#Mexican Language Translator app

[actual-corpse]

Yes. We should ALL BE TAUGHT SIGN LANGUAGE!

But... what if someone doesn't have use of one of their arms? I straight up do not know. Please tell me.

But I WILL FIGHT ANYONE who bitches about phones EVER. They are VERY helpful for communication....

Language barrier

Hard of hearing

Can't talk

Convince me that phones suck.

[lewisvinga]

love talk | zhou guanyu x fem! reader

summary; in which during traveling for formula one, he meets a girl in the streets of mexico. despite not knowing a lick of spanish and her not knowing any mandarin, they find themselves growing closer.

warnings; reader is implied to be mexicana obviamente , but none

taglist; @namgification

word count; 760

notes; requested! omg but i used to be a kpop fan like 2 years ago and wayv were my fave unit of nct😭😭😭 but since they’re the chinese unit i decided to write about zhou🤭 this could’ve taken a more 18+ route bc of the meaning of the song but i don’t write anything like that😭

masterlist !

Y/n furrowed up her eyebrows as she noticed the plaza busier than usual. She huffs as she tries to find a place to sit so she can eat her food peacefully. Her hands clutch onto the sides of the plate as she walks around.

She lets out an excited gasp when she sees an empty seat across from a man. She mentally prayed and hoped that the man wasn’t waiting for a girlfriend to sit down.

“Disculpe, puedo sentarme aquí?” [excuse me, can i sit here?] Y/n questions with a hopeful smile to the man as she points to the empty seat. He looks up with a confused face, clearly not understanding a single word she said. Her eyes widened. She could tell that he definitely wasn’t Mexican.

“Uh-“ Her brain seemed to cut like a circuit.

But he gives her a soft smile as he points at the seat across from him. “Sit. Uh, you can sit here.” He says with a slight nod. She wasn’t fluent in English but knew an okay amount due to her cousins who lived in America. So thankfully, she understood him.

“Tha-Thank you.”

To avoid such awkwardness, Y/n mustered up all her confidence and decent English skills to at least make conversation. “I’m Y/n.” She says with a nervous smile, holding her hand out. “Where are you from?”

“Guanyu, but everyone calls me Zhou since it’s my last name.” He replies with a smile. “I’m from China. I’m guessing you’re from here? Mexico?

Y/n tilts her head to the side out of curiosity. “Yes!” She exclaims with a nose, “But why are you in Mexico?” He thought her curious look made her look adorable and had to hold back a laugh.

“I-uh- race cars.”

Her eyebrows furrowed up more. “Race cars? Like Checo Pérez?”

Guanyu laughs at the mention of the only Mexican driver on the grid. “Yeah, like him basically.” He says, noticing how her eyes immediately lit up.

She leans in closer, feeling her previous nervousness go away despite having to speak in a language she didn’t know. At least she could understand el hombre guapo the handsome man. “How does- How does it work?”

Despite using the translator app on his phone, he managed to explain to her how Formula One works. Soon after, they started talking about anything and everything- of course with the help of the translator app.

It was getting dark, near midnight, and instead of still being at the table talking, they were walking around Mexico City as she showed him around her hometown. Since it was getting dark and he needed to get up early the next morning, he hesitantly told her he had to go.

Both of them felt sad by the fact he had to leave already. Y/n felt some type of connection with him even if she had to converse with him through a translator app half of the time. Guanyu wanted to spend the whole week with her if he could, he couldn’t get enough of her smile and her laugh as she messed up a sentence in English.

Luckily, his hotel was nearby so they walked together, their hands brushing against each other. The Alfa Romeo driver got a sudden burst of confidence and grabbed her hand in the middle of talking. She glances at him with a wider smile as she looks away. He continued talking about what his home was like until they made it to the front of the hotel.

They stood in front of each other for a moment, staring at each other with happy smiles. “Actually, y/n,” he spoke up as he let out a chuckle, “Your number, could I have it?”

“Finally you asked.” Y/n happily replied as he handed her his phone. After typing in her phone number, she hands him back the phone. “Call me.” She smiles before placing a gentle kiss on his cheek. “Adios, Zhou!”

Guanyu stood there in shock as she began to walk away. “Bye, Y/n!” He quickly says, realizing that she had said bye. He lets out a laugh in disbelief as he glances down at her number on his phone. He had gone out to explore Mexico before the start of the race weekend to sightsee the city, but he never expected to find someone special. Even with the slight language barrier, he knew that she was going to be something more to him. After all, even if they used a translator to communicate, love talked just enough for the both of them.

[numberonetacostan]

hii I'm back

last hc was mid sorry

this is less of a hc and more of a reminder that taco canonically speaks fluent french. british mexican food that also speaks french.

I think mepad had a translator app or something close enough, and they would be able to have french conversations.

I have so so many french hcs (because I may or may not be practicing my french on taco's tirade) for them!! like mepad using "vous" (formal "you") for everyone and taco speaking french when she's pissed off so that virtually no one knows what she's saying and the show stays pg.

save me french speaking taco... french speaking taco save me.....

I'm learning french if you couldn't tell.

-🌟🐾 anon again (even less anonymous this time around)

GASP!!!! WARRIOR CATS ANON HOW DARE YOU!!!!! YOUR HC WAS NOT MID!!!! IIIIIIII LOVED IT!!!!!! THANK YOU FOR SENDING MORE IN!!!!!!!!!^^^^^^^^

HELL YES. OH MY GOD. YESSSS. I AM THE #1 FRENCH SPEAKING TACO ADVOCATE YOU ARE IN THE RIGHT PLACE. I ASKED JUSTIN IN A STREAM IF MEPAD COULD CHANGE HIS LANGUAGE SETTINGS AND SPEAK FRENCH WITH TACO AND THEY SAID YES!!!! (They also said "thank you for sharing" and I died on the spot /vpos) ANYWAYS WARRIOR CATS NO NEED TO REMIND ME IT NEVER LEAVES MY MIND!!!!!!!!!!

I don't know like any French tho so I'm really happy to hear how a learner looks at it!!!!

