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Spanish on packaging

post #1 of 76
3/11/08 at 1:39pm
Thread Starter 
Is anyone else starting to get annoyed with almost everything in stores now being labeled in Spanish as well as English? I know we don't have a "declared" national language here in the US, but it's getting irritating. I'm finding it more and more difficult to read packaging while in a store, since all the writing jumbles together, and my eyes don't know where to go to start / stop reading lines. Or when looking for large items at Home Depot, and you have to move the box around 3 times to find the side in English. Am I alone or is there enough people who feel like to me fight back?
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post #2 of 76
3/11/08 at 1:55pm

Re: Spanish on packaging

I'm a native Spanish-speaker and it bugs me to see Spanish and English on the same label or package. There's enough crap that HAS to be on packaging due to legislation that I already find strictly English labels hard enough to decipher. Adding most of that same information in a different language only exacerbates that problem. I was shopping for a new phone yesterday and I, like you, had to turn the box three times to find the English information. I find it worse, however, on products that put the Spanish directly under the English line of type, creating this incredibly jumbled multi-lingual mess. As I read those, I feel my brain switching back and forth between languages depending on what piece of information I happen to glance at.
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post #3 of 76
3/11/08 at 2:01pm

Re: Spanish on packaging

European products are much "worse" in that regard. Instructions manuals feature like 5 or 6 different languages.

I think it's awesome. There is something about diversity and multiculturalism that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

--
H
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post #4 of 76
3/11/08 at 2:17pm

Re: Spanish on packaging

I thought that Spanish is supposed to pass English as the number one language spoken in the USA, especially in cities. I think it is a sign of the times and will continue. What I hate is the copyright warnings at the beginning of a movie. You can't skip them and now they are in 2, 3 & 4 different languages. Why can't they just show the one language that the movie is being played in?
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post #5 of 76
3/11/08 at 3:30pm

Re: Spanish on packaging

Quote:
Originally Posted by drobbins
You can't skip them and now they are in 2, 3 & 4 different languages. Why can't they just show the one language that the movie is being played in?

What would be the purpose of displaying the FBI copyright warning in German on front of my Run Lola Run BD that I just bought from Borders?
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post #6 of 76
3/11/08 at 3:38pm

Re: Spanish on packaging

Quote:
Originally Posted by Holadem
I think it's awesome. There is something about diversity and multiculturalism that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.
What Holadem said. I love seeing different languages on labels, just as I love walking down the street and hearing them spoken (an everyday occurrence around these parts).

M.
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post #7 of 76
3/11/08 at 4:48pm

Re: Spanish on packaging

I seem to see a lot of packaging in Spanish. And not just for DVDs.

On a serious note I agree with Holadem and Michael.
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post #8 of 76
3/11/08 at 4:50pm

Re: Spanish on packaging

Quote:
Originally Posted by drobbins
I thought that Spanish is supposed to pass English as the number one language spoken in the USA, especially in cities.
Got any source for that? This is the first time I'd heard that.
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post #9 of 76
3/11/08 at 7:29pm

Re: Spanish on packaging

Quote:
Got any source for that? This is the first time I'd heard that.
No I don't. It was something I remember reading a while back.
I did find this interesting 2006 census chart on language other than english spoken at home. It shows that just under 20% of households in the USA speak something other than english at the house. Calafornia has the higest % at 42.5%. With those high numbers and with products being manufactured in many different countries, I think we will continue to see multi-language boxes and instructions.
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post #10 of 76
3/11/08 at 8:28pm

Re: Spanish on packaging

Interesting link drobbins, however, I think we need more info. We need to see the historical statistics in order to see any trends.

Wikipedia has a nice little article about the percentages of different languages. These figures are backed by the 2000 Census.

English as a native language is currently at 82%, Spanish is at 11%. However, it also states "96% of the population of the U.S. speaks English well."

Given that last figure, I don't think Spanish will be taking over English as the dominant language in my lifetime. The additional languages don't bother me on the phone, or on labeling. What does bother me is when I buy a product and it doesn't include English instructions!
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post #11 of 76
3/11/08 at 8:51pm

Re: Spanish on packaging

Quote:
I love seeing different languages on labels, just as I love walking down the street and hearing them spoken (an everyday occurrence around these parts).

In 1,000 years, do you think we will see everyone speaking one language, one of three-to-five major languages, or even more languages than exist today? Do you think the benefits of everyone speaking the same language (which seem self-evident) outweigh the historical romanticism of multiple languages? Or are there actually practical, real advantages to a world with multiple languages?

While I understand the cultural significance of language diversity, my practical side sees us in a natural, inevitable, and desirable gravitation to a unified language (whatever that may be).
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post #12 of 76
3/11/08 at 10:38pm

Re: Spanish on packaging

Michael, I picked up a Mario game the other day and saw the Spanish on the back and wondered if the store had accidentally gotten an import version. The way I see it, if Canadians can complain about having to have French on their DVDs (to the point where many here import from the US when a title has both on the packaging), we can do the same about Spanish.
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post #13 of 76
3/11/08 at 11:02pm

Re: Spanish on packaging

Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg_S_H
The way I see it, if Canadians can complain about having to have French on their DVDs (to the point where many here import from the US when a title has both on the packaging), we can do the same about Spanish.
People can (and do) complain about whatever they want. I was giving a personal perspective, nothing more.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian Perry
In 1,000 years, do you think we will see everyone speaking one language, one of three-to-five major languages, or even more languages than exist today? Do you think the benefits of everyone speaking the same language (which seem self-evident) outweigh the historical romanticism of multiple languages? Or are there actually practical, real advantages to a world with multiple languages?
I'm not so arrogant as to think that I can predict what will be the case in a thousand years. For now, and for the foreseeable future, multiple languages are a fact, not "historical romanticism".

As for the "practical, real advantages", I will say this: I never learned so much about my own habits and patterns of thinking as when I was forced to try to recreate them in a foreign language. I never learned so much about the essence of communication as when I was forced to convey critical information in a language not my own (e.g., when I needed medical treatment and the only available doctor spoke no English). I didn't begin to understand the ways in which language influences thought until I was forced to break down complex sentence structures in a language that didn't come "naturally" to me; from that point of view, the three years I spent studying Latin was anything but a waste of time.

M.
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post #14 of 76
3/11/08 at 11:03pm

Re: Spanish on packaging

Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Reuben
People can (and do) complain about whatever they want. I was giving a personal perspective, nothing more.

Sorry, should have been more specific. I was talking to the thread starter.
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post #15 of 76
3/11/08 at 11:08pm

Re: Spanish on packaging

Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg_S_H
Sorry, should have been more specific. I was talking to the thread starter.
Appreciate the clarification.

BTW, one of my personal projects in the next 10 years is to learn Spanish.

M.
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post #16 of 76
3/12/08 at 6:45am

Re: Spanish on packaging

Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Reuben
I never learned so much about the essence of communication as when I was forced to convey critical information in a language not my own (e.g., when I needed medical treatment and the only available doctor spoke no English).
Did you take a bullet from nowhere on a tourist bus in the Moroccan country side? . There is a good story there that we need to hear.

I found myself having to explain to a pharmacist in Tokyo that the bizarre cough and nasty flu I had, had resisted a battery of over the counter US meds and I need suggestions. Didn't work too well.

--
H
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post #17 of 76
3/12/08 at 7:03am

Re: Spanish on packaging

Quote:
As for the "practical, real advantages", I will say this: I never learned so much about my own habits and patterns of thinking as when I was forced to try to recreate them in a foreign language. I never learned so much about the essence of communication as when I was forced to convey critical information in a language not my own (e.g., when I needed medical treatment and the only available doctor spoke no English). I didn't begin to understand the ways in which language influences thought until I was forced to break down complex sentence structures in a language that didn't come "naturally" to me; from that point of view, the three years I spent studying Latin was anything but a waste of time.

As a fellow former Latin student, I'll agree with you that Latin is helpful in understanding English (and other languages) but I'd say your medical treatment experience proves my point. Most people in that situation would prefer to be able to easily communicate with a doctor vs. going through an academic exercise. (I can't quite tell if you agree with this or are saying that in hindsight you view it as a positive experience.)
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post #18 of 76
3/12/08 at 8:46am

Re: Spanish on packaging

Quote:
Originally Posted by Holadem
Did you take a bullet from nowhere on a tourist bus in the Moroccan country side? . There is a good story there that we need to hear.

I found myself having to explain to a pharmacist in Tokyo that the bizarre cough and nasty flu I had, had resisted a battery of over the counter US meds and I need suggestions. Didn't work too well.
Nothing so exotic as a bullet. More like your pharmacist story. I was traveling in the countryside of southern Germany and had a cold that was developing into something more. The local doctor was elderly and spoke no English. He treated me on a Sunday afternoon in an office attached to his home. He'd been gardening and came into the office still wearing his lederhosen. I spoke decent classroom German, but the vocabulary you learn in the classroom doesn't include anything useful for describing medical symptoms. But we managed. He was a good doctor.

And Brian, to answer your question, yes, I view it as a positive experience, from an educational point of view. What I learned is that language is anything but an "academic exercise". It's as essential to our existence as breathing, and we take it for granted in much the same way -- until it suddenly stops working for us.

To me, the academic exercise would be imagining that one can replace the reality of multiple languages with some common tongue. I believe it's been tried, and as far as I know, Esperanto was not a success.

M.
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post #19 of 76
3/12/08 at 11:51am
Thread Starter 

Re: Spanish on packaging

I'm all for cultural diversity. I enjoy learning about and talking to those with different backgrounds. However, I am unhappy that it is no longer becoming an option. In my mind, the big question is how many people that are here leagally only speak spanish? My thoughts are most people legally entitled to be here speak english. So why are we labeling products to aid a population who should not be here anyway?

