RNC’s Spanish Translation Of Hispanic Heritage Month Press Release Riddled With Errors
RNC’s Spanish Translation Of Hispanic Heritage Month Press Release Riddled With Errors
Today, the Republican National Committee (RNC) released a statement from Chairman Michael Steele announcing the release of a new video in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. However, though the press release emphasizes the Republican Party’s “commitment to the Hispanic community,” apparently that commitment does not include hiring a qualified Spanish translator. The Spanish translation of Steele’s statement is riddled with embarrassing typos and errors. Even Yahoo’s automatic online translator, Babel Fish, produces better results. A quick revision highlights the multitude of glaring errors:
The substance of the accompanying video isn’t much better. Its main focus is on highlighting the accomplishments of conservative Latinos and completely ignores renowned Latino leaders like civil rights activists César Chávez and Dolores Huerta, and completely sidesteps the recent confirmation of Puerto Rican Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Watch it:
The video doesn’t even acknowledge one of the Republican Party’s most respected leader, former Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL) who resigned from his post as RNC chairman in 2007 in response to his party’s anti-immigrant views. Before abruptly leaving Congress this past August, Martinez admitted that his party’s “divisive rhetoric” during the 2007 immigration debate had tarnished the GOP brand amongst Latinos, stating “the Republican Party had better figure out how to talk to them [Latinos].” Ironically, while Steele indicated that the GOP would not be changing its position on immigration, he did say that the Party had to work on its messaging, which is often perceived as “insensitive.”
54 Responses to “RNC’s Spanish Translation Of Hispanic Heritage Month Press Release Riddled With Errors”
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As a Latina, I feel offended that a political group will make such a mediocre effort to reach out to us. Given the amount of vitriol against immigrants and Latinos spewed by many GOP restrictionists, one would hope that they would try a little harder to clean up their reputation among Hispanics. Yet this proves again how disingenious they truly are.
September 29th, 2009 at 1:40 pmApparently the Democratic National Committee had a similar problem. This is typical since there are so many variations of Spanish and how things translate from one to the other.
Para difusión inmediata
15 de septiembre de 2009
Contacto: Prensa del DNC – 202-863-8148
EL DNC COMMEMORA MES DE LA HERENCIA HISPANA
Washington, D.C.—El Presidente del Comité Nacional Demócrata (DNC), Tim Kaine, emitió las siguientes declaraciones conmemorando el Mes de la Herencia Hispana, que comienza hoy, 15 de septiembre:
“El Mes de la Herencia Hispana nos brinda una oportunidad para reflexionar sobre el papel tan importante que desempeñan los hispanos en el país. Los hispanos tienen un largo historial de servicio y forman una parte importante de las fuerzas armadas de los Estados Unidos, de la economía y del gobierno en todos los niveles – local, estatal y nacional. El Presidente Obama ha reconocido la importancia de los hispanos en nuestro diálogo nacional y ha nombrado a más hispanos a altos cargos de gobierno que ningún otro presidente.
“Luego de votar en números sin precedente para elegir al Presidente Obama en noviembre pasado, hemos visto cambios sustanciosos y de importancia para los hispanos y para la nación en general, como la expansión del seguro de salud infantil, la paga equitativa, el haber alejado a la economía del peligro y el nombramiento de la Jueza Sonia Sotomayor a la Corte Suprema.
“Este mes también es un recordatorio de que queda mucho más por lograr. El Presidente Obama está trabajando duro para lograr una reforma de seguro de salud que le provea más seguridad y estabilidad a la gente que ya tiene seguro de salud – y que le provea seguro de salud a los que no tienen. Para los hispanos, es crucial que se logre una reforma de seguro de salud: Uno de cada tres hispanos de menos de 65 años de edad carece de seguro médico, y muchos más carecen de la cobertura apropiada.
“Según miramos hacia delante, yo sé que los hispanos desempeñarán un papel activo en la implementación del cambio importante y positivos por todo el país. Les doy las gracias por sus aportaciones significativas a los Estados Unidos y por mover hacia adelante el sueño americano.”
