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Spanishor Spanglish?

Carlos Galindo, CSP

US Compliance

Welcome

Carlos

• Born in Durango,

Mexico

• Grew up in

Chicago

• Microbiology

/Chemistry

• EHS Field

• CSP, SMS

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Spanish? All the same?

Scope

• Spanglish’s origins

• Types of Spanglish

• Stigmas, predjudices and benefits

• Popular acceptance

• How does it affect us– Positive

– Negative

• When should we use it

• Discussion

Population

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What is a Language?

• Complicated question,

• Linguistists disagree,

• Common characteristics:

– It’s a common jargon used in a

geographical area

– Published

– Has acceptance is colloquial and

scholar circles

How did it surface?

• Born out of the necessity to communicate when there is no common language

• Regular byproduct of immigration

• Some stay as jargón but others turn into languages– Yiddish

– ¿Spanglish?

Literal Definition

• Spanglish.

• Spanish marked by numerous borrowings from English; broadly : any of various combinations of Spanish and English

• Modality of speech of some Hispanic groups of the United States, in which they are mixed, deformed, lexical and grammatical elements of Spanish and English.Real Academia Española © Todos los derechos reservados

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Scholars

Who Benefits?

Gramatical Tracing

– Lexicon & gramatical changes

– Common and back

– To call back → llamar pa´tras

– To run for office → correr para

oficina

If You Don’t Punch In, You Wont Get Paid

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But what happens when the trace becomes literal!

Semantics

• Asignación: tarea, deber (del ingl. assignment) “Es una asignación de inglés para mañana”.

• Dirección: indicación (del ingl. direction) “Tengo que ir a Monterrey y necesito direcciones para

llegar”.

• Cuidar: encargarse (del inlg. to take care) “El

señor está cuidando de la cuenta de la señora”.

• Introducir: presentar (del ingl. to introduce) “James me introdujo a todos sus amigos”.

• Crecer: cultivar (del ingl. to grow) “Están creciendo lechugas en el jardín

Made up Words

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Says Who?

Says Who?

First sighting?

• There is a 1940 Spanglish publication,

• Puerto Rican autor Salvador Tito

is the first autor to mention this

new language

• But did was not the begining…

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1521- 1848

• Vaquero

• La Riata

• Barbacoa

• Bronco

• Santa Maria de los

Angeles

• Buckaroo

• Lariat

• Barbecue

• Bronco

• LA

XX Century

Energy and PersistenceConquers All

• Spanglish is widely accepted and spoken in the US

• Media and coloquial use

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Mind the Gap

OSHA’s Requirements

• 2010: OSHA’s Director, David Michaels, publishes a memorandum that clarifies the requirement to train the employee in their native language if they receive instructions in that language

• Compliance officers will ask the employees how they receive work instructions and if they are trained in that language

Common Employer Issues

• They claim that all their employees

have to speak English

• They do not take steps to verify the

level of understanding

• They have supervisors who speak

Spanish to their employees to give

instructions

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Common Solutions

• Preproduced videos

• Translation

– Onsite

– Web based

– Professional services

• Bilingual EHS Professionals

Videos

• They are universal

• Easy to use

• They are not specific to

companies, their risks and policies

• They use formal Spanish

• They can become outdated

• They do not allow for questions or

discussions

Translation

• Plant– Local, accessible

– They know processes, jargon

– They do not know specific terminology and norms

• In the net

• Google?

• SayHi

• Fiverr

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Google

Translation

• Professionals– Cost/investment– They are hard to find– They lack the knowledge, jargon and

local culture

• They can cause local confusion– Puerto Ricans

– Mexicans– Spanish people– Etc.

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Bilingual Professionals

• The ideal combination

• They handle both languages

• They know the rules and

concepts of security

• Scarce to find

• It is not an obvious race

Testing

• OSHA, EPA and DOT require employees comprehend the

material

• Training Documentation

• Vocabulary

• Comprehension

Why Embrace Spanglish?

• The integration of Spanglish in everyday life is very evident and permanent

• It is the language of the people, and the people work

• It is important to distribute an effective message and not so much "pure"

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Positive Use

• The use of Spanglish for front line

employees

• It is language and terminology that

they recognize

• It is more acceptable and organic

• Between colleagues and employees

Drawbacks• Although it has been published and is

recognized, it has flaws

• It is not for technical use– Inchas NOT inches

• It is not for professional use

– When there is communication with a professional in Latin America

– Consistency can be hard

Regional Differences

• Because Spanglish comes from local Spanish, there are

important differences

• We must understand if we can offend employees with the terms

used

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Muestra: Español

• El adiestramiento de hoy es para hacer una instalación eléctrica

usando tensión media.

• Estaremos conectando una

punzadora a su tablero

• Usaremos el sistema de

asilamiento de energía.

Muestra: Spanglish

• El training de como hacer una instalación eléctrica usando

voltaje de 220.

• Estaremos conectando una

punch press a su panel

• Usaremos el sistema de lockout.

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Cogelo con Teikisi

Resources

• Spanglish, author Ilan Stavans. A teacher who has taken the role

of defender of Spanglish

• Spanglish Dictionary, author Bill Cruz. A little comical but it helps

to find common words.

¿Preguntas?

Carlos Galindo, CSP Senior Manager, Health and Safety Services U.S. Compliance Corporation 630.321.1200 office 847.530.5998 mobile 952.567.5782 fax cgalindo@uscompliance.com www.uscompliance.com Follow us: