MATI 2017 Webinar Series - Resources to avoid syntax transference from English to Spanish

Resources to avoid syntax transference from English to Spanish

It is acknowledged worldwide that English is the lingua franca for communication exercising an undoubtedly strong influence on a wide range of spheres, including but not limited to, economics, mass media, linguistics, medicine. This scenario has resulted in incorporating English loanwords and loan syntax structures into Spanish over the last few decades. This should not be bad news taking into account that languages are living beings evolving and enriching one another –let alone in this information and communication era with Internet as the master source of hundreds of thousands of exchanges. However, one aspect we, as translators, should take much care of is interference taking place at syntax level, which can somewhat break the unity of Spanish, a language spoken in 22 countries. Last year we made a general presentation of this topic. This webinar will concentrate on syntax transference in relation to translating verb tenses, the gerund, as + past participle, to name but a few. Our objective is to produce texts that are not only written in Spanish but read and said in Spanish as well.

Presenter Bio: Alejandra Patricia Karamanian is a Certified Sworn Translator (UCA) and Proofreader and Copy Editor of the Spanish Language (Litterae / Fundéu). She works as an independent translator, proofreader and instructor in legal, business and social sciences fields. She has completed an M. A. degree in Teaching Spanish for Foreigners (USAL). Languages: Spanish, English, French. Professional credentials: Association of Sworn Translators (CTPCBA), Association of Translators and Interpreters (AATI). Academic Credentials: Academic contributor of the North American Academy of the Spanish Language (ANLE, USA). Courses on Translation Matters: AATI, New York University. Spanish for Foreigners: on a virtual platform. Lexicography: member of the lexicography team under the supervision of the Vice-President of the Argentine Academy of Letters. Conferences: speaker at national and international conferences. US Spanish: As part of her research project on US Spanish, she made interviews at the Washington Post, Department of Hispanic Studies of the Library of Congress, Washington DC; and the Observatory of the Spanish Language and Culture, Harvard University, Cambridge (2015).