“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.” – Nelson Mandela

Here at TranslationsInLondon we love this Nelson Mandela quote. It embodies our core values: building bridges and helping our clients to reach new markets. Not only is Spanish currently ‘en vogue’ in the music world, but thanks to its spread throughout America, Spanish is by far the most widely spoken Neo-Latin language. Around 600 million people speak Spanish in the world, 493 million of whom are native speakers, and it is also one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Whether you’re targeting a new market or exploring opportunities to grow, Spanish will help you to build new bridges and open new doors both in Europe and Latin America. In addition, it is worth noting that Spanish people use their native language when searching: 75% of internet searches were made in Spanish, compared to 15% made in English hence it is necessary to localise your site in Spanish if you want to reach Spanish speaking customers.

Atención! There is not just one variety of Spanish. Spanish in Spain and Spanish in Latin America can be very different and, despite the fact that speakers of the different varieties of Spanish might understand each other, there are concepts or terms that are absolutely nothing alike, and even Spanish speakers may not understand the accents of speakers from another region where Spanish is also spoken. For this reason, when expanding your business, be specific and let your LSP which country you want to target.

TIP: If you have a tight budget, start with a variant of Spanish and localise/adapt that version at a later stage for the other markets.

Culture plays an important role and what works for Spain doesn’t always work for South America. The fact that several countries share the same language does not mean that they share the same culture. For example, the Spanish way of working and living completely differs from the ones of Latin America. When it comes to transcreation, keep in mind that South American Spanish and European Spanish developed at a different speed and do not share the same traditions and had influences from different cultures.

Additionally, one aspect that always stands out when it comes to localisation or transcreation is the sense of humour. How many times has someone you know tried to translate a joke from one language to another, translating it word for word, without taking into account not only the language but also the culture? I bet many… And on top of that, they expect the person who speaks the other language to find it funny! These cultural differences are not only seen from continent to continent, but also between each of the Latin American countries, and even in the Iberian Peninsula itself. It is known that, in Spain, each region can have different rules from the rest. Besides, Spanish is not the only language that stands out in the country, but Catalan, Galician, Basque… are also spoken.

As an entrepreneur, going global is an exciting but daunting step which needs to be planned properly. Your LSP should support and provide you with tips and suggestions. Reach out to them before starting as cooperating together from the planning phase could save you some time and money.

“Una cerveza, por favor”

Surely this sentence and other basic ones will allow you to get by in Spain but in order to be engage and target your Spanish audience, you need to speak and understand deeply their language and culture. When targeting Spanish countries as well in general, avoid using cliches and prejudices, instead try to focus and understand on how local brands target their potential clients and be authentic and our brand/product would add value.

Secondly, you have to take into account the register used in each field and in each Spanish-speaking country. It is important to adapt your register to the situation. Furthermore, depending on the country to which your message is targeted, you should use one degree of formality or another. In Latin American countries, “usted” is usually used to refer to other people (a more formal form of “you”), or “vos” as could be the case in Argentina, but in Spain “tu” is used, without formalities, although you should always bear in mind that this could change depending on the person you are talking to (if it is an older person or someone with a very important position). You should also bear in mind that, depending on the person, preferences, age and culture of the people you intend to convey your message to, your register and manner of speaking will change. We recommend that you be careful with automatic translators, because, as far as register and Spanish are concerned, the order of the adjectives does alter the product.

You should also take into account the typographical aspects and the differences between Spanish and English (how sizes are written, the metric system used, numbers, prices…). For example, Spain uses the decimal metric system, while Argentina uses SIMELA (the Argentinean legal metric system).

Another tip from TranslationsInLondon is be prepared, you should have some templates ready to contact clients in their language, as sometimes your company’s website is not enough and clients will be interested in contacting you to solve their queries. On the other hand, if you are new to translation and localisation, it is always a good idea to use translation memories and style guides to ensure that your translation is consistent.

Don’t be afraid to talk to your translation agency, we can help you and come up with suggestions! Because when it comes to humour, slogans, quotes… word-for-word translation doesn’t work.