###
Which according to Babel Fish translates to the following:
For immediate diffusion
15 of September of 2009
Contact: It presses of the DNC – 202-863-8148
DNC COMMEMORA MONTH OF THE HISPANIC INHERITANCE
Washington, D.C. – The President of Comité Nacional Demócrata (DNC), Tim Kaine, emitted the following declarations commemorating the Month of the Hispanic Inheritance, that begins today, 15 of September:
“The Month of the Hispanic Inheritance offers an opportunity us to reflect on the so important paper that they carry out the Hispanics in the country. The Hispanics have a historial length on watch and comprise important of the Armed Forces of the United States, the economy and the government in all the levels – local, state and national. President Obama has recognized the importance of the Hispanics in our national dialogue and has named to Hispanic to high positions of government who no other president.
“After to vote in numbers without precedent to choose to President Obama in last November, we have seen substantial changes and of importance for the Hispanics and the nation generally, like the expansion of the insurance of infantile health, the equitable payment, the salary moved away to the economy of the danger and the appointment of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.
“This month also is a reminder of which it much more is to obtain. President Obama is working hard to obtain a reform of insurance of health that provides more security to him and stability to the people whom already he has safe of health – and that he provides to him safe with health to which they do not have. For the Hispanics, he is crucial that is obtained a reform of health insurance: One of each three Hispanics of less than 65 years of age lacks medical insurance, and many lack the appropriate cover more.
“According to we watched forwards, I know that the Hispanics will play an active role in the positive implementation of the important change and by all the country. I thank to them for its contributions significant to the United States and to move the American dream forwards.”
###
The DNC’s original press release in English:
September 29th, 2009 at 2:57 pmFor Immediate Release
September 15, 2009
Contact: DNC Press – 202-863-8148
DNC COMMEMORATES HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH
Washington, D.C.—DNC Chairman Tim Kaine issued the following statement commemorating Hispanic Heritage Month, which starts today, September 15:
“Hispanic Heritage Month is an opportunity to reflect on the vital role Hispanics play in our country. With a long history of service, Hispanics are an important part of America’s armed forces, economy and local, state and national governments. President Obama has recognized the importance of Hispanics in our national dialogue and nominated more Hispanics to serve in high office than ever before.
“Hispanics voted in overwhelming numbers to elect President Obama last November and, as a result, we have seen transformative change on issues important to Hispanics and our nation as a whole, like the expansion of children’s health insurance, equal pay for equal work, bringing our economy back from the brink and the appointment of Justice Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.
“This month is also a reminder that there is much more to accomplish. President Obama is working for health insurance reform that will provide more security and stability to people who have health insurance and will provide insurance to those who don’t. For Hispanics, insurance reform is crucial: one out of three Hispanics under 65 is uninsured, and many more lack adequate coverage.
“As we look at the work ahead of us, I know that Hispanics will play an active role in bringing about important and positive changes throughout America. I thank them for their significant contributions to our country and for advancing the American dream.”
###
Andrew, I am not sure if you are Spanish speaker but I can tell you that the translation from the DNC is just fine. The problem is when you took the Spanish language version and put it on Babel and that will almost always produce a horrible translation in whatever language you use. That’s why the english version from Babel looks so bad, not because the Spanish was faulty but because online translations are often so wrong.
September 29th, 2009 at 4:11 pmStupid republicans, leave it to them, to screw it up. They’re so incompetent, they can’t even find, a creditable translator. It’s hard to translate, right wing crap.
September 29th, 2009 at 4:26 pmGreat post– you’d think the RNC could hire someone who speaks Spanish?
September 29th, 2009 at 4:32 pmi guess thats what Steele means when he was talking about “hip Hop urban, suburban off the hook” outreach to minorities.
September 29th, 2009 at 4:45 pmmmm the translation of the DNC is not right either..”la paga equitativa” is not correct and neither is “el haber alejado a la economía del peligro ” and ” el Presidente Obama está trabajando duro” among others..Better than RNC but not free of errors.
September 29th, 2009 at 4:54 pmAndrew, I have to agree with Catalina. The DNC version en espanol is fine. The RNC memo, however, is more than embarassing; it’s insulting. It really does show how disingenuous the Republicans are when it comes to reaching out to otherwise conservative hispanics. I’m a progressive hispanic, but many of my friends (hispanic also) are rather conservative and they were offended by this memo. Didn’t G.W. Bush’s nephew give a Spanish speech at the RNC convention in ‘04? Either way the RNC should be ashamed of themselves.
September 29th, 2009 at 5:17 pmOnce again in the haste to criticize mistakes are made. When you run a document in English through a translating engine like Babel Fish you will find glaring errors because in Spanish a word can be used in different ways, mean different things depending on the context and the regional use. The RNC letter is fine and I am a Spanish speaker.Also the Hispanics that have contributed to this country go beyond Chavez and Huerta. There are millions that everyday contribute to the nation in honorable and important ways. Open your eyes there are many of us out there and we are not Chavez or Huerta’s.