Mepad does speak quite formally so he'd definitely use formal "you"!!!!! I like that a lot!!!!!! :D!!!!!!^^

YES. YES SHE WOULD SPEAK FRENCH WHEN SHE IS ANGRY OR FRUSTRATED!!!!! ABSOLUTELY!!!! I like to hc that if she was getting super annoyed in s1 but couldn't show it cuz she was acting, she'd say the nastiest stuff in French in a silly, pleasant tone so no one would know she was cursing them out!!! Bonus points if she made it sound like funny Taco babbling rather than any actual language.

FRENCH SPEAKING TACO WILL SAVE US ALL!!!!!!!!

[pinkacademic]

Studying Language

Sorry I've been rather inactive, I'm slowly trying to get back into the swing of things!

This is something I’m actually qualified to talk about! I speak three languages fluently, albeit in need of a little practise, and I’m learning one more currently, with one on pause due to time constraints. Nevertheless, I feel pretty confident in my information lol. I’m also a qualified TEFL teacher and have worked abroad teaching English!

Full immersion is the best option. The best thing you can do is spend your time in a country that speaks your target language and force yourself to learn, once you have the “Hello,” “Goodbye,” “Where is the bathroom?” all mastered. In Ireland, there are places called Gaeltachtanna where you go for different lengths of time depending on the course and live in a town speaking exclusively Irish, usually staying with an Irish-speaking family, and going to classes for the language and for games and dances. Of course, that’s not an accesible option for everyone, so you could try going to places like your nearest Asian market, Eastern European market etc, and any areas in your city with a lot of immigrants that might speak your target language. If you have friends who speak that language, natively or just to a better level than you, ask to meet them for coffee and chat as much as you can in your language.

Immersion Part Two: Culture. The people who speak your target language natively do so not just becaus that’s the place in which they exist, but because that’s the place that they live- they get their groceries there, they go to school there, and their language developed because of the day-to-day, as well as unique aspects of their culture such as dances, music, and especially food. Learn about the culture of the country or countries that speak your target language. Eg, fold a paper crane or eat sushi if your language of choice is Japanese, watch an telenovela or go to a salsa class if your goal is to learn Spanish.

Watch TV shows in your Target Language. If you can’t access the locations, and even if you can, watching TV or movies is great because it’ll help you understand the cadences of natural speech that you can’t get from a textbook or formal class situation. Start with movies you might be familiar with like Disney movies (I will die on the hill of “Mother knows Best” from Tangled is better in Spanish). You can also combine your subtitles and audio, using subtitles in your own language at first, and challenge yourself to changing the subtitle.

Similar to the above points, use YouTube or Twitch to your advantage too. That’s probably a lot easier if your target language is English, but there are creators that speak in their non-English native language too. My friend watches a Mexican Minecraft YouTuber called Quackity who has a Minecraft server modded to feature a live translator between Spanish and English, which is very cool.

Read books in your Target Language. We don’t love The Chronicles of the Boy Wizard in this house, but the books are available in 85 languages. The Hobbit also has a tonne including Cornish, Thai, and Ukranian, and Twilight has about 37 translations, just to list a few well-known examples. Learn especially about books written originally in your target language.

Consume Media Originally from the Country or Countries that Speak that Language. Read the Witcher, watch Física o Química, join the dubbed vs subbed anime bloodbath. It can be so beneficial to your understanding of a language to see how those who speak it write it themselves, not just for localisation purposes. It can especially be useful for slang and dialects.

Duolingo and other apps. I’m swiftly approaching my 365 day duolingo streak,* and I fully intend to celebrate with pierogis and a green cake. But there are other options out there, and all of them are great for beginners. I can only speak about Duolingo as its the one I use, but I’m having a lot of fun with the layout of it. However, I do need real practice if I’m going to become actually fluent.

That’s it! I hope this has been helpful!

*I've surpassed it since writing this!! I'm at 400+!!

[comtessacrow]

I was tagged by the amazing @softzosan love her sm CHECK OUT HER FICS THEYRE WONDERFUL

20 questions for fic writers!

how many works do you have on ao3?

a teeny tiny 2 haha. While I've been involved in fandom for a good chunk of my life, I didn't start writing until fairly recently. my current writing process is less than ideal but I have lots of ideas and WIPs! Creative writing is well beyond the scope of what I regularly do, so writing fic is a fun exercise in broadening my horizons.

what's your total ao3 word count?

a slim 9,411

what are your top five fics by kudos?

Previously established that I currently have a whopping 2 posted works BUT my zosan has more than my vashwood

what fandoms do you write for?

Currently, I've posted for Trigun and One Piece. I have some more One Piece and Trigun and a dash of Jujutsu Kaisen floating in the ether (my notes app), as well as a Good Omens fic I might return to at some point, and I've toyed with some House MD and New Girl.

do you respond to comments? why or why not?

absotutely. I laurv a comment on any platform.

what's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Vashwood for sure has the most ambiguous edging into potentially angsty ending. Like its source material. I'm such a sucker for Trigun angst.

what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Well naturally it's the zosan. All conflict resolved by the end how wonderful.

do you get hate on fics?

girl not to my knowledge

do you write smut?

hell yeah and I quite enjoy it. Will not be stopping any time soon that's for sure.

do you write crossovers?

I toyed with one but nothing posted!

have you ever had a fic stolen?

no clue but prolly not

have you ever had a fic translated?

I WISH. I have a friend that's fluent in Mandarin I should ask her hehe

have you ever cowritten a fic before?

I'm working on two!! With two of my most wonderful friends! I'm tagging them at the bottom of this post bc I know neither of them have done this but keep your eyes peeled for some One Piece collabs teehee

what's your all time favourite ship?

ummmmmmm. I can say that percabeth was the first ship I was ever serious about and was my gateway to fandom. Bubbline has a very sweet spot in my heart, but I actually can't say for certain what my absolute fave is because my brain has serious zosan fog atm.

what's the wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

def the good omens one

what are your writing strengths?

I personally find that I'm more confident in my editing or betaing than I am my own writing. Creative writing is something I've never been super strong in, I'm much more suited for academic writing and it's also something I enjoy. But! I want to write more fic! I want to become more confident in my ability to write fiction and be able to do that alongside helping other people with theirs.

what are your writing weaknesses?

I cannot for the life of me get myself to write long form right now. It's something I'm working towards, but the major thing is after a bit I definitely become frustrated or resentful of my writing. Which is funny because. I'm the one that wanted to do it lmao.

thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I could do Spanish! as long as we're talking Mexican or Puerto Rican dialects.

first fandom you wrote for?

technically Justice League when I was a wee child. I was absolutely OBSESSED with the 2001-2004 animated series and wrote a self-insert for free write in elementary school.

favourite fic you've ever written?

There are things I enjoy about both of my posted works and my WIPs but I think it's the Vashwood. Not because it's particularly good, but because of sentimentality.

off the tippy top of my head I would be oh so curious to see how my homies @oldbagofteeth and @blanketsmakemesafe would answer these but absolutely feel free to participate if you see this!

[thefearsomefangirl]

Blathering blatherskite means WHAT?!

OMG, duckblr. I just found out something hilarious and I cannot let it go unnoticed.

Although I'm from Mexico and spanish it's my mother tongue, I don't have the habit of watching my cartoon or tv shows or movies in Spanish, except..., when I'm searching for a specific translation of words o phrases. Only then I switch the language in the Disney + app from english to spanish (latin american).

Just a moment ago, I was searching for the translation of "worry room" in the chapter La gran bomba from Ducktales 87 (S2E19), an it was "Cuarto pensadero", which, for my taste, sound lame, but... meh.

Anyways, cuz I enjoy this chapter (cuz Gizmoduck it's in it) i continue to watching it with out swiching back to english and... OMG. I didn't know that they (the translators) translate the famous secret words for the gizmosuit "blathering blatherskite" as "Por las plumas de mi abuelo!! (min 20:02)"

I'm in shock xD I can't express how hilarious that finding was xD

In reality, I don't even know what "blathering blatherskite" is, I mean, the meaning. I never even thought of searching for a meaning, I just have this believe it was nonsense xD and just for checking, i rewatch the chapter Valores Congelados (S2E7) where Gyro configure the gizmosuit for have a secret word for usage and it is in fact "Plumas de abuelo"

For context, we Mexicans do have a similar phrase: "por las barbas de mi abuelo". It can be translated as For my grand father's beard! and it's used to denote astonishment, amazement, surprise or disbelief xD

And so… yeah… I get curious and wanted to ask what's the actual meaning of blathering blatherskite and if you talk other language, could you tell me how it was translated in your language? :D

Thank u, duckblr

[themuselesswriter]

By the Washed Shores - Chapter 1: I Think It’s Troy

Characters: Troy Otto, Original Characters

Summary: Troy wakes up suddenly in a strange place, unable to remember anything from his past and with a child that swears he is his.

Word count: 2400+

Warnings: hospitals, amnesia, cursing, probably typos

A/N: Hi babes! You know how I usually prepare multiple chapters of the work before posting? I kinda didn't do that for this work, so basically, updates will not be as constant and you are witnessing the progress so yeah... your thoughts are highly appreciated. And Troy might be out of character in here because he doesn't remember his character so don't hate me for it also, everything Spanish is translated by google, so yeah, if anything is wrong don't hesitate to point out how to correct it! :') Anyhooooo, enjoy!

Credits: photos from Pinterest, editing app is picsart

———————————-Teaser———————————

Pain, that’s the first thing he could feel upon opening his eyes, pain, he was somewhere he didn’t recognize, his heart was beating too fast, he tried to get up but he was cuffed and tied down, was this heaven? Was this hell? Isn’t he supposed to be dead? He remembers that he was being hit in the head by a hammer, a woman did it of all, she was blonde, mid-forty, that’s about it, he struggled against the cuffs, opened his mouth to call for help but no words came out, how does one call for help anyways?

“Doctor, date prisa, está despierto!” a voice called in a language he didn’t understand, but again, what languages did he understand, he lifted himself up as he struggled, trying to see the source of the voice, it was a young boy, no older than eight years old, then a man appeared in his vision “Cálmate antes de que te lastimes, sufriste una lesión fatal” he understood nothing, it must’ve showed on his frightened face, the man sighed “Anglais? Do you understand this better?” he nodded, the nodding sending waves of pain that made him scream, the doctor immediately helped him lay down again and put something in an IV bag that was attached to his arm “it’s alright, your son found you and brought you just in time, you suffered an injury when the dam fell down” the man explained, a son?! He had a son?! “do you remember anything?” he wanted to shake his head no, but he remembered the pain from earlier, staying still instead.

Instead, he gathered whatever strength he had to say “where am I?” the doctor looked at the young boy, then at the man “Mexican borders, you are at the hospital, the cuffs are necessary so I suggest you stop struggling against them, you are not quite out of danger yet” the older man cleared, danger, what danger? He groaned, feeling himself getting drowsy “I gave you something for the pain, you should be falling asleep for now, next time you wake up, we can try to get some food in you and perhaps you’ll have your memories restored” that’s the last thing he heard before he closed his eyes again.

Continue Reading

[pumakaji64]

if you have any good resources for learning Mexican-Spanish dialect PLEASE share!! im mixed race and would be far more interested in learning spanish if it was the kind my dad grew up speaking yknow?

Oh hi-! I'll be real I'm not super fluent in Spanish- I wasn't taught it growing up and haven't started on any sort of like... actual education yet- nor do I have any like official resources I'm afraid... BUT I do have some advice!!!!!!!!

When my mother was learning English she told me that she listened to a lot of English music and it helped her a lot! I do a similar thing, I'll watch shows in Spanish, Spanish videos online, read Spanish text, or listen to music in Spanish and follow along using with English translations! It can be really intimidating at first, but I ended up picking up a lot of Spanish overtime this way! You hear or see certain words repeated enough and the meanings stick more and more!

Like for example recently I found a Spanish voice over of a show called The Haunting Hour that I used to watch when I was younger, and so since I already knew the general plot of the episodes I was able to follow along decently well even without subtitles! (Though I wouldn't start with that- they talk SUPER fast lol)

I also try to focus on the way things Sound when they are said and try to "parrot" them- I'll listen to words over and over until I can vocally copy the pronunciation. Even though I'm not completely fluent I've had people compliment my pronunciations saying they wouldn't have guessed that I'm not.

For Mexican dialects specifically look into Mexican shows or dubs, Mexican singers, works made by Mexicans, or Mexican creators online! I will say though to keep in mind Mexico is a big place and the Spanish spoken there has a LOT of different dialects!

This is kind of a "throwing yourself in the deep end" sort of technique so before doing that I'd get familiar with basic Spanish words and grammar- things like basic nouns, verbs, sentence structure- those sorts of things. Learning things like think, see, why, how, have, feel etc. help so much when you are just starting out.

Another really helpful tip is: speak to Spanish speakers!!! My mother is Honduran and she has been such a big help as she is the only fluent Spanish speaker in my immediate family! While we clash on our... opinions lol... regarding Mexican Spanish she's helped me understand it too since she's heard a lot of it from my dad's family. She's almost always the first person I turn to regarding any questions I have with Spanish.

I also have friends online who are fluent in Spanish too and they've also been great help! There's been many times where I've misused or misunderstood a phrase and they've been there to correct me LOL

Also don't feel afraid to look up things like unfamiliar words or phrases- that can be really helpful for stuff that can't be accurately translated into English! This won't be just the case with slang or really specific words either- a word translated a certain way in one context could be translated differently in another even something seemingly simple like "bueno" and it's conjugations.

I've tried language learning apps and stuff before and while I'm sure they work well for some people and would recommend trying some out I've just never fully gelled with those kind of tools. Though I will say the website Spanishdict.com has been a consistently big help for me! ... and to be fair I'm really bad at forming habits and sticking to those apps lol

And the biggest piece of advice I can give: Don't feel discouraged!!!

Learning a language is tough- but it's never too late to learn! I only started trying to seriously learn more Spanish like 3 years ago and every now and then I have to remind myself that I've come a long way since then!

... Also practice rolling your r's- it's the tip of the tongue to the roof of the mouth- fast fluttering motion- it'll be intimidating at first but keep practicing and you'll get it- and once you get it just know it's fine if it doesn't sound 'nautral' at first- the longer you do it the easier it becomes to roll r's without it sounding forced.

I hope that helps anon!!!!!!!!

[datafags]

the reason why apps do this, aside from the obvious "this is also what they teach you in language classes, generally", is that Descriptivist Duolingo is really fucking hard to make. let me try to explain why:

to make a language learning program, you have to make a curriculum. the presentation and precise form can vary from program to program, but in essence this curriculum is a large set of words and phrases that the user is instructed to translate to and from their target language. sourcing and building this curriculum is your biggest challenge as a developer, so ideally you want to narrow it down as small as possible while still giving your user an understanding of the language.

this is where the problems arise: including even a single alternate dialect can balloon the complexity of your curriculum. you need new translations for everything--while not every translation will be different, you can't guarantee any given translation will be the same without some very advanced NLP. (remember, dialects include grammar changes!) these will likely need to be sourced from somewhere other than your previous translations if you want them to be accurate.

in addition, many potential cost cutting measures are out the window. let's look at duolingo: at first, their business model was quite interesting. they would rely primarily on their users to add and correct translations on their service. most users didn't even know they were doing this, which is Creepy, but I bet a lot of people will find their pivot even more objectionable: they moved over to AI-provided translations sometime last year. these were objectively worse and now the app sucks. they also removed a lot of languages in that time period because AI Didn't Know them. speaking of things AI doesn't know: regional dialects. it might roughly know how to translate an english sentence into spanish, enough that duolingo is still quite popular, but do you think it knows how to translate english into Andino, the dialect of spanish spoken in and near the andes in south america? probably not, right? and the user-provided translations were nice because there were a lot of people learning spanish from english, so there was a lot of opportunity for them to translate material. that might still be true for mexican spanish, but what about the dialects spoken in equatorial guinea and southern chile? will enough people be going from english to philippine spanish to sustain that curriculum? and, wait, why am I just saying "english"? english is no monolith. what if I want my source language to be AAVE, or cockney, or indian english? after all, you're having me translate these words back to my native language, so shouldn't it be my native dialect, too? well, if you said okay to that, your costs have just squared. bad idea.

language is a messy world! but at the end of the day, you shouldn't get all your language knowledge from an app anyway. there are places online, discord servers and subreddits and forums, where people from all over the world are interested in teaching you about their language and maybe learning about yours in return. it's not a bad deal. learning a language from another person will probably always be better than learning from a computer. after all, we're the ones who speak it ;p

They should have a version of Duolingo where you can learn a language in the dialect of that language’s country bumpkins. I sound like a hick speaking English so why should I sound like an overly formal city slicker speaking Mandarin?

[latinlangbuzz]

Beyond Neutral Spanish: Why Latin American Spanish Translation Is the New Standard in 2025

Spanish may be one language, but it speaks with dozens of voices. From Buenos Aires to Bogotá, from Santiago to San Juan, the vocabulary, tone, and cultural context shift with every border. In today’s globalized and hyper-localized world, companies can no longer afford to treat Spanish as monolithic. Instead, a shift is underway—one that places Latin American Spanish translation at the center of international communication strategies.

This shift is backed by data. According to the Instituto Cervantes, more than 493 million people speak Spanish as their native language, and over 60% of them are in Latin America. From a business standpoint, this means that neutral Spanish (often based on Castilian norms) no longer serves the broader market effectively. Brands are realizing that “one Spanish fits all” messaging often alienates more people than it engages.

For global companies, tailoring content to match regional expectations isn’t just polite—it’s profitable. A CSA Research survey showed that 75% of consumers are more likely to buy again from a brand that communicates in their regional language variant. This insight is fueling the rise of specialized Latin American Spanish translation services that can authentically localize messages, documents, and digital platforms for specific LATAM markets.

Consider the implications in advertising. A tagline that resonates with Mexicans might fall flat—or worse, offend—an Argentine audience. Localization goes deeper than grammar and spelling; it taps into emotion, identity, and shared cultural knowledge. That’s why top brands like Coca-Cola and Nike employ transcreation teams focused specifically on Latin America to deliver consistent but culturally relevant campaigns.

Another area where precision matters is public policy and healthcare communication. Government agencies and NGOs—such as PAHO and UNESCO—often translate vital materials like vaccination guides or educational policies. Using a Latin American Spanish translation company ensures not just accuracy, but relevance across diverse national audiences.

Technology is further complicating the landscape. While tools like DeepL and Google Translate have made machine translation more accessible, they still struggle with regional dialects. An AI may understand “usted” and “tú,” but it won’t grasp that some audiences prefer formality, while others find it distant or robotic. Only a trained human translator—especially one with regional fluency—can make those choices wisely.

The same applies to technical documentation. Whether you’re localizing user manuals for electronics or translating compliance reports for oil and gas projects in Venezuela or Chile, subject-matter expertise is crucial. That’s where a Latin American Spanish translation company can deploy sector-specific linguists to handle legalese, scientific jargon, or government regulations with precision.

eLearning is also a growing driver of demand. Platforms like edX and Coursera now require regional variants of Spanish to ensure better learner engagement. A Colombian student’s expectations for tone and vocabulary can vary drastically from someone in El Salvador. Localization isn’t just about making content understandable—it’s about making it feel familiar and motivating.

Meanwhile, the mobile-first nature of Latin America is forcing companies to rethink how they approach UX and microcopy. According to GSMA, over 73% of Latin American users access the internet primarily via mobile. Poorly localized app content—like alerts, buttons, or in-app purchase flows—can derail the user journey. Localization, in this context, becomes a UX discipline as much as a linguistic one.

One overlooked but rapidly growing segment is the demand for bilingual customer support. Brands like Mercado Libre and Rappi employ massive CS teams across the region. Many are turning to specialized translation services not just for scripts, but for real-time support and chatbot training using regional Spanish. This ensures the tone matches user expectations while remaining brand consistent.

It’s also worth noting that Latin America is not linguistically homogenous. There are large indigenous language communities—Quechua in Peru, Guaraní in Paraguay, Mapudungun in Chile—many of whom speak Spanish as a second language. High-quality translation needs to account for that context and avoid literalism that may confuse or alienate those audiences. A translator with cultural competence is as important as one with technical skill.

Even in social media and influencer campaigns, the regionalization trend is growing. A Statista report noted that over 82% of Latin American users are active on social media. Global brands are partnering with regional creators, which means captions, hashtags, and call-to-actions must be tailored to the dialect and digital culture of each country.

Security and confidentiality are additional priorities for enterprises. Translation in sectors like banking, law, or medicine requires robust data protection protocols. That’s where a professional Latin American Spanish translation company stands apart—offering NDAs, encryption, and GDPR or LATAM-compliant practices to ensure data safety alongside linguistic accuracy.

In sum, Latin America’s complexity is its strength—but only if you speak its language correctly. From regional branding and eLearning to regulatory compliance and digital UX, the need for targeted translation has never been greater. Companies that commit to authenticity gain not just customer attention—but long-term loyalty and regional credibility.

In a marketplace this competitive, vague or generalized communication simply isn’t good enough. That’s why more global brands and public institutions are investing in tailored, impactful, and market-specific Latin American Spanish translation to build bridges that resonate in every corner of the continent.

[myownwholewildworld]

Hey I'm trying to (terribly) translate a fic of mine using my roughly a2 knowledge and an online dictionary. Should I continue, knowing the final product might be ass, or should I not?

Hi, Anon! Sorry it’s taken me a few days to get back to you <3

Firstly, let me tell you that translating stuff from scratch is one of the best ways to learn a language, as well as reading books, listening to music, watching videos to get a grasp of how native speakers talk, etc.

When you say you are translating a fic, do you mean the whole fic or just the dialogues? Because the whole fic might be a bit of a daunting task if you don’t feel comfortable with the language yet, so perhaps you could start with something smaller like dialogues first and once you have practiced, then jump onto bigger blocks of text.

If your idea is to post the entire fic to the public (or even if it is for your own personal enjoyment), here are some quick tips I can offer (and these are applicable to any language really):

Keep to the same tense. If you write in the present tense, don’t switch to the past tense.

Don’t try and overcomplicate the translation. At first, keep to simple sentences, and when your confidence builds up, you’ll be able to add more depth to it and create beautiful sentences. Spanish is a very poetic language in the way we describe things, or at least I feel like it is. I am able to draw more “poetic” parallels in Spanish than I can in English, but that might be down to me not being a native English speaker haha

Avoid literal translations as the meaning of what you are trying to convey might be lost (literally lost in translation).

Beware of “false friends” in English/Spanish, they are a real threat lmao

I have already touched on this on other posts, but be conscious of what Spanish you use for your text/dialogues based on where your characters are from. For example, if you’re writing for a Mexican character, don’t have them use Argentinian slang (unless said character has lived in Argentina for a long time, in which case they might have picked up words/expressions).

Remember that your work won’t be perfect, but practice makes perfect! The more you do it, the easier it will become. You can always go back to your work and rephrase stuff once you have learnt more.

Be ready to invest a lot of time. You won’t learn a language overnight; it will take literal years.

Be open to constructive criticism. There are good people out there, and your Spanish speaking readers might be willing to offer advise from time to time.

If you can, consider asking a native speaker (family, friend) to proofread your work. But please remember that it’s okay for them to say no, it is quite mentally taxing to do translations, as I’m pretty sure you know by now.

Do as much learning as you can to help you translate. Whether that’s on your own with books/music/apps, signing up to free online resources, joining online forums (I’d recommend WordReference), or signing up to an online or in-person classes.

Consistency is key! Dedicate some time per day/week/month (whatever suits you best) to learning the language.

I know it’s a lot of work, but please don’t be put off! The first draft might not be what you expected, but over time you’ll see the improvement. And also, being able to read/write/speak a second language is an amazing skill to have in life, so my recommendation? Keep going <3

[interculturalchaos]

Verbal Messages in Mexico

The official language of Mexico is Spanish, with around 93.8% of the Mexican population speaking only Spanish and around 5% also speaking an indigenous language (Statista). The most used indigenous languages are Nahuatl and Maya which are endangered because of the marginalization of indigenous groups.

