Lost in Translation: The Spanish-Language Puzzle

I travel in Central and South America quite often and actually don’t recall seeing one bookstore; or any significant book collection of any kind. I don’t believe this lack of interest in the written word will miraculously translate into sales in the civilized world.

“Along with much discussion about rapidly growing digital sales, there was disappointment, and some confusion, about the relative slowness of Spanish sales in any format.”

“David Young, CEO of the Hachette Book Group, said the industry needs to hire more Hispanics and develop a more focused strategy.”

Yet another cultural crisis. Hispanics aren’t buying books or reading. What to do? More outreach and hire more hispanics.

Yeah, that’s the ticket.

Spanish speakers of the Western Hemisphere, even those who are literate in Spanish, generally aren’t readers of books. Typically, the Spanish language sections of bookstores like Borders are filled with simple translations from English of self-help books, trashy contemporary fiction, etc. Rarely does one find in those sections classic Spanish literature like works by Cervantes or distinguished modern Spanish language literature like that by Borges - the largely non-white population of Spanish speakers here in the Americas don’t read those tomes, either.

Here’s another problem: Could these books translate well and translate most of their full literary power and purpose into not only Spanish, but Indoamerican style Spanish? The English language I think has far more expansive literature, now and historically, for a reason, mainly because of its verbosity.

“They need time to figure out where to buy books.” Could it be at—-a bookstore? No AR partisan could ever make this stuff up.

“And they wonder whether immigrants are more eager to learn English than to read in Spanish.”

Yeah, that must be it….. :::insert eye roll here::::

My understanding is a large percentage of Latin American immigrants to the United States are functional illiterates. They can converse in slang but cannot read or write in Spanish (let alone English). But I’d be willing to wager that Spanish-language TV ratings are booming.

Ths hispanic immigrants to this country are not even lower middle class or working class. They are illiterate indians who never went past 1st grade back home because their parents needed them to work as street peddlers, farm workers or other jobs.

Here in California, the mexican immigrants of the last 15 years are increasingly not spanish speakers, let alone readers. Their first language is their native Indian language. Some know enough spanish to function. Others know almost no spanish.

Then there is the average mestizo IQ of 87 and the average indian IQ of 82. Populations with those IQs don’t read. They watch cartoons on TV.

Iron Mountain, one of America’s largest records storage companies has contracts with all sorts of large companies and government agencies. Of course it is illegal for government agencies to hire contractors who employ illegals,but who’s enforcing? If anyone did enforce, you would be sure that federally funded non profit groups like ADL SPLC ACLU AJC MALDEF
and others would rush to defend Iron Mountain’s employment of illegals.

Iron Mountain has warehouses all over California staffed by illegals who speak no spanish at all.

It is simple! Hispanics don’t read. Many are illiterate. So why waste one’s time. Focus on the diverse European market.

I suspect that the literate Spanish speaking population of this country is well below 45 million. (And by “literate” I mean not just able to decipher simple text, but actively seeking out books and articles to read.)

I also suggest that any publishers who want to sell Spanish language books do so south of the border.

“…Spanish speaking immigrants need to adjust, to figure out where to buy books, what to read and even whether to read.”
Where to buy books? I see them at the market, several hundred paperbacks, every week. If they could sell them, every Mexican market would have them.
What to read? There are lots of Latin American writers, Nobel prize winners too.
Simply put, most Mexicans are ignorant and have no interest in education or reading, aside from their cheesy novelas or cowboy porn. They were semi-literate in Mexico and they’re semi-literate here.
Now for the real question: How can the publishers be so ignorant about Mexicans?

I can speak spanish. Most spanish speakers do not like to read- period. Spanish literature is boring. Hispanic culture emphasizes feelings over facts. Spanish mostly whine aboutheir problems. Boring! Hispanic history is mostly lies- again boring!

BTW: I and not considered biligual because I am not hispanic.

Also, I have to laigh at all the news media who are champion illegal hispanic immigrants. The white people stop reading their newspapers, while the hispanic would never read them.

“The Spanish-speaking population is too diverse and spread out for a unified, best-seller approach, he said, and Spanish-speaking immigrants need time to adjust, to figure out where to buy books, what to read and even whether to read.”

I’m sure the Random House director of foreign language sales quoted in this drivel of an AP article meant well, but literate Spanish-speaking immigrants probably can figure out that books can be bought at, well, bookstores. It shouldn’t take that long to adjust, either, given that bookstores exist in Mexico City and other points south of the nonexistent US border! But, a literate Spanish-speaking person might well be insulted by the Mr. Azula’s comment about “even whether to read,” as if that’s seriously an option in a first-world country.

The 9 billion-pound elephant that the AP article steers clear of very carefully is that alot (most?) of the illegal immigrants are illiterate as well! They can speak Spanish, but they can’t read their own language, much less English! Illiterates don’t usually buy books, not even e-books! Hiring more “Hispanics” at publishing companies won’t address that literacy problem, but it will give the appearance that something’s being done! Go figure. This is the new America, where stupidity rules.

“David Young, CEO of the Hachette Book Group, said the industry needs to hire more Hispanics and develop a more focused strategy.”
—
How will this creates book sales among people who either don’t or can’t read? Do they actually think those little brown things that hang out at Lowe’s and Home Depot even know who Sonia Sotomayor is?
Why are Whites so stupid?

Yes, the problem is illiteracy. All the commercial signage and warning labels are read by more white students studing Spanish than the illiterate peasantry of Mexico pouring into our country.

Spanish is an incredibly rudimentary language, which may account for it’s lack of literature and reading interest. There is no such thing as a spanish spelling bee, because everyone would win, the words are too simple. Also take into account the kind of hispanics in the US. They come here illegally, and don’t pursue higher education, but rather do menial labor such as the typical yard worker. I can’t say that I’ve met any hispanic who was remotely intellectual or well-read, they are very simple people. It’s no surprise they don’t buy books.

Barnes & Noble is one of my favorite stores. I love to read, they have a good selection, and I never see illegal aliens there. I used to like the library, but librarians, being some of the furthest lefties I’ve seen, do all they can to accomodate the invavders with promises of free stuff & services, for them and their anchor babies.

“Spanish is an incredibly rudimentary language, which may account for it’s lack of literature and reading interest. There is no such thing as a spanish spelling bee, because everyone would win, the words are too simple.”
——
Having had six years of Spanish in school—grade 7 through grade 12—I agree, it is a very simple language. Everything is spelled phonetically—just as it sounds. There are just a few rules you have to learn, but again, they’re very simple. It would be very hard, if not impossible, to fail a spelling test in Spanish.

I even find French relatively simple (I had it in 12th grade, right after my Spanish class). As long as you know the rules of spelling, it’s a snap. Not nearly as convoluted as English—but not quite as simple as Spanish.

I have found that the Spanish language has LOTS of borrowed words. What’s Spanish for blue jeans? “Unos blue-jeans.” (At least it was when I was taking Spanish in the mid-to-late 80s.)

“Spanish is an incredibly rudimentary language, which may account for it’s lack of literature and reading interest.”

Come on now. I’m a proud Euro-American and even I know that this comment is ignorant. I have studied German for years and last year I started studying Spanish. I wouldn’t call it rudimentary. Don’t forget about all those non-mestizo, non-mulato European-South-Americans in Chile, Argentina and Uruguay. They are our brothers as well. I won’t even bother to list the numerous authors who are deserving of more respect than this nonsense. One of the reason I started studying Spanish was to be able to reach to our white brothers and sisters in South America.

I’m trying to imagine the Scandinavian immigrants who built the Midwest trying to figure out where to buy books, or WHETHER to read. It was a lot harder, back then, but ‘trying to figure out’ did not slow them down one bit. Even those who were struggling read voraciously. People who had not made it past sixth grade read books and magazines by lamplight, after their long, long day’s toils were over. And they knew more about the world than many today who hold master’s degrees.

Apparently, Hispanics will have to be force-fed true literacy, along with every other attribute the social engineers feel they should have. Wouldn’t do to just let them be what they are. We have to be responsible for their not being just like us.

Spanish is an incredibly rudimentary language, which may account for it’s lack of literature and reading interest. There is no such thing as a spanish spelling bee, because everyone would win, the words are too simple.

Spanish lacks the massive vocabulary of English, but it has a vocabulary equal to other languages of culture. Spanish grammar is equal or greater than English in complexity.

The pronounciation taught in many U.S. schools is phonetic, but it is artificial. It is not used by any group of Native Spanish speakers. Many of these have non-phonetic pronounciations, and learning to spell is a non-trivial effort.

“I can’t say that I’ve met any hispanic who was remotely intellectual or well-read, they are very simple people. It’s no surprise they don’t buy books.”

I don’t agree that all hispanics are this way, I’ve met some who are intellectual and well-read BUT those are not the hispanics who are coming to this country. The vast majority of the ones coming to this country are completely uneducated and often not literate or only semi-literate in their own country and thus have no interest in reading.

I have taught bright, articulate Hispanics. There aren’t that many of them. They were a very small, selected minority of the local minority.

The literate Spanish speakers in central America are not the ones who come to the US to bankrupt our hospitals, ruin our neighborhoods, overcrowd our schools, drive drunk down our roads, rape, steal and murder. Instead, they’re the small ruling elites in their home countries.

To find an economically signifigant population of book-buyers in Latin America, one would probably have to go all the way to Buenos Aires.