September 29th, 2009 at 5:22 pmI am waiting for the republicans to trot out Jeb’s son anytime now. He’s the hispanic version of JFK, jr., and with the growing hispanic population growing rapidly, they’re probably grooming him as we speak.
September 29th, 2009 at 5:30 pmFurther proof that the Republicans don’t really care about minorities as much as they do their facade.
September 29th, 2009 at 5:36 pm<The RNC has shown, once again, their political and legislative incompetence, and their insensitivity toward people of Latino heritage. This isn't a surprise as much as a wake-up call for all Latinos who vote. Micahel Steele is the bottom-of-the-barrel; that's why they picked him. No one with common sense would take the RNC Chairmen's position because of what it stands for in America today. He is a sell-out to all people of color.
Ignoring the accomplishments of Latinos and Latinas, prmarily of our new U.S. Supreme Court Justice; not participating in the revision of a new immigration bill; and now (today) rejecting the "public options" portion of the healthcare legislation, demonstrates their myopic, racist, blind justice for Latinos and all people who are struggling with health issues and insurance companies in America.
It is obvious who the members of both houses of congress are, who were bought and paid for by the insurance company lobbyist, who spent almost 100 million dollars in contributions (bribes) to the miscreants of both houses, who voted "NO" on public options. When the march on Washington, DC occurs against their actions, I hope all aggrieved citizens come out and demonstrate against this travesty. I'll see you there!!!!
Larry
September 29th, 2009 at 5:40 pmI’m sorry to disappoint all RNC members, but as a professional translator, I can tell you that there is nothing wrong with the Spanish DNC translation. I think that those who don’t understand the DNC translation is because they do not know how to speak Spanish properly.
September 29th, 2009 at 5:40 pmIt is beyond me why any Hispanic would belong to the Republican Party.
September 29th, 2009 at 6:02 pmIt is incomprehensible to me why any Hispany would belong to the republican party.
September 29th, 2009 at 6:03 pmIsn’t the very word “hispanic” an insult? It’s an invented word, I believe it came into being in some State Dept. or HHS effort to capture all of the south american ethnicities in one category for purposes of EEO tracking. And a typically ham-handed effort, as it totally fails to acknowledge the way people wish to refer to themselves, or that the entire population of the western hemisphere south of the rio grande does not wish to be lumped together. What’s wrong with Latino, mejicano, etc., etc., etc.? I guess that would require some sort of sensitivity to and appreciation for our fellow human beings.
September 29th, 2009 at 6:11 pmJD, the most lasting memory of the Republican attitude toward Latinos is from one of the conventions where Bush senior was nominated and George HW admonished the Republican handlers to “put the little brown ones in front.” Need i say more?
September 29th, 2009 at 6:35 pmI don’t know how anyone who is a Spanish speaker can say that the RNC version is accurate! I am not a native Spanish speaker, and I could tell immediately that a lot of the errors are NOT merely regional differences. They are errors of syntax, of word position, of verb conjugation, etc. Errors typically made by someone who is not a native speaker but who has learned Spanish in school and thinks he/she knows enough Spanish to do an accurate translation. Someone with only junior high school Spanish could even pick up a few of the errors, for crying out loud. While I didn’t look at the DNC version, I expect it might have a few errors. This is far more than a few; it’s laughable. As for the back translation to English of the DNC version, Babel Fish apparently does a literal translation — it is also laughable. Anyone who speaks Spanish and reads the back translation would know immediately that it is a verbatim translation, not concept for concept. And some words, as someone mentioned earlier, have multiple meanings. All in all, a pretty pathetic attempt by the RNC at outreach.
September 29th, 2009 at 6:45 pmAny person of color who would give their vote to the Republican Party needs to see a psychiatrist. while any white person who would do so is in need of an exorcist.
Children are hearing the hateful comments being made every day by the Republicans – from Rush Limbaugh, to Lou Dobbs, to Senators and Representatives and the people in their organization sending racist emails and rude imitations of Mexican accents. It has to be traumatizing. It’s a disgrace.
September 29th, 2009 at 7:00 pmApparently, The republican party is headed by a bunch of pendejos. Now, run that through your translator.
