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Source text - Spanish Estimados amigos del Hospital de St. Barnabas y en especial a mi querida comunidad dominicana que labora en este centro de salud, muchas gracias por esta invitación. Para mi es un honor poder estar en el día hoy representando a nuestro Gobierno en este importante encuentro, en el cual celebramos la Independencia dominicana.
Que es la Republica Dominicana?
Somos un pueblo viajero. De nuestra isla salió Hatuey, el indígena que huyendo del acoso de los conquistadores españoles, desembarcó en las playas de Cuba y avisando a sus hermanos que los europeos no llegaban con buenas intenciones, se convirtió en símbolo de la rebeldía y así murió.
Viajero fue Máximo Gómez, banilejo ilustre y uno de los padres de la independencia cubana. Y viajero fue Juan Pablo Duarte, demócrata y progresista, el padre de nuestra propia independencia quien después de librar la más excelsa de las batallas, liberar a nuestro pueblo y proclamar el nacimiento de la República Dominicana, murió en Caracas. A él y a los otros grandes patricios de nuestra independencia, Ramón Matías Mella, Francisco del Rosario Sánchez, Gregorio Luperón, rendimos en esta ocasión respetuoso y cariñoso homenaje.
En el contexto de esta celebración, desearía hacer algunos apuntes acerca del dominicano, de su amor por el país pero también de su inagotable capacidad para “buscársela” donde la vida le lleve.
A menudo, cuando se habla de la presencia de los dominicanos en los Estados Unidos, se refiere al número de migrantes llegados desde nuestro país. En realidad es un ejercicio complicado porque ¿cómo saber el número de dominicanos que han llegado a Estados Unidos desde que el primero de los habitantes de nuestra isla lo hiciera en el 1613? De cualquier manera, en algo hay que apoyarse, y los estudios de expertos en la materia hablan de más de un 1 millón de dominicanos en este país, lo que nos convierte en uno de los principales grupos latinoamericanos.
No estamos constituidos como grupo únicamente por quienes han migrado, sino que crece considerablemente el número de nacidos entre nuestras familias en este país, es decir, de dominico-americanos, y con ellos crece la calidad educativa de nuestra comunidad. Así, recientes investigaciones han determinado que los dominicanos tienen el mayor número de estudiantes en las escuelas secundarias y en los centros universitarios públicos de Nueva York. Esa es una buena evidencia de que, donde quiera que estemos, aspiramos a progresar.
Hablábamos, pues, del 1613, la que sin duda es una fecha sorprendente: A comienzos del siglo XVII (17) y faltando todavía 230 años para que surgiera la República Dominicana como nación independiente. Sin embargo, aunque en aquella época no fuéramos todavía un país con todas las de la ley, había seres humanos que allí residían, trabajaban y producían riquezas, vivían y, desde entonces, viajaban.
Porque esa es una norma que nos caracteriza a los dominicanos. Nos lanzamos por el mundo. No tememos a los imponderables que se presentan cuando uno abandona su terruño para ir a descubrir otros universos, otras culturas. Es más, nos integramos a ellas y les hacemos nuestros propios aportes. Por eso, los tostones se consumen no solamente en Moca o Washington Heights, sino que también ¡en Madrid, Suiza o Atenas! ¡Y la bachata se escucha hasta en los parques de Viena! Es esta misma bachata la internacionalizada por nuestro Juan Luis Guerra y que en la actualidad, gracias a artistas como el Grupo Aventura, Monchy y Alexandra y Prince Royce, todos dominicanos residentes en esta ciudad, ha alcanzado niveles de popularidad nunca antes vistos, y eso es un triunfó mas de los dominicanos en el exterior.
Los dominicanos en esta ciudad mantenemos nuestras costumbres e identidad, no importa la época del año en que nos encontremos. Por ejemplo: A partir de ahora en los barrios donde la comunidad dominicana reside encontramos las tradicionales habichuelas con dulce, un manjar de la gastronomía dominicana. Asimismo, es tradicional ver en época navideña la variedad de platos y antojos dominicanos en todas las esquinas del Bronx.