Lingua franca refers to any language that is widely used to communicate among speakers of other languages (Dictionary). Using English as a lingua franca in Mexico will allow you to communicate effectively but only in certain areas. Overall, not a lot of Mexicans speak English with only 12% understanding it and 4% being fluent (How Widely Spoken). For those who are only visiting tourist areas, speaking only English is not likely to cause any communication issues as this is where most English-speaking Mexicans are located. For those who journey outside of tourist or widely populated areas, speaking Spanish to some degree is likely to go a long way as the locals might not understand you. Traveling with an interpreter is also an option to ensure that few misunderstandings take place.

I know quite a few common Spanish phrases. I think a wide range of Americans have been exposed to some commonly used Spanish terms whether it be from movies, media, or hearing people around you speak the language. I am also learning Spanish on a popular language-learning app and find it more efficient than the 3 years I studied it in high school. Knowing these words and several others before you go to Mexico is very important because if an emergency should arise, you would be able to communicate to the majority of the population what you need. Another major reason is to show respect. If you are visiting Mexico and are able to introduce yourself in Spanish I am sure it will come off polite or at least humorous if your pronunciation is off. If someone comes up to you speaking Spanish, being able to say you don’t understand them in their language is a quick way of ensuring they know you don’t speak the language. They might switch over to English and communicate using whatever vocabulary they know. Just knowing a few phrases and words used by the country you are visiting is essential is ensuring your safety and demonstrating cultural competence.

As technology advances so do the methods in which we interpret different languages. I tested Google Translate as a method with a short story written in Spanish called El pájaro y la ballena (The Bird and The Whale). The translation of this story was impressive. The only error I noticed was with gender pronouns as they referred to the whale with both she/he. It might be an easy children’s story, and a very beautiful one, still I was surprised that it translated so well because when I would use Google Translate during my Spanish course it would have a completely different answer from what was written in our books. Many translation technologies have their errors, but I think they serve a meaningful purpose in building a bridge across cultures.

I loved learning about how language influences our view of reality. As someone who has recently realized they know very little about other cultures, this idea adds on another layer to understanding another worldview. A quote from the textbook that stood out to me was that “worlds in which different societies live are distinct worlds, not merely the same world with different labels attached” (Samovar, 2017). When I first read this, I imagined every country as its own planet. When we visit these places, even if we know the language and cultural customs, the way in which its citizens think and perceive reality is inherently different from our own views. I love studying psychology and attempting to grasp why people behave the way they do. To ponder the idea that billions of other people on this planet experience emotions and thoughts differently from what I have learned is eye-opening on a deeply personal level. I hope to grow in knowledge of this concept and eventually learn another language to possess another soul.

[bewitchingbaker]

☾ : favourite word from your language

☮ : translate the first lines of your favourite song in your language

☆ : give the first lines of a song which is originally in your language

❀ : which language(s) would you like to speak fluently?

♡ : which languages do you speak/have you learned in school?

❁ : which language(s) do you think of as the most beautiful?

✓ : funniest word in your language

☾ : favourite word from your language

The baker rubs his chin, thinking for a moment before smiling. There were plenty of words he loved in his Columbian Spanish home, but if he had to pick one...it would be.

"Chimba," Chris grinned. "Its one of those words that have multiple meaningsd epending on how ya say it. I like to use it to describe cool things. Jess prefers to use it in a mean way to describe stuff she thinks is cheap."

☮ : translate the first lines of your favourite song in your language

Chris blushes before he thumbs through his cassette collection, smiling for a moment. A few seconds pass before he reveals a homemade tape with a cartoonishi drawing of himself. He slides it into his walkman, playing a recording of his teenage self rapping the Root's Dynamite in Spanish.

"Uh, uh, vamos, S-P en el Hacia el norte en Nueva York y el oeste Y a los negros en Cali y el Dinamita de tipo Sur hacia abajo Qué, oye, vamos, dinamita, dinamita Uh, míralo, uh, uh A-yo, yo, yo, yo, yo" a young Chris rapped with the confidence of veteran MC.

☆ : give the first lines of a song which is originally in your language

The baker thinks for a moment before looks through his phone, revealing his notes app. The lyrics of a song from the band Los Mirlos. He rubs the back of his neck bashfully.

"Well," Chris began. "I had to be a backup for the local band in the neighborhood and sometimes we had to sing in English for our less melanated customers. We had to sing the dance of the blackbirds in English."

A blush forms on his face.

"Like you guys. you know I'm no logi or cheto Several years ago I heard cumbia nose. We're going to do a cumbia national anthem now and there we throw away the shirt, this? It starts this way and it says this way, Hands well up top up All black palms up jumping jumping, jumping!" he sings with an every present blush on his face.

❀ : which language(s) would you like to speak fluently?

"Oh man, easy! Japanese....and French. I learned a little because we have a few customers who speak Japanese but I'd love to be able to hold convos in Japanese. French just sounds kind of cool, so I'd love to sound cool for once." he laughs.

❁ : which language(s) do you think of as the most beautiful?

"Well," Chris begins. "We had Spanish in my old school but it was... a different dialect? Like it was more leaning towards a Mexican sound as opposed to Columbian. Similarities but the way we pronounce things is a little different."

A small smile spreads across the baker's face, eyes looking at a photo of his mother. While he certainly thought all languages were beautiful he was a little biased towards Spanish. Memories of his mother teaching him about the family, their language and witchcraft brough a small smile to his face.

"Spanish. My mom and the other Lunas make it sound beautiful."

✓ : funniest word in your language

"Sapo,"Chris laughs. " Me and Jess would always say shit like 'No soy una Sapo! It essentially means a snitch."

[ @gretaphasmatosmartin ]

[biglisbonnews]

Lessons learned from messaging strangers on the internet This post is based on a talk I gave at the Geek Sessions meet-up in Faro, Portugal 🇵🇹 on the 28th of June, 2023. The full title for this talk was "Lessons learned from messaging strangers on the internet in a language I did not speak" and the idea here is to draw some parallels between the idea of learning new (spoken) languages and learning new skills in technology. Back in June 2020 I was very bored and in lockdown, like most folks, and decided that I needed to learn something in order to keep sane. Being the language nerd that I am I decided I was going to learn Spanish. Since I couldn't just learn the basics and then take a two week holiday somewhere in Spain to practice I needed to decide how I was going to approach it before I could get started. The Plan As I am a native speaker of Brazilian Portuguese I thought this was going to be a quick and easy exercise. Just how I thought the pandemic and the lockdowns would be over before the end of summer or by halloween. Boy was I wrong... So my idea was simple: I'd exchange at least 50 messages a day with a number of people using language learning chatting apps Watch videos in Spanish with Spanish subtitles. Money Heist taught a great Italian song (and some Spanish too!) Start listening to music, and later podcasts, in Spanish Armed with a sound plan and a fool's confidence, I set my target language to Spanish in HelloTalk and got to work! How did it go? As it turns out, knowing Portuguese didn't help nearly as much as I thought it would. Brazilian Portuguese has a much simpler grammatical structure, which meant that whilst I could read messages and take a second to understand which grammar tense was being used, I couldn't really keep up with people's audio messages or Youtube videos and series. Added to that, whilst there's an overlap of about 90% of vocabulary between the two languages, this overlap doesn't help as much as you'd think. Some words have slightly different meanings, have fallen out of fashion in one language or the other, or just sound straight up embarrassing and you didn't even know it. I was always looking words up on either SpanishDict or using Google Translate, DeepL and the apps' builtin translation tools. After about 6 months I was already better at writing and didn't need to rely so much on SpanishDict for verb conjugations of regular verbs and the most common irregulars like ser, estar, ver and a few others. At about the 9 to 12-month mark I started being able to speak a few sentences without having to write them down first. My accent was horrible but at least I was able to alternate between audio and written messages during my practice. Then After about 18 months I started to recall things quicker, expressing myself and having more in-depth conversations with others become much easier. I no longer needed subtitles and became able to listen to audiobooks and podcasts, some even at 1.5 or 2 times the normal playback speed. Around this same time I also started to develop a kind of intuition for verb conjugations I didn't know, and was able to use some of the less common verb conjugations in speech without the need to look them up in a dictionary. Now About three years into this learning journey my language level has oscillated between a good B2 and an acceptable B1. I've had the opportunity to travel to Spain a few times and spend time there with friends speaking mostly Spanish for a number of days in a row each time. After being in a Spanish speaking environment for about a day I am very much back at my best. My accent is still inconsistent, I'll very quickly start mirroring whichever accent is spoken around me and then use expressions and vocabulary that may not be as common or native to where I am, e.g. using Mexican or South American words whilst speaking to a Spanish person. I don't mind this as much as I used to, I would like to have a more consistent accent but I've come a long way and I feel like I have achieved way more than what I had originally set out to achieve. Parallels between skilling up in technology and learning a spoken language Now that I've given some context of my learning journey, let's shift our attention to some of the things I've identified in my process that could also be used to improve our experience when learning new skills in tech. Learning can be a very personal experience and different people will have different ways in which they prefer to acquire new skills, for the purposes of my talk I chose to focus on a few more general points in order to try and make it as useful and relatable to as many people as possible. These are the five points I want to touch on: 1. Identify your goals Before you start you should identify your goals, this will help you with checking in on your progress along the way. These are a few of the questions you can ask yourself to try and understand: What do you want to do with this new skill? How will you know when you've achieved it? How strict are you about those answers? Will there be a next level after you're done with this one? These questions are not comprehensive but should be a great starting point. I find it specially useful to know how flexible I can be with the goal as I progress and how well documented my goal setting needs to be. For professional goals we're usually required to have a more detailed description and be more strict with our definition of done. Personal goals can go from a mental note to a full blown schedule, depending on what it is that you're aiming for. 2. Take small steps Now that you've determined what the end of the journey should look like, let's go back to the start. For almost any skill in technology it pays off to really understand the foundations of what you're learning—you should learn to walk before you try to run. If you're learning a programming language you should focus on the basics of its syntax and peculiarities first, e.g. understand the basics of Rust's ownership system, or Javascript's asynchronous nature. It's also a good idea to start with some tutorials or books that will walk you through these basics and then start to experiment with the simpler examples that you see, exploring things in your own way. If you're trying to learn a new skill that is more role specific, like DevOps, then perhaps you can start with understanding the basics of Docker, Kubernetes and what it takes to deploy a "hello world" style app using such technologies. The main goal at this point is to start small so you can find your pace. Learning shouldn't be overwhelming, nor boring. After the talk we had a small QA session and one of the questions was about how can we know whether we're doing too much or too little when trying to learn. A good analogy I came up with for the case of spoken languages was: if you're dreaming in your target language, you're good, if you start losing sleep over it then it is too much. I don't expect anyone to measure their learning effort of Rust or Haskell by how much they dream about these languages but this is still a good analogy in terms of the levels of exposure to the thing you're trying to learn and how much you should make it a part of your daily life. This takes us to the next point... 3. Practice regularly and immerse yourself in the technology In order to learn a new skill effectively you need to be able to incorporate as much practice as possible into your daily life. In the case of spoken languages this is obvious and easier to define. You should be listening to music, watching videos in the target language and speaking to natives or fluent speakers of that language as much as possible. For technology things can be a little bit trickier. It is unlikely that you'll be able to get a job utilising a skill that you've just started to learn when it comes to tech, in order to counter that you'll have to find other ways to immerse yourself into the tech area you're trying to learn. The most obvious way to get exposure to the thing you're learning is by practising it. Building low stakes projects will be the most effective way to achieve this as you can try different things out without running the risk of having a bigger impact on things around you. Then after that I would recommend listening to podcasts, reading blog posts, books, developer documentation, watching conference talks (online and in-person if possible), joining communities online around the topic that you're trying to learn (more on this later). These are all great options and you should try and mix and match them as and when you can, so long as you incorporate some kind of daily practice on your routine you will see the value in this effort in no time. 4. Embrace your mistakes Mistakes are a very natural part of learning. Regardless of whether we're just getting started or have been practising for a little while, it's obvious that we will make many mistakes along the way. You should learn to be comfortable with your mistakes early on, in order to avoid frustrations. As briefly alluded to in my previous point, having low stakes settings for your practice is one way to help you be more comfortable with making mistakes. Another point that is worth noting is that mistakes can also be used to give us more perspective on what we're learning. Whenever you make a mistake, be it one that makes it so your code doesn't compile or something that someone else is telling you shouldn't be done in that way you can ask yourself why is it that this is not how it should be: Did you break a hard rule by making a syntax error or referencing a variable or file that doesn't exist? Did you not follow best practice and are now running into unexpected behaviour? Did you rely on a feature of the language you're learning that you didn't fully understand and now don't know why it isn't doing what you hoped it would? Mistakes in programming and other aspects of technology can come in different shapes and forms but they're a great way to help us understand what it is that we're lacking in terms of knowledge so that we can work to fill that gap. Another great way to use our mistakes as a positive part of our growth is by having a mentor or community that can help you to keep moving when you're struggling to understand something or to get it to work as intended, this takes us to the last point I want to touch on... 5. The importance of focused communities There will always be other learning or using the same things you're trying to learn, if you can find a good group of people to learn with or at least exchange some of your experiences the synergy it creates can drastically improve your learning journey. Furthermore, by participating in communities you will likely start to meet people that could eventually help you on a professional level too, or that you may be able to help them. I strongly recommend trying to find local communities for this as well, for offline meet-ups and events. These will usually have an online side to them but being able to get together and meet people, join hackathons or other events where you also get to do things alongside others can really help the immersion part of learning. Another, possible less obvious, benefit of being part of more focused communities is that it helps with staying motivated. Very often in our lives things will happen that will force us to set things aside for a short period of time or deprioritise something in favour of a more pressing issue. When this happens, being part of a community and attempting to stay active will serve as a reminder of your learning journey and how you should continue to try and learn as much as your available time allows. Conclusion That's it! I understand that this is by far not a comprehensive list but I hope it helps you when you next try to learn something from scratch or even on your current learning journey. You can find the slides for my original talk in here and the source code for the slides on my Github. Share in the comments below what sort of techniques or tips you keep coming back to when learning and what you are trying to learn now. Me, I'm currently trying to learn more of the Rust programming language, as it's a compiled, lower level, language and I've never really done anything with compiled languages before. https://dev.to/leomeloxp/lessons-learned-from-messaging-strangers-on-the-internet-2m57