September 29th, 2009 at 7:07 pmLook the real issue here is not translation(oh it’s messed up) it’s the fact that the Gop don’t give one crap about the latinos in this country. All they want from you is to clean their house,and give them your vote. You should be offended very offended! I am African American and I so damn mad I can just scream. I am so tired of being told no one really matters if you aren’t rich and white by the GOP. Michael Steel is a total disgrace to African Americans an embarrissment a bad dream I can’t wake up from. Please, please don’t waste one vote on the Gop not one!
September 29th, 2009 at 7:09 pmLet me see if I got this straight, Hispanics are offended by the misspelling? Right? Or, are the hispanics offended by the careless way that they were dealt with as voting block? I am confused. I thought Hispanics wanted to continue their contributions to the building of the USA? It seems to me that if the latter is true, then leaders in the Hispanic community can take out and ad and say how they were offended and advise their people of the real intent of the Republican party. Simple. If you migrated here, the USA is land of opportunity. And, Hispanics, need to take the “Bull” by the horns and support efforts by those who can easily accept them as equals. Other than that don’t use misspelling as a crutch when English is the 1st language of this country.
September 29th, 2009 at 7:21 pmSince this press release is to commemorate Americans of Latino heritage, why did it need to be translated to Spanish in the first place?
Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, and Sonia Sotomayor are obvious role models, and they all could speak and read English very well.
That’s one very good reason they succeeded in the USA, and are respected.
September 29th, 2009 at 7:23 pmThe term “hispanic” is not insulting to anyone I know here in South Texas. Latino is correct as well, but at least here in Texas, it doesn’t matter. For me in particular, Hispanic is correct since I have ancestors from Spain and Native American ancestors, as well as those from Mexico that could only be called Mexican or Latino. Regardless, these are all basically acceptable in English, because English follows its own rules that often only make sense to English speaking peoples from specific areas of the world that speak English there.
September 29th, 2009 at 8:14 pmThe Republican party thinks that being able to speak Spanish is a character flaw. We really shouldn’t be surprised about this.
September 29th, 2009 at 8:22 pmFirst, my credentials: My first language is Spanish.
The actual RNC’s message isn’t that bad translated (hey, I’ve seen worst). It could have benefited a lot from an actual translator though.
@Andrew Phillips: The DNC’s letter is actually pretty good. You have to remember, translation isn’t an exact science (if it were, we’d have ear-plug translator with 10 languages included). Add to that, Spanish is an extremely tricky language to work with. My perception of the English language is that the core is relatively unchanged, and most people can communicate rather OK (I could be wrong. Please correct me if so). While Spanish is very regional, and can cause some confusion (not always, but leave it to Murphy to select when).
@propitiousmoment: In Spanish, Hispanic refers to anyone that descended from Spaniards, which includes most of Latin America and Spain. The Census use of the word Hispanic was done by a real Hispanic (the name escapes me, but she was featured in several stories earlier this year).
@ennovi: You are quite correct. Hispanic involvement with the USA goes to the Revolutionary War, where Spain, Mexico, Puerto Rico (both as Spaniard colonies), France and Denmark all played key roles in helping the USA win their independence. We can talk about Jorge Farragut (better known as George Farragut), a Revolutionary War hero and his son, David Farragut, a Civil War hero (there can be some contention on whether they can be considered Hispanic, since Jorge Farragut was born in Minorca, a small island to the east of Spain).
September 29th, 2009 at 8:35 pmSorry, SAR. Just because Spanish is your first language doesn’t make you an authority on the language; just as 90% of English speaking U.S. don’t know squat about the English language. Also, in the U.S., the term “Hispanic” used by the feds to designate a (minority) group of people living in the U.S., does NOT include Spaniards.
September 29th, 2009 at 10:05 pmWhere is the actual RNC document? (Not the markup whatevertheheck that mess is up above?) As others have said the DNC’s document reads just fine. The insult of the RNC is in leaving out the “people’s” heros… Chavez, Huerta, and now Sotomayor. But how could they honor them when they are philosophically at opposite ends of the spectrum?
September 29th, 2009 at 10:40 pm@propitiousmoment: HISPANIC, not an insult, not invented. It comes from “HISPANIA”, look it up.
@all: RNC’s letter looks like traslated by one of those online tools or someone who spanish knowlegde doesn’t go beyond from spanglish, traslated in many part literally word-by-word losing the intended meaning. DNC’s letter is fine no matter what variation of spanish you think you talk since it’s using “plain” spanish.
