Of the sites that have currently translated some of all of their
> > site,
> > does it appear that a particular dialect of Spanish is used more often
> > than
> > others? How is it determined which dialect speaks to the most people?
> >
> > 3) Is there any information on approaching information architecture
> > design
> > for a Spanish language site? Are there cultural differences that will
> > influence customer classification/organization expectations?
> >
> > Any information or experiences shared would be greatly appreciated.
> > Thanks!
> >
> > ~Courtney Crowell
> >
> Bryan Skelton
> Director of Internet Strategy
> Vialogix
> 704 716-9106
> http://www.vialogix.com/
>
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