Opening & Closing Business Letters

To open a business letter or email in Spanish, use the following greetings (saludos):

Estimado title last name: [for a man]

Estimada title last name: [for a woman]

Estimados / Estimadas [for letters or emails directed at more than one person]

To close a business letter or email in Spanish, use:

Atentamente,


With email it's particularly tempting to use less formal language, but in a professional context and working in your second (or third!) language, it's better to stay formal and use the above terms.

Spanish for the Professions minor in Summer School

The summer school program to complete the entire minor in Spanish for the Professions, medical track is one quarter full! Five students have enrolled. There are twenty seats.

This is a great opportunity to complete the entire minor during summer school. It is also one of the only ways to meet the exceedingly high demand for the medical track in the minor.

Here's how the minor looks:

Summer Sessions I:

Spanish for the Professions (SPAN 265)

APPLES service-learning (SPAN 293)--starting in summer I, finishing in summer II

Summer Session II:

Medical Spanish (SPAN 321)

La comunidad hispana (SPAN 335)

It's all or nothing!  Enrolled students must enroll in all of the above courses and complete the entire minor in summer school.

For more information, see: http://romlcourses.unc.edu/Spanish/professions/

How To Not Translate: Don't Translate, Describe!

An earlier post gave the advice not to translate from English to Spanish.

Here's an example of how that might work:

You are writing or talking about the Pre-Medical Association, but you don't know how to translate Pre-Medical Association nor "pre-medical student" into Spanish. 

The solution is: Don't translate, describe!

Pre-medical students are "estudiantes universitarios que quieren estudiar para médicos."

You could further describe the association as "una asociación de estudiantes universitarios que quieren estudiar para médicos."

No need to enter into awkward word-for-word translations that don't really mean anything in Spanish.

On Writing in Spanish: Don't Translate; Do Use What You Know about Writing in English

When writing in Spanish (whether an essay, a memo, a letter or an email), remember the one DON'T and the one DO:

DON'T translate.

DO use what you know about writing in English.

Let's start with the don't. Translation is a highly specialized discipline that requires significant training. Chances are if you are still learning a language, you aren't going to do a very good job at translating. So don't ever draft your work in English and then try to translate it; it will be a mess.

Do start with the Spanish you already know:

• Write a good introduction with a catchy hook that makes the reader want to know more. Let the reader know what to expect in the rest of the essay (and in what order to expect it). Note: it's a good idea to re-visit your introduction and re-write it at the very end of the process since the order of your ideas might change as you write.

• Develop a thesis.  Assert something. Then support it with specific data, facts, examples. 

In a class, the writing assignment will be geared toward your level so that you should be able to successfully complete it by using mostly Spanish that you do know and/or have studied.  You might feel frustrated that in Spanish your writing makes you seem like you're no smarter than a fifth grader, but that's still a lot better than a poorly done and mostly incoherent translation that makes it seem like you have no control over the language at all.

Save your sophisticated skills for looking up a word here and there in the dictionary (not every word! and be very careful to check various meanings, changing forms, and important contexts--the dictionary can cause a lot of the same problems as translations do).  Use circumlocution--describe what it is you don't know how to say in Spanish using things you DO know how to say in Spanish.

North Carolina Community Asset Map

For two years, service-learning students have been working on a guidebook for Spanish-speakers who are recent arrivals to five North Carolina counties.  The project started as a collaboration with GoodWork, a community development organization in Raleigh, NC focused on entrepreneurship and sustainability.

In the fall 2010, students in the First Year Seminar "Spanish & Entrepreneurship" put all the work online.

They used Google maps and asset mapping to create the beautiful website North Carolina Community Asset Guidebooks.

Please spread the word so agencies and organizations that work with Latinos can use the site: http://ncguidebooks.weebly.com/

"Buy in Any Language, but Sell in Theirs"

Students in the minor in Spanish for the Professions at UNC-CH are studying entrepreneurship in two courses:

Spanish for the Professions (SPAN 265)

and

Venture Creation in the Spanish-speaking World (SPAN 327)

This week we saw how important it is to know the language and culture of anyone to whom you are trying to sell a business or service.

The testimonials of Jorge Cureño Rivadeneyra and Alejandro Aguilera Villasana speak directly to the importance of knowing how to interact with the buyer--the second goes so far as to compare sales to an art form or a seduction.

No matter what you think, the bottom line is if want to sell something, knowing how to sell it in Spanish will help you tap into a huge market segment in the US and internationally.

Give Direct and Indirect Object Pronouns Another Chance: This Time They Won't Break Your Heart

The first problem with direct and indirect object pronouns is that they are almost always taught in completely unnatural contexts.  Nobody goes around saying:


 "Hey, Joe. Good to see ya'. I'm going to say a sentence with a direct object and you repeat it back to me using direct object pronouns."