Pero volvamos al 1613, porque es una fecha demasiado precisa para ser accidental. En efecto, en ese año desembarcó en Manhattan la primera persona que no era indígena, porque esos eran los únicos habitantes de estas tierras. Era holandés el barco que trajo a ese marinero, porque los holandeses eran los dueños del comercio marítimo entre la región del Caribe y Europa. Aquellos mercantes tenian años pasando sin detenerse frente a las costas norteamericanas, hasta que en aquella ocasión, se le preguntó al segundo piloto de uno de esos barcos si se atrevía a desembarcar y entablar relaciones con los indígenas que desde las playas de Manhattan observaban el ir y venir de los buques europeos.
Juan Rodríguez o Jan Rodrigues fue el primero en poner pie a tierra ante la mirada preocupada de sus compañeros marineros y la mirada curiosa de los indígenas que desde sus yolas observaban al atrevido marinero. ¿Y de dónde creen que venía Juan Rodríguez? Pues de Santo Domingo, entonces todavía colonia española, pero tan dominicano era ya Juan Rodríguez como peruano era el inca Garcilaso de la Vega.
Juan Rodríguez abrió efectivamente unas compuertas que jamás se han cerrado y han permitido que centenares de miles de dominicanos hayan venido a Estados Unidos, especialmente a esta gran ciudad de Nueva York, no solamente a buscar las seguridades materiales que ofrece la capital del mundo, sino a traer su inteligencia, su talento y sus aportes culturales a este gigantesco mosaico universal.
Por eso los dominicanos y dominicanas brillan en las más variadas esferas de la cultura, el deporte y la ciencia en Estados Unidos. A ello se agrega el número extraordinario de estudiantes dominicanos que asisten a centros de estudios de todos los niveles. Tampoco es fortuito el número impresionante de dominicanos que trabajan en el área de la salud. O que en famosos restaurantes franceses y japoneses de esta ciudad, ¡los “chefs” sean nacidos en Cotuí o Samaná!
Finalmente, los dominicanos hemos alcanzado un posicionamiento en la política de este país del cual debemos sentirnos orgullosos, con más de 50 oficiales electos en la Unión Americana, lo que nos convierte en una de las comunidades de más triunfos en este sector. Asimismo, hemos visto cómo para las próximas elecciones de noviembre nuestra comunidad pudiera lograr el primer escaño en el Congreso de los Estados Unidos, con la creación de un nuevo distrito electoral, el cual será en su mayoría de dominicanos. ¡Adelante dominicanos!, que Washington, D.C. nos espera, y este es el momento de generar cambios a favor de nuestra comunidad.
No se trata de que seamos un pueblo superior a ningún otro, sino que somos tan bueno como cualquier otro. Y eso es bueno recordarlo en esta fecha en que se celebra el 168 aniversario de nuestra Independencia. No importa dónde estemos en cualquier momento de nuestras vidas. Tenemos toda la razón para sentirnos orgullosos de nuestra nacionalidad y junto a los dominicanos de “allá”, que están tan cerca de los de “acá”, decir al unísono.
¡Viva la República Dominicana!, ¡Vivan los Padres de la Patria!
Muchas gracias a todos.
Translation - English Dear friends of St. Barnabas Hospital, and especially my dear friends of the beloved Dominican community who work here, thank you very much for this invitation. It’s an honor for me to represent our government at this important meeting, where we are celebrating Dominican independence.
What is the Dominican Republic?
We are a nation of travelers. Hatuey, one of the indigenous peoples of our island, sailed to the shores of Cuba to flee from the Spanish Conquistadors. He warned his brothers there that the Europeans had not come with good intentions. He is still known today as a symbol of resistance.
Máximo Gómez, the famous native of Bani and one of the fathers of Cuban Independence was a traveler. And Pablo Duarte, a democrat and a progressive, the father of our own independence, who fought the great battle to liberate our people and to proclaim the birth of the Dominican Republic, died in Caracas. He was also a traveler. We give respectful and loving homage to him and to all the other great patriots of our independence, Ramón Matías Mella, Francisco del Rosario Sánchez, Gