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July 29, 2005
In the future, everyone will hablar español for fifteen minutos.
La Opinión discusses the growth of the "Hispanic market" resulting from a 45% increase in Spanish-speaking people in the United States over the past two decades.
The newspaper bases its article around a report: El futuro del idioma español en Estados Unidos, published by Roslow Research Group and funded by Hispanic USA Inc.
Among the predictions and figures in the article:
- In 2025 there will be 40.2 million Spanish-speakers in the United States, as compared to the 27.8 million currently (a 45% increase).
- The population of Spanish-speakers over the age of 18 will grow by 53% by 2025.
- The group between 18-49 years of age (one of the biggest consumer groups) will grow 7.5% in the next 20 years.
- Two-thirds of "Hispanics" who are five or more years of age will still speak Spanish in 2025.
- On average, 35% of the members of the third generation of "Hispanics" in the United States speak Spanish.
The publisher notes that this study contradicts claims by some companies that there is no advantage to printing bilingual labels and manuals for their products, further asserting that those companies who do use bilingual materials for their products will have a great advantage over those who do not within the Spanish-speaking market.
The article also cites census data from 1994-2004 that shows that spending by Spanish-speakers has grown at a rate of three-times that of the rest of the population.
Say "hola" to job security, mis profesores.
Para leer más sobre este asunto en español, vea el artículo de La Opinión, El español, lenguaje de la emoción y... ventas.
You can read an English summary at the Hispanic USA Inc. web site.
Posted by crispy at 02:58 AM | Comments (0)
July 17, 2005
What the Oaxaca?!
For the fifth week in a row, 31 employees at Noticias, a newspaper in Oaxaca, remain locked inside their offices to work in spite of a strike called by a union which they claim has ties to the government. The journalists insist that the strike is a sham, instigated by the government and intended only to stop publication of the paper, which has been critical of the government in the past.
Ericel Gomez Nucamendi, the newspaper's owner, claims that the strike is part of a campaign against Noticias by state governor Ulises Ruíz, a priísta. The head of the union, la Confederación Revolucionaria de Obreros y Campesinos, David Aguilar Robles, is also a priísta, but he claims that the workers requested the union's assistance in negotiating a contract. Yet workers say that they already agreed to a 6% pay increase, and refuse to go along with the union in demanding a 25% increase.
To read more about this story in English, see the Los Angeles Times article, Newspaper Office Standoff Persists.
Para leer más sobre este asunto en español, vea el artículo de La Opinión, Publican diario pese a bloqueo.
Posted by crispy at 04:17 PM | Comments (1)
July 04, 2005
Indicating Political Party Affiliation
For the three major parties in Mexico:
- el Partido Acción Nacional, PAN: panista
- el Partido de la Revolución Democrática, PRD: perredista
- el Partido Revolucionario Institucional, PRI: priísta
Posted by crispy at 10:26 AM | Comments (0)
crayon
Oddly enough, the Spanish word for "crayon" in Cuba, Honduras, Mexico and Uruguay is crayola.
Usage:
Al parecer, las irregularidades fueron menores durante la jornada electoral, y entre éstas destacaba que en el municipio de Luvianos fueron detectadas 51 boletas electorales marcadas con crayola oficial a favor del PRI.
From El PRI gana en el Estado de México, según encuestas, Monday 4 July 2005, La opinión.
Posted by crispy at 06:10 AM | Comments (0)
July 01, 2005
Zapatistas Announce Plan to Begin Peaceful Leftist Alliance
The Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN) announced on Thursday, 30 June that it will enter a new peaceful era of negotiations by joining forces with the leftist political groups of Mexico. They claim that they will not focus on electoral politics, since they believe all candidates to be neo-liberal, instead concentrating their efforts on getting a new constitution for Mexico.
Read the article in English at the San Diego Tribune.
Posted by crispy at 10:29 AM | Comments (0)