Yet that's what you're being asked to do when you do a classic grammar activity such as:


1. Leo el libro. >> ____ leo. [and you write: Lo leo.]


In real life, you'd more likely use it this way:


-¿Leíste el libro?
-Sí, lo leí.


But even that is still a bit artificial since most people would just answer with a simple Sí or No.


You would really use the pronouns to avoid repetition when you're adding new information. Like this:


-¿Leíste el libro?
-Sí. Se lo presté a mi hermana. [Yes. I loaned it to my sister.]


So once you clear up the fact that most of what you do know about direct and indirect object pronouns probably wouldn't be very helpful in any real world situation, here are a few pointers that should help to make more sense of it.

What's a direct object anyway?: start with the verb and ask yourself "who? or what?" The answer is the direct object.

What's an indirect object?: start with the verb and ask yourself "to whom? or for whom?" The answer is the indirect object*.

To use direct and indirect object pronouns in Spanish, follow these four steps to clarify it all:

1) ANSWER the question (get your subject & verb straight)

2) FIND the direct and indirect objects

3) REPLACE the direct and indirect objects with the appropriate pronouns (me, te, lo/la, nos, os, los/las; me, te, le (se), nos, os, les (se)**)

4) POSITION the pronouns (indirect, then direct) before the conjugated verb (or after & attached to an infinitive, gerund or command).

Try it with our original question:

¿Leíste el libro?

1. Sí, leí el libro. (You have to answer the "tú" question with "yo")

2. read what? -el libro

3. Replace "el libro" with the pronoun "lo"

4. Position before verb: Sí, lo leí.

__________________

*Certain verbs will take indirect objects, like dar, decir, regalar, enviar/mandar, hacer, pedir You give something to someone, say something to someone, send something to someone, give something to someone, etc.

** “Can’t have two ‘l’ words in a row” so “le” becomes “se” before lo, la, los, las.

The minor in Spanish for the Professions at UNC Welcomes Its Newest Cohort

This semester 68 students have started the minor in Spanish for the Professions at UNC-CH.  Those students are enrolled in the fifth-semester survey course entitled "Spanish for the Professions."

Students study the uses of Spanish in the following professions in the US contexts: entrepreneurship, business, law, medicine, and education & social services.  Starting this semester, there is also a significant grammar component.

We use a text authored at UNC for "Spanish for the Professions" and Iguina  & Dozier's "Manual de gramática" for the grammar component.

Today the 68 new students were added to the minor listerv and all will be declared minors in the college advising office after the last day to drop classes in a few weeks.

"Hablar" vs. "Decir"

Remember that hablar means "to speak," as in "Hablo español."

But decir means "to say" or "to tell" as in "Te digo la verdad," or "Les digo a los niños que hagan la tarea."

"Sí, se puede!" and the United Farm Workers of America

For many, today is a holiday to remember the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.  It is a time to reflect on the civil rights movement: how far it has come and how far it has to go.

For those who study Spanish, it might also be a good time to remember another civil rights leader from the Latino community: Cesar Chávez.  He was a tireless advocate for farmworkers who established the United Farm Workers of America. (Stephen Colbert teamed up with the current UFW president to do stint as a farm worker as part of the "Take Our Jobs" campaign).

The motto of the United Farm Workers from its earliest days is "¡Sí, se puede!"  Since 1972 when the UFW settled on that motto, it has been widely adopted--used by sports fans in support of their teams and, recently and famously, by Barack Obama in his political campaigns where the English version "Yes, we can" dominated.

Is the word "gringo" a slur?

The other evening on npr's All Things Considered there were a lot of outraged comments from listeners: they were upset at a commentator's repeated use of the term "gringo."

On the program earlier in the week, the commentator--a Latina--had repeatedly used the term "gringo" to refer generally and specifically to non-Latinos.

But is "gringo" an ethnic slur at all?  Doesn't it just mean "white / North American"?

Imagine the implications for the workplace of not knowing whether a term is a slur or not!!!!

Use "Usted" in Professional Contexts

Have trouble choosing between informal (tú) and formal (Ud.) address in Spanish?

Here's a good rule of thumb for professional contexts:

Use “Usted”, then observe carefully to see if/when “tú” is appropriate.

Most Spanish students understand the difference between the informal "tú" and the formal "Usted." And most students can judge situations in which informal address is appropriate (peers, children, etc.) and when it's better to use the formal "Usted" (older people, those in position of authority, etc.).

However, just choosing between the two terms "tú" and "Usted" is only the tip of the iceberg.  You also have to manage the corresponding verb conjugations, possessive adjectives and direct/indirect object pronouns.  

