New Book Offers Advice on Correct Spanish Usage in the U.S.
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“Hablando bien se entiende la gente” is available at Barnes & Noble and other bookstores
A new, highly practical guide to correct Spanish, tailored specially for the Spanish language of the United States, is now in bookstores throughout the country.
Entitled “Hablando bien se entiende la gente”, or, “Speaking Well Makes the World Go ‘Round,” the book contains more than 300 bits of advice for those who wish to make themselves understood correctly in Spanish.
Published and distributed by Santillana USA, this guide was written by the president and other members of the North American Academy of the Spanish Language (ANLE in its Spanish language acronym).
ANLE, one of 22 academies of the Spanish language established on three continents, is a nonprofit institution founded in 1973, whose mission it is to preserve and promote correct usage of the Spanish language in the United States.
“Our goal,” says ANLE president Gerardo Piña-Rosales, “is not to police language usage but to help language users use Spanish so that it can be understood by all our Spanish-speakers.”
Written in an easy, informal style, and illustrated with humorous graphics, the work has special appeal for journalists, editors, educators, advertisers and others who use Spanish professionally. One example is the term “aplicar,” a “false friend,” or a cognate whose meaning is different in the two languages.
“Aplicar” means “to apply,” of course, but not in the sense of applying for admission to a university or for a job. In such cases the correct Spanish term is “solicitar.”
Although “aplicar” is widely used and understood in the U.S., “solicitar” is used in the Spanish-speaking world. ANLE, therefore, encourages the use of the correct term, “solicitar,” as it does with the 300 other examples.
“We hope that these ‘language capsules’ will help people who have doubts and want to use Spanish correctly,” says Piña-Rosales.
“No one can dictate how people speak, but we can help those who write or work in communications fields use Spanish in ways that reflect universal usage,” he concluded.
“Hablando bien se entiende la gente” is available at Barnes & Noble and other bookstores.
The Americano / Agencies
