Spanish is the second most common language in the United States According to the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), in 2013 Spanish was the predominant language spoken by both immigrant and U.S.-born Limited English Proficient (LEP) individuals. 37,459,000 people speak Spanish in the United States. 16,482,000 are limited English proficient. Hispanic dropout rate: Double the white [...]
What can be truly measured? I believe that listing the units by which something is measured is essential. In language proficiency testing, there are many scales being used. Level 1 can mean many different things. I will use units of length as an analogy. MIT students got this right when they measured in smoots. In [...]
Who is Helen Eby, at Gaucha Translations? I am a translator and an interpreter. I cover a lot of territory, but I have background in a lot of areas. These are my specialties. Bio I am a member of the ¡Al rescate del español! , a team writing a blog on how to improve Spanish [...]
At the Chamber of Commerce they tell me banks can’t provide their own translations any more because of conflict of interest. Therefore, I designed postcards with the following information, which I will be distributing at the Chamber and to local potential clients. Helen Eby [email protected] 503-929-8476 Aloha, Oregon www.gauchatranslations.com CERTIFIED TRANSLATOR SPANISH CERTIFIED INTERPRETER American [...]
Bilingual employees often use the foreign language at work. The ACTFL scale gives language proficiency guidelines for different skills, and there are tests for each skill. How does each skill apply to the work duties performed at the office? The following skill descriptions are taken from the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines 2012. The levels that are [...]
I am often asked for guidelines to translate documents to submit to the courts. Rather than write my own explanation, I will provide resources to two authoritative sources: Guide to Translation of Legal Materials, prepared by the Professional Issues Committee of the Consortium for Language Access in the Courts in 2011. This document lists details [...]
The latest update in our language, which takes many of us by surprise, is text messaging. Is it making our language worse? In many ways, it seems reminiscent of telegrams and telexes of a bygone era. When telegrams were sent by morse code, and telexes were sent over the phone wires with an expensive international [...]
On Sunday, February 19, I was able to deliver a report to Senator Wyden at his Town Hall meeting in Eugene, Oregon. This is the one-pager I wrote about the situation in Oregon. Oregon and National Needs in Interpreting and Translation I also gave him the following documents to look over. I hope he reads [...]
To serve you well, I have to keep all issues in context. This paper, Overwork in America, covers some important concepts. The following paragraphs explain how I intend to apply what I gleaned from this article. As a freelancer, I am responsible for determining my schedule. I have to take care of my health. In [...]
I recently returned from Mexico, where I was honored to be a guest speaker at the Congreso San Jerónimo, in Guadalajara. Check here for the presentations I gave there! I gave the following two presentations: (SLIDESHOW) Analisis Semántico from Helen Eby El traductor – responsable de una buena lectura tanto del texto original como del [...]
