Rachel's point is important but with a large caution: professional translators do not usually know how to write exhibit labels. I have worked with translators on exhibit labels before and while what the professionals produce is excellent Spanish, it is almost always written at an inappropriate reading level for your local Hispanic community (imagine the results if you lett the curators write the labels with no oversight from exhibits staff...). Work with someone trained in grammar to correct the errors, but don't expect a professional translator to understand the readability level needed for a museum exhibit label. --John On Tue, Apr 22, 2008 at 3:02 PM, Rachel Talent Ivers <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > I think these are wonderful ideas, but I would like to encourage the use > of a professional translator (or someone with a degree in Spanish grammar or > Spanish literature) to proof the translations before you publish them or put > them on your walls. Conversational Spanish (or English, for that matter) > doesn't always equate to a grammatically correct translation. I worked with > a translator once who literally doubled-over in laughter while proofing > translations provided by a lending institution that had used a bilingual > docent to translate their label copy. Puns, metaphors, and colloquialisms > are also easily misunderstood during translation, so pay particular > attention to those. > > > > Good luck! > > > > Rachel Talent Ivers > > Head Registrar > > Museum of Art | Ft. Lauderdale > > One East Las Olas Boulevard > > Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 > > 954.525.5500 ext. 292 > > direct: 954.670.2862 > > fax: 954.524.6011 > > [log in to unmask] > > > ------------------------------ > > *From:* Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] *On > Behalf Of *John E Simmons > *Sent:* Tuesday, April 22, 2008 2:35 PM > *To:* [log in to unmask] > *Subject:* Re: [MUSEUM-L] Promoting Museums to Other Cultures in the > Community > > > > Start by recruiting community help to translate your labels into Spanish. > Community help will both encourage interest in the museum and make sure that > you don't translate into a version of Spanish that is not used by your local > Latino population. If you can't afford to replace the signage in the museum > with bilingual labels (and this can be expensive), then make photocopies of > the translations available at the front desk. > > > > Make an effort to recruit high school volunteers from the Latino > community--they, in turn, will encourage other community members to visit. > If at all possible, work with the community to prepare an exhibit about > Hispanics in the community. Work with your local Latino cultural center or > church groups. > > > > Once you have something to attract the Latino community (translations of > exhibit labels, an exhibit about them, etc.) distribute flyers to the stores > and other places in the community frequented by the Hispanic population. > > > > --John > > On Tue, Apr 22, 2008 at 2:03 PM, Diane Hutsell <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > We have a pretty good size Latino population in our community, but none of > them come to our museum. We haven't decided if it is because they don't > know about us or if they don't feel like they are welcome. It has been > suggested that we print some publicity materials in Spanish but then the > question as to what do we do about the fact that all of our exhibits are in > English. Has anyone else addressed these issues that has some insight to > share? > > > > Diane > > > > Diane Hutsell > Executive Director > McMinn County Living Heritage Museum > PO Box 889 > Athens, TN 37303 > 423-745-0329 > www.livingheritagemuseum.com > [log in to unmask] > > ========================================================= Important > Subscriber Information: > > The Museum-L FAQ file is located at > http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed > information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message > to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read > "help" (without the quotes). > > If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to > [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read > "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). > > > > > -- > John E. Simmons > Museologica > 128 E. Burnside Street > Bellefonte, Pennsylvania 16823-2010 > [log in to unmask] > 303-681-5708 > and > Adjunct Curator of Collections > Earth and Mineral Science Museum & Art Gallery > Penn State University > 19 Deike Building > University Park, Pennsylvania 16802-2709 > [log in to unmask] ========================================================= > Important Subscriber Information: > > The Museum-L FAQ file is located at > http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed > information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message > to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read > "help" (without the quotes). > > If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to > [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read > "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). > ========================================================= Important > Subscriber Information: > > The Museum-L FAQ file is located at > http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed > information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message > to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read > "help" (without the quotes). > > If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to > [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read > "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). > > -- John E. Simmons Museologica 128 E. Burnside Street Bellefonte, Pennsylvania 16823-2010 [log in to unmask] 303-681-5708 and Adjunct Curator of Collections Earth and Mineral Science Museum & Art Gallery Penn State University 19 Deike Building University Park, Pennsylvania 16802-2709 [log in to unmask] ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).