September 29th, 2009 at 11:23 pmYet another example of Reactionary hypocrisy, these are the same people that wail and whine about immigrants not being allowed to live in this country until they learn to read and speak English, yet when it comes to garnering the Hispanic vote they turn into a den of Pander Bears. And the truly funny part is many in the Reactionary party can’t speak English coherently like both of the George Bushes and Sarah Queen of the Iquitarod.
September 30th, 2009 at 12:25 amI am a native speaker in both English and Spanish. By the evidence of the mark up entries next to the RNC’s Spanish translation, the original Spanish text was in no way an acceptable translation. Despite what Andrew says, most minimally educated native Spanish speakers can communicate easily across regional differences, especially in writing. The errors revealed by the mark up deletions are vintage errors typical of English speakers who can generally express themselves only on a rather limited primitive level. In no way do the errors reflect regional differences in Spanish.
For those of you who trust Babel Fish, beware. Here is a short Spanish text that I wrote:
…un cañón bastante largo que contiene cascadas y petroglifos interesantes. Ya se hacía tarde cuando llegamos al barranco y sólo tomé unas tres fotos. El cañón desemboca en el cañón del río Gunnison donde por muchos kilómetros sólo se puede pasar en canoa o en tren de carga.
Babel Fish translation:
… quite long tube that contains interesting cascades and petroglyphs. It was already made behind schedule when we arrived at the precipice and only took three photos. The tube ends at the tube of the Gunnison river where through many kilometers it is only possible to be happened in canoe or train of load.
My own translation:
…a somewhat long canyon that contains interesting waterfalls (or cascades) and petroglyphs. It was getting late when we arrived at the canyon and I only took about three pictures. The canyon empties in the canyon of the Gunnison River where for many kilometers you can travel only by canoe or freight train.
Philip, or Felipe if you wish!
September 30th, 2009 at 12:39 amEven if there are no significant mistakes in the Democratic Party text, it is written in a “poor level” Spanish. E.g.:
1. “Recordatorio” Better: nos recuerda que hay
2. “Luego de votar en números sin precedente” Better: Después de votar….
3. “una reforma de seguro de salud”: una reforma del seguro…
4. “provea seguro de salud a los que no tienen”: a los que no lo tienen…
5. “Según miramos hacia delante” I would prefer: Mientras miramos hacia..
As a Spaniard I also dislike the term “Hispanic” to label a heterogeneous group of different nationalities and identities. It is an invention of the USA and I personally find the term offensive.
Greetings
September 30th, 2009 at 12:48 amMaria Baquero
Sworn Translator and Court Interpreter, Germany
http://www.eurointerpreters.com
The whole Hispanic/Latino identity is fake, is a big lie promoted by the U.S. government and the corporations that promote such a big scam, and this video proves it.
Listen to that music in the background, is like Afro Caribbean salsa while a Afro descendant man talks about Hispanic being “the nation’s largest ethnic minority”. Wrong.
Hispanics are white people descendants of Europeans from Hispania (Spain and Portugal), but most of the people from Mexico, Caribbean, Central and South America are either Native Americans or Black Afro descendants.
Both the Democrats and Republicans are wrong thinking that we are going to respect that Hispanic lie much longer. Watch what happens in the 2010 Census. We will mark African Americans and Native Americans.
September 30th, 2009 at 1:47 amBack in the day, we called folks like Michael Steele Uncle Toms.
The Repugnant Republicans have trotted out their good “N” and will continue to use this fool for as long as it suits them.
As a Black woman whose heart is with Latinos, I am ashamed that Michael Steele is Black. As a human being who has a tendency to lean a little left, I hope he gets what’s coming to him. The sooner the better.
September 30th, 2009 at 1:51 amIf you really want to know how Republicans think of minorities look at the unsubstantiated smear job they’ve done on ACORN, an organization that fought for wage increases for the poor, tries to find jobs for the unemployed and housing and registers them to vote. Because so many of the poor believe the Democratic Party may help them, the majority register as Democrats. That ticked Karl Rove off and he demanded an investigation of ACORN. No voter fraud was discovered and judges refused to prosecute. Before you knew it, judges were fired. Republicans (with the help of some Democrats) have succeeded in pulling the funding for ACORN. In other words, the poor have lost a true advocate.
