Thread: Neutral Spanish

I don´t think there´s any such thing as neutral or global Spanish. I remember attending a course in London and our teachers from Spain would say "this translation is Castilian Spanish (European)", this other "is Latin American Spanish". This comment would always bring up the discussion of whether there was any such thing as Latin American Spanish considering the many Spanish speaking countries that make up Latinamerica...
Having said so, I wish the day will come when we´ll be able to translate our literary books and films for an Argentinean audicence using the "vos" as freely as when we speak...

I agree Sabrina! "Latin American Spanish" does not make much sense. I think it may be better to classify by country, not region. Mexican Spanish, Argentine Spanish (), Puerto Rican Spanish, etc.

Thank you all for your opinions! You all then agree with me that there is no such thing - in practice - as Neutral Spanish!!

Originally Posted by sabrina

Having said so, I wish the day will come when we´ll be able to translate our literary books and films for an Argentinean audicence using the "vos" as freely as when we speak...

Hay algunos lugares en el continente americano, aunque pocos, que vosean en lugar de tutear. Como por ejemplo: Uruguay, debido a la cercanía que tiene con Argentina; algunos estados de México y algunos departamentos de Colombia.

Aunque afortunadamente (¿o debo decir por desgracia?), cada vez más a lo largo de todo el continente, se utiliza el pronombre "vos" en lugar de "tú".

You are right, Sabrina, we all come from a different country and there are slight differences that others may feel when we speak or when we write.

Reporters go through the same ordeal, because their pronounciation has to be as "neutral" as possible, meaning that it shouldn't show a distinctive regional accent. There is an Argentine reporter in the CNN and... who could tell he's Argentine?

Our customers want translations to be as "neutral" as possible because they want translators to use words that are not "felt" too regional, so that the product they are selling can reach different audiences.

But yes, you are right, roots always show and that's OK.

I am also looking forward to the day I can speak and write Argentine Spanish in translations sent to the international market!!

I have the same problem with our elementary school's newsletter.
We have so many different spanish speaking nationalities, that i have to be as "neutral" as possible. Lots of spanish tv news watching.
Sometimes i get stuck on a word that i consciously know is a regional word, but have not found a "neutral" word for it. So I end up using something like the following-
Por favor no mande a su estudiante (to make it neutral) a la escuela con calsado que es un peligro para estos dias que especificamente son sandalias/chancletas/chanclas/sapatillas/etc.
When I have to send a voice message to all spanish speaking recipients, i don't say etc, i just name the 'titles' i know and leave it at that.
I have the 'opportunity' to translate everything (mostly everything) that is sent out to parents into spanish, with only 2 aides who help out with 2 articles a month for the newsletter. I do all the day to day mailing translations.
I wish I was getting paid. I am a parent volunteer for the past year and a half. For the moment it is something I have taken upon myself (with PTA and Principal's approval) to get all the information given out in english translated into spanish so our spanish speaking parents can also be informed.
I even had my September phone bill (cell phone is my only communication) go up by $50. Which had to come out of my pocket.
But getting back to the 'neutral' subject.....it's hard.
I just try to watch spanish news, call my mom, my bro (who then asks his friend who the asks his friend- think about the Transformers movie "You're my advisor, and who's this?' 'My advisor', ok, so I ask around for the 'best' translation to a word) and 2 friends who are from different spanish speaking countries.
Just my 2 cents!

Originally Posted by Dragona

Por favor no mande a su estudiante (to make it neutral) a la escuela con calsado que es un peligro para estos dias que especificamente son sandalias/chancletas/chanclas/sapatillas/etc.

Hi Dragona, if you don't mind, I'd like to make a few corrections to your sentence above, since it contains a few spelling and grammar mistakes:

"Por favor, no mande a su hijo (if you say estudiante, are your text is intended to be read by parents, you are basically implying that their sons are "their" students!) a la escuela con calzado que sea peligroso (or better yet, "que no sea conveniente") para estos días: sandalias/chancletas/chanclas/zapatillas"

Originally Posted by sabrina

I don´t think there´s any such thing as neutral or global Spanish.

Of course there is..Spanish from Madrid!






















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