[psychewritesbs]

Heyyyyy,

So about the 'love in the time of cholera' post. I did read it in English back in 2017 and i started ' thousand years of solitude ' around that time too and somehow lost the book and never bothered to buy another. And then i read something else by Marquez ( of love and other demons) and i have tried to study Spanish ( which hasn't been great because all i could manage was a tourist level knowledge). what i wanted to ask is how can i study spanish so that I'll be able to read spanish literature???

YO! WHAT is UP?

ok so... first, you're read about as much Hispanic literature as I have and I was raised in México. I feel a bit ashamed bahaha. I grew up south of the border with the US so my parents forced me to learn English by only buying media in English. It paid off because I've never been popular but whenever there was an English test, everyone wanted to sit behind me.

Second, that's a loaded question. mmmmm so... you're probably in the same situation as me with Japanese.

For context, I studied Japanese in a formal setting in college for about 2 years, and then took private group lessons more recently sometime around 2018 for about a year.

So part of my recommendation involves hiring private lessons. It's really one of the best ways to get personalized feedback. I wish there was something like that where I live rn but, alas, such is life.

Anyways, I'll elaborate under the cut...

Get your brain used to the language

Watch anime without subtitles or listen to podcasts

What I've done with Japanese is that I sometimes turn subtitles off when watching anime. This mostly works if I've seen the show or movie enough times to where I know what the dialogue is about. So like, I literally watch You Name (which I've only seen about three hundred million times), in Japanese without English subtitles and I can ALMOST understand the movie in its entirety. You'll be surprised by how much you do understand.

That said, you can actually watch jjk in Spanish! I think that to prepare for season 2 I'm going to watch season 1 in Spanish just because why not 🤣. Spanish dubs are always fun and I've always much preferred them over English dubs.

The dub Crunchyroll uses seems to have Mexican actors so the accent and should be pretty neutral. They most likely also avoid highly Mexicanized slang. So no need to worry, Megumi won't be saying "wey, no mames" every 5 words like I do.

Another thing I started doing but haven't done lately is that I found a podcast, spoken entirely in beginner-friendly Japanese, for Japanese learners. I am sure there's something similar in Spanish. Again, the point is to get your brain used to the language.

Pick up a children's book in Spanish and start reading

Why children's book? Because the vocabulary and grammar will be much simpler and accessible. You can gradually move up to more complex works as you see fit.

I have a Japanese manga magazine that I translate as I read.

Another benefit of this is that it gets you used to how language is used in its native form.

For example, if you read a children's book, you'd be learning Spanish as a child would, as opposed to learning text-book Spanish.

Follow accounts on social media by Spanish-speaking content creators or language instructors

I follow a couple of Japanese private tutors on Instagram like this one and a couple of accounts that use content to promo their work. That way, as I'm doing the endless mindless social media scroll, I can at least do something productive.

Use language learning apps

This one is a simple one. It's pretty basic but they are helpful. The point is to practice. This is a good way to get the basic grammar rules and vocabulary going.

Hire a tutor or enroll in private lessons

Ok I simply can't emphasize this enough. I really would take private group Japanese lessons in person again if there was such a thing where I currently live.

But there's also online tutors. What I like about having a proper teacher is that they can help correct grammatical or vocabulary errors. You should be able to find someone by doing a google search for private language tutors.

Another thing that hiring someone does is that it creates structure, accountability for you to actually sit down and study AND it creates a habit of it.

Which brings me to my next point...

DON'T BE LIKE ME!

I've literally shared what I do to study Japanese, but like I actually don't do it consistently enough for anything to stick for longer than 5 minutes.

Looooooool epic fail.

You want to be as consistent as possible which is defo not one of my strengths. So don't be lazy like me.

This is a long-term project so you are defo in it for the long run if you decide to go through with it. I feel like Márquez uses big words but Laura Esquivel's use of language is very simple and you might be able to understand her if you take the time to just sit down and translate at least a paragraph at a time.

頑張って！

Keep me updated / mantenme al tanto!