For example, here's how some different verbs look:

Tú                        Ud.

te llamas          se llama

estás                 está

eres                  es

And possessives:

Tú                        Ud.

tu/s                  su/sus

tuyo/a –s          suyo/a –s

And pronouns:

Tú                        Ud.

te                        lo / la

te                         le

Here is an example of what it might look like to introduce yourself to someone and start a basic conversation using Ud.:

“Lo siento. No sé su nombre. ¿Cómo se llama Ud.?  Es un placer conocerlo/la.  ¿De dónde es? ¿Le gusta Carolina del Norte/Chapel Hill?.”

As you can see, it's a lot more than just choosing between the two terms "tú" and "Ud."

Spring Courses Are Ready!

UNC Chapel Hill Students:

For students enrolled in...

Spanish for the Professions (SPAN 265) sections 1 and 3 and
Venture Creation in the Spanish-speaking World (SPAN 327)

...the Blackboard sites are now available with course documents such as syllabi and service-learning placements posted.

Textbooks for Rent

The December/January issue of Fast Company magazine has a one-page feature on Aayush Phumbhra's Chegg, a textbook rental business.

Here are some of the stats from the article:

4 million titles available

$30 rental on a book that you would by for $100 new or $75 used

7,000 campuses have students who use Chegg.com

8 campus bookstores work directly with Chegg

100 campus bookstores are interested in working directly with Chegg

Letters of Recommendation

When asking for letters of recommendation, provide specific, detailed information.

Many university classes have so many students in them that the professors don't even get the opportunity to know students by name. Because Spanish classes are usually smaller in size, those professors are often the obvious choice when looking for a personalized letter of recommendation.

But don't assume that just because a  professor knows your name, he or she will be able to automatically write an outstanding letter of recommendation on  your behalf.  Do your part to be memorable. First by being a standout student--both in class and on assignments.  Then by providing specific, detailed information from your time in that professor's class to be used in a letter of recommendation.

While in some professions it is not unheard of for people to write their own letters of recommendation and then forward them to the recommender for editing and signing, that is probably not an appropriate approach for students.

However, once a professor agrees to write a letter of recommendation, you should write a paragraph or two describing the project(s) you did in his or her course. If you provide a resume, make sure to specifically refer the professor to the part of the resume related to his or her course: "please see the description of the project I did in your NAME OF CLASS in the 'Special Projects' section of my resume" or "a description of the service project I did with NAME OF AGENCY is in the 'Work Experience' section of my attached resume."

Think about it from the perspective of the recipients of the letter of recommendation. They do not want to read a repetition of information that's on your resume (first, because they have presumably already seen your resume and second because they'd like to read about how you stood out in a certain professor's course--not read that professor's re-write of your resume).

Remember: Most college professors have 100+ students every semester (often totaling 1000+ in any four-year period). If you provide generic information, they will probably plug your name into a form letter that they have sent out 100's (or 1000's) of times before.

Entrepreneurship Education Gains Traction

On December 30, 2010, NPR did a story about the entrepreneurship education program at the University of Maryland: Change You Can Invest In: Social Entrepreneurship : NPR College Park was the obvious choice because it is so close to NPR in Washington, DC, but they could have done that story at any number of universities across the country.  

For example, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was awarded a Kauffman Foundation grant--the Carolina Entrepreneurial Initiative--to develop and launch entrepreneurial programs across campus.  On such initiative is the minor in entrepreneurship in the College of Arts & Sciences, housed in the Department of Economics.  

The Spanish program got involved in the fall of 2008 by partnering with the innovative First Year Seminar program to launch a course entitled Spanish & Entrepreneurship: Language, Cultures and North Carolina Communities. That was followed in 2010 with an entrepreneurship seminar taught entirely in Spanish entitled Venture Creation in the Spanish-speaking World. 

Both courses are works in progress that continue to evolve each semester.  

In the First Year Seminar, students study the basic concepts of entrepreneurship such as missions, innovation, resource gathering, accountability, and risk management. In class, those concepts are examined in cases from Latino enterprises throughout the Spanish-speaking world. Finally, students apply what they have learned to the real-world circumstances they encounter through their community service-learning placements.  

The venture creation course is a workshop course in which students study the process of business planning and develop a competition-level business plan related to their community service-learning projects.  At the same time, students develop their Spanish language and Hispanic cultures skills through the analysis of cases of sustainable development in Latin America, all of which introduce basic business concepts in Spanish.

Feliz año nuevo!

New Year's Eve is full of traditions and celebrations.  A Spanish-language newspaper published in Miami called El Nuevo Hearld published a wonderful article about different New Year's traditions from around the Spanish-speaking world, including:

• eat one grape on each stroke of midnight (for a total of 12 grapes in as many seconds!)
• sweep the house inside and out (to rid it of impurities)
• burn old clothes and furniture
• eat lentils (they look like little coins and symbolize prosperity in the new year)
• wear yellow underwear

Read all about the history and symbolism of these and other traditions on El Nuevo Herald's website.