As a marketing copywriter for the entertainment retailer Musicland, I often wrote ad copy that promoted CDs by Latino artists in markets such as New York, Los Angeles and Miami. I would create a basic copy treatment with a heading such as "Hot Latino Hits" (a heading that today still makes me cringe), and send it to a person who would translate the English to Spanish. The person I worked with was George Rabasa, who I'd known when he was creative director at Carlson Marketing Group. Today he's an acclaimed novelist and short story writer.
One Latino Size Doesn't Fit All
Starting with the basic marketing message, George would translate it into copy that culturally reflected and respected the diverse markets: the Cuban presence in Miami, the Dominican and Puerto Rican presence in New York, the Mexican and Chicano presence in Los Angeles. Having been raised in Mexico, George felt most at home in the latter market. But he knew how to infuse copy for New York and Miami markets with a Caribbean flavor.
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| Author George Rabasa. |
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| Tejano pop star Selena. |
Second languages sing when spoken by human translators. There's a sense of judgment and nuance, an ear for rhythm, a respect of place and culture. Because I admire the ability to translate and I value service by a person, I've welcomed an affiliate partner, bewords.com, an online marketplace where you can meet and work with translators. Real ones. Check them out. Who knows, the translator you hire today may be the important novelist of tomorrow.
Listen to author George Rabasa discuss his newest novel, Miss Entropia and the Adam Bomb.
Author photo from georgerabasa.com. Flickr photo of Selena from hellboy_93.
very interesting. My first language is Portuguese. Write English is a challenge. This is my way to become more proficient. I still have a heavy accent. Any ideas or advice? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteHi Drica: Your question reminded me of a conversation I had years ago with George. I was considering learning Spanish and asked him his opinion of learning from language tapes. He highly recommended attending classes instead of listening to tapes. I imagine it's because you're a more active participant: a listener, a speaker, and a conversation participant. Through tapes you're mainly a listener and repeater.
ReplyDeleteSo I imagine immersing yourself in face-to-face conversations would be the best way to modify your accent.
Not being an expert, I Googled "How to lose an accent" and the search came back with many responses. You might want to try that.
I have to ask: why do you want to change your accent? Do people have trouble understanding you, or do you want to become more mainstream? It would be a shame to lose it entirely, as accents represent one's heritage and history.
Whatever you decide, best of luck to you Drica, and thanks for reading! Susan