TransMission Translations

	Overview
	Real Academia
	The Standard
	A Soaring Market

The Spanish-speaking market is a constantly developing one, both in demographic and economic terms. With an annual GDP growth rate of 4% (well above those of Britain, France and Germany), an industrial production growth rate of 5.9% (again much higher than that of our more prominent EU partners) and an entrepreneurial community that is permanently expanding and creating new businesses, Spain is likely to demand more and more localized products each year. Not to mention the importance of a whole continent inhabited by Spanish speakers. We are referring to South America, of course—and North America too! Indeed, there are more Spanish speakers in the USA than in most Spanish-speaking countries—over 20,150,000, more than half the population of Spain, and their number is growing! That situates the USA in seventh place after Mexico, Spain, Colombia, Argentina, Peru and Venezuela. Not bad for a country whose only official language is English.

market for Spanish translation Will that last for long? Consider the following excerpt from the London Economist: "Sunset Boulevard snakes away from the Pacific Ocean into the hills of rich west Los Angeles… As Sunset works its way through Hollywood, you pass a sort of no man's land—or should it be everyman's land?—where El Pollo Loco, Hoy's Wok and a restaurant called Uzbekistan nestle beside Burger King. One shop claims to be 'The Crossroads of the World'. Gradually the number of Spanish signs increases. Television stations point out that they broadcast 'Todo el día en español'; a website called quepasa.com urges Spanish speakers to get online. As you near Dodger Stadium, most dry cleaners and hairdressers have become lavanderías and peluquerías—although some shop-signs mix the languages, as in 'Bonita y Cheap'… soon afterwards Sunset becomes César Chavez Avenue, after the leader of the Latino farm workers' movement… In the 1950 census, America was 89% white and 10% black. Other races hardly got a look-in. Now Latinos account for around 12% of the population. Within the next five years, they will overtake blacks to become the largest minority group. If current trends continue, they will be the majority in Los Angeles County in ten years. In 20 years, they will dominate Texas and California. By 2050, one in four of the 400m people who will then be living in the United States will be Latino… Latinos feel (and are) much closer to their homelands than earlier European immigrants. They also have a common language that can at least put up a decent fight against English."

The day when you may need to release your Spanish language product—and of course your website—in the United States may not be far off. Latinos control around $300 billion of spending power—compared to $100 billion controlled by Asians. Yet immigrant groups complain about being patronized or ignored by mainstream business. Not for long. In California, while the main TV networks were considering Spanish subtitles, Spanish-speaking Univision stole the market. Newspapers everywhere in the USA are beginning to spin off local-language editions. The San Jose Mercury News recently launched Nuevo Mundo, its Hispanic version. As the editor of Latina, a magazine for young girls, explained to Newsweek: "Blacks said 'We will overcome'. Our motto is 'We will overwhelm'." In the meantime, TransMission will be laying the groundwork to include North American Spanish in our International Spanish project.