I was at the hardware store last night looking for a box of screws to mount some speakers. I was trying to find the quantity of screws in the box. It was a pain because the label was all jumbled up with english which ran right into spanish with no seperation between the wording.
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post #20 of 76
3/12/08 at 12:18pm

Re: Spanish on packaging

Having grown up in and around Canada (Detroit/Windsor/London, Ont.) I'm used to bilingual packaging. That said I much prefer English/Spanish over English/French. The convolutions that they'll put the French language through just to avoid using Anglicized versions of new words is almost painful to behold. Spanish speakers seem to hold no such grudge and will usually just slip in an extra vowel or two.
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post #21 of 76
3/12/08 at 12:49pm

Re: Spanish on packaging

I like it for two reasons - it is always helpful and sometimes funny to see the Spanish translation of a more modern English word, and their variations.

Also, in the globalization age, I'm sure some extra profit margin is earned not just by only having to print one kind of label (instead of a separate one for each individual dialect/language) but also then when your product doesn't sell and you have to turn around and dump it into the economy of a nation that speaks a different language, you don't have to pay for an over sticker.
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post #22 of 76
3/12/08 at 1:47pm

Re: Spanish on packaging

There's one language which I absolutely despise. It seems to translate all movie titles into "SECURITY DEVICE ENCLOSED". I wish they wouldn't pander to speakers of this language, and print the English title instead. It would make flipping through DVD bins that much faster.
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post #23 of 76
3/12/08 at 2:50pm

Re: Spanish on packaging

Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Varacin
I'm all for cultural diversity. I enjoy learning about and talking to those with different backgrounds. However, I am unhappy that it is no longer becoming an option. In my mind, the big question is how many people that are here leagally only speak spanish? My thoughts are most people legally entitled to be here speak english. So why are we labeling products to aid a population who should not be here anyway?
I totally agree. Multiculturalism is great, but I am assuming people who are in the US could speak English as well as their native language.

CJ
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post #24 of 76
3/12/08 at 6:40pm

Re: Spanish on packaging

Speaking English and reading English are 2 very different things. My friends grandfather was from Italy, and came to the States when he was 20. He could speak English fine, but even though he was here for 50+ years, he never learned to read it.

Plus as Matt pointed out, this is the age of globalization. If you sell products to more then just the US, which I'm sure most large companies do, it makes sense to put the 2nd & 3rd most spoken languages globally on products. And by the way, Spanish is arguably #2.
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post #25 of 76
3/12/08 at 10:03pm

Re: Spanish on packaging

Bought a bag of cement last weekend, had to turn the 40# bag around about 4 times to find the ENGISH directions, nice workout.
The only time i was ever mad, is when a Spanish speaking person came into my work place, her translator friend was furious that we didnt know Spanish. I will never forget her words, "You people really need to learn Spanish, and soon!" My jaw almost hit the floor. Fortunately, a co-worker spoke up and told her he would learn it if he ever moved to a country that he needed it. I guess her Spanish ONLY speaking friend didnt see a need to learn English, but we should learn Spanish for their convenience.
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post #26 of 76
3/13/08 at 12:36am

Re: Spanish on packaging

Agreed! If I move to France I'll learn French. I won't expect everyone to speak English just to accommodate me.

I happen to have a Spanish last name but grew up in a very American household. I don't speak a word of Spanish. Yet a good 90% of my junk mail is in Spanish - some of it in Spanish ONLY. So, now, it's assumed I speak Spanish just because of my name.

Thanks, Dad.

-paul
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post #27 of 76
3/13/08 at 9:11am
Thread Starter 

Re: Spanish on packaging

I guess that's what bothers me the most about this whole thing. I get the impression that most of the spanish only speaking people don't even have a desire to learn english. I work with a small production crew that consists of spanish only speaking people. Some have been part of the group for over 6 years now. I swear they know less english now then when they started. When I ask why they haven't tried, they say they don't need to learn english. WTF?

So in the mean time, I'll just keep flipping my store cartons over 4 times, manually programming the spanish stations to skip while I flip channels, and wait to press "1" or "2" at every comapny I call on the phone.
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post #28 of 76
3/13/08 at 9:36am

Re: Spanish on packaging

Definitely not a fan of packing with multiple languages. If I visited or moved to another country, I would expect to learn their language in order to actually suceed in that country and get around. That would be part of the charm of being there. At the same time, I sympathize with people who have to learn english. That's gotta be tough. I can't deal with the language and I was born here.
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post #29 of 76
3/13/08 at 9:57am

Re: Spanish on packaging

Graphic designers use whitespace for various artistic purposes, and to to enhance readability. The more text that has to fit in, the less whitespace is available to play around with. Simple, elegant designs are no longer possible.
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post #30 of 76
3/13/08 at 10:29am

Re: Spanish on packaging

Multiple languages reduce the number of part numbers the manufacturer needs to stock. 1 package with multiple languages allows them to ship the same thing to multiple countries.
This saves them money (savings which are of course passed on to the consumer ).
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