Lasting Business Relationships

It's just like a smooth tango. Both parties are invloved. They listen. They become one with the music and their partner's steps.

Over the past few months, we've been honored by successful collaborations on several projects with such companies as Joyent, Inc. and Creative Force Media. Such alliances have reminded us that good partners are there to revisit and we very much look forward to building a strong bond with them on a variety of projects, languages and for years to come.

False Spanish Cognates for English Speakers

What are false cognates and how to set them apart from actual cognates that will not mislead us in the process of learning a second or even third language?

Here are some very common examples to watch out for when learning Spanish as a native English speaker:

Sensible -> Sensitive

Embarrassed -> Avergonzado/-a

Assist (v.) -> Atender

Actually -> En realidad

Gist -> Lo esencial / lo fundamental

Lately -> Últimamente

Move (v.) -> Mudarse

Applicaton -> Solicitud

Apply [for a placement] (v.) -> Solicitar

There is no way of guessing these and the process of learning will be the best way to increase one's awareness of which ones translate literally and which ones simply do not work in literal translation. 

¿Haber o a ver?

'Haber' y 'a ver' son expresiones homófonas muy comunes. Aunque se pronuncian de la misma forma, es importante saber distinguirlas a la hora de escribir.

¿Hablamos de la existencia de algo (haber) o una expresión que inicia una idea o una forma de comunicar esperanza de cara al futuro (a ver)? 

a) Tiene que haber más naranjas. Las compré yo misma esta mañana… (Haber → existencia)

b) A ver si pasas a verme esta tarde… (Ver → vista)    

Ejemplos parecidos en inglés:

• ‘break’ (descanso) y ‘brake’ (freno)
• ‘allowed’ (permitido) y ‘aloud’ (en alto o en voz alta)
• ‘here’ (aquí) y ‘hear’ (escuchar) 

Spanglish in the U.S.A.

It isn't uncommon to walk around towns in the Bay Area and read public notices that are filled with typos, grammatical errors or translations that are too literal to make sense to an educated native speaker of Spanish.

I felt like someone who had nothing better to do in life when I came across a big poster covering the back of a San Francisco bus defending the rights of the elderly against domestic abuse with the word 'obscure' in English translated as "obscuro" in Spanish (the correct word would have been oscuro).  

As any native speaker would know, the Spanish equivalent of 'obscure' does not need a 'b'.

So, why this feeling of collective responsibility when something like this occurs? Is it because we don't live in a society where Spanish would be considered a rarely-heard tongue? Is it because if something is going to be published it should be as impeccably edited and proofread as possible because it is, after all, a social responsibility and a sign of respect to the language represented? I feel the same way when I see business signs misspelled on purpose: 'nite', 'beautifull', 'donut', 'drive-thru'. I keep thinking, how is this going to reinforce kids' spelling? Isn't this going to confuse the issue even more? Another example is to write charisma with a 'k'. If that's what the eye sees around town, how are kids going to get reinforcement for what they learn as being correct spelling?  

Let's hope that such range of spellings will not cast a net of "obscurity" on our eyes!