September 30th, 2009 at 3:41 amThe quality of the translation is secondary to the real story about the GOP. The GOP hates Latinos. The neocon media elite are telling us that Latinos are plotting a takeover of former Mexican territories. The neocons insult those who wear the Mexican Flag in public. The neocons use Illegal synonymously with Latino. The reason why neocon outreach will not be too successful in the current GOP climate, is that everything in the Neocon party comes from the very top, Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity, Coulter, but everyone else is expected to shut-up and follow orders, or else, and no questions unless you are a GOP infidel, aka Rino, aka Liberal. I am more surprised that the GOP has not resorted to the fearmongering tactics to influence Latino votes, something like, “You Illegals (meaning legal Latinos) better vote Republican or we will call Immigration and have you and your family deported back to Mexico or Guantanamo, whether you are a citizen or not. White Power.” My Bad- “Christian White Power”, there, made sure that the Godless white liberals arent welcome either. Anyone care to guess why I left the GOP? If you guessed because they have turned into the Christo-Taliban, you’re right.
September 30th, 2009 at 7:24 amAs a wise Caribbean-Afro-Latino male, I can tell you the RNC translation is of no surprise to me. It confirms what most Americans think of us as homogeneous babbling Spanish speaking blob, that are either “very hard working or lazy and untrustworthy, but certainly not worthy of the respect due to a people that to this day, as average Jose and Josephina’s have toiled to help this country grow and prosper.
Latinos have a long history in this country that goes back much further than any recent recognition the RNC so graciously allows to acknowledge; but we we know about the Afro-Caribbean-Meso-South American histories.
We are all lumped together under the same “sombreo”, and are still depicted in derogatory images, in many ways; and when not so, depicted as clean as L.L. Bean catalog morphs. Nothing that speaks of us as the heterogeneous multicultural groups that we are. The RNC press release is but a small example of the continual dismissal any sense of us as distinct individual cultures and people.
I can sense even in these posts the intra struggle that many Latinos still wage against each other re: which group speaks correct Spanish, versus those that speak inferior versions.
These are all constructs of our endeavor to become more acceptable, “clean”, even “well-spoken”. Much like the conflict between lighter vs. darker blacks, nappy vs. good hair, house n**ger vs. field n**ger.
I am not going to profess that we as Latinos have it all together and have the perfect solution to our inner racism and cultural superiority delusions. Only pointing out that if we believe that we have been accepted as equals in the RNC, we have probably had too much coquito to drink.
September 30th, 2009 at 8:56 amI cannot believe that you are professing to know Spanish and just spelled Mexicano as Mejicano!
September 30th, 2009 at 9:08 amI have been taught to never say, “Never”, but I will never vote for a republican or ever think of becoming a republican because of the GOP’s hatred for minorities and the middle class and the poor.
September 30th, 2009 at 10:17 amGotta love that buffoon Michael Steele, and the cheesy Latino-ish music they’ve got going in the background. They’re such an embrassment.
September 30th, 2009 at 10:48 amI would really like to see what the original looked like before it was corrected. Where do I do that?
Arliss, some Mexicans spell Mexico with a jota because that is the way it is pronounced, just like the Tejanos spell their name with a jota.
Snra. Baqueiro, you may prefer those particular locutions, but on this side of the pond, el Instituto Cervantes isn’t exactly held in high regard. We don’t talk the way you do and want to tell you to take your DELE and your “vosotros” and stuff it.
September 30th, 2009 at 12:30 pmgig ‘em Tex Ag! I couldn’t have schooled Snra. Baqueiro any better. How could a Euro be offended by the term Hispanic, when it clearly only refers to those of Spanish descent in the Western Hemisphere? Hispanic is no more offensive to us than calling white people in the U.S. “Anglos”, which is a very generic and often wrong term to use to describe them. The DNC message makes perfect sense to tejanos aqui in Tejas.
September 30th, 2009 at 1:58 pmSorry for the Tex-Mex at the end guys, we talk (and write) differently in South Texas!
September 30th, 2009 at 1:59 pm@Arliss that’s because Mejicano is the Spanish word for Mexican, duh!
Most of the countries of Latin America share a common language, Spanish. Just like in the USA, states have regional words and phrases that are all their own, as do Latin American countries, yet we all understand each other. It’s like someone from New Jersey speaking with a Texan, you’ll be able to tell where they’re from by the way the speak, and you’ll be able to have a conversation with each other because we do in fact speak the same language.
As others have said, the DNC translation is just fine. Babble Fish is not a perfect translation tool, rather I find it might be good for single words, or to just get the gist of something… even that is questionable. The RNC translation is so embarrassing, I think they just need to give up on Latinos and move on to another minority group, because this outreach effort is seriously botched.
September 30th, 2009 at 2:03 pmYou are all wrong: mexicano/Mexico is correct in the American variant of Spanish (based on an older orthography, which did not evolve as quickly as it did in Spain), whereas mejicano/Mejico is correct in the Castilian variant of Spanish. The X to J transformation in written Spanish happened after the settlement of New Spain and Latin America in general, so it was not adopted in the New World. For example, the original spelling was Don Quixote in Spanish (that is why it is still written that way in English), but the modern spelling is Don Quijote.
September 30th, 2009 at 2:08 pmHow do we know that the error-riddled version of the GOP announcement not just a draft? What is the source of the document?
September 30th, 2009 at 2:12 pmBy referring to Latinos in third person is it reasonable to infer that former Sen. Martinez puts first his loyalty to the Republican Party despite the open hostility of its core toward Latinos?
September 30th, 2009 at 3:08 pmThis attack is just petty and ridiculous.
One of our flaws happens to be that we are never satisfied with any one translation, there are just too many versions of spanish being used.
I am sure we can pick any Democrat or Republican candidate that has translated their press release and we will be able to pick it apart and find a flaw. Shouldn’t we care more about the message than the spelling?
That being said there are more important issues to discuss than something as petty as a press release that might or might not have errors. So let’s focus on the REAL Issues that matter.
Our fellow Latinos are struggling to put food on the table and keeping a roof over their heads while holding on to their jobs, which are disappearing every day.
So instead of silly grammar attacks lets focus on the REAL ISSUES like JOBS and FORECLOSURES.
Wake up people and stop acting so childish!!!…….leave that to the politicians, they seem to be experts at it.
September 30th, 2009 at 3:46 pmI don’t know why anyone who is not rich, white, and Evangelical Christian would ever vote Republican. The RNC has managed to offend nearly every other racial and religious group, working people, and the poor.
You know, in Yiddish we have a word for people like Michael Steel, shonda. Many Jews use the word to refer to Joe Lieberman. It means someone who shames his race in front of others. Yep, if Michael Steel was Jewish, that’s what we would call him.
September 30th, 2009 at 4:49 pmThese Republicans don’t respect us. Once they sent a white MexTex guy to Spanish TV and you could see that he was repeating himself over and over like what Ensign (the adulterer) was doing in Telemundo about the immigrant id’s which they later apologized as saying, “oh that we were trying to do something about identity theft.” Excusas baratas.
October 1st, 2009 at 9:18 amThen the funny part was that this Texmex white guy (white with dark black hair) was saying populación over and over, like if it were a mantra, instead of población. They don’t respect us. Now the Reps seem to send to Telemundo, AngloLatino hybrids that have had everything and look gringo and could pass as immigration officers but speak the language a bit better.
How unfortunate to find that the Republican party does not give us the respect we deserve. Even for the un-documented, who’s children are born here, they should at the very least communicate in Spanish properly.
October 1st, 2009 at 9:43 pmI believe in part, it is our own fault that those people don’t take us seriously. As a media strategist for political campaigns, I’ve found Hispanic leaders who cannot differentiate between proper Spanish and street slang.
We must demand, from our own political leaders better English and YES by all means PROPER SPANISH.
Bottom line, it’s clear the GOP only cares about hispanics on voting days.
October 2nd, 2009 at 8:05 amSteele and his Babelfish translation amply demonstrates that.
But then with Steele, what can you expect of a man who doesn’t realize he’s Black?
FLASH: RNC has just released a revised Press Release correcting their original announcement:
October 3rd, 2009 at 1:10 am“The RNC would like to acknowledge Hispanic Heritage Month by inviting all of our citizens of the Hispanic persuasion to celebrate their Hispanicishnous. Buses are waiting at the corner of Pico and Sepulveda to take you back to Tijuana.”
In my opinion neither side has changed in the ways they think that they can get to that Latino Vote. They are still using marketing that’s over 25 years old. Today I think that Latino Voter isn’t on Spanish Language media like they used to be so in that case they should of just left it in English. Common sense tells me that if that person can’t speak english he might not be eligible to vote. Hispanics today are educated, getting corporate jobs, in politics, in sports, on the internet, etc….. What they did doesn’t surprise me.
October 4th, 2009 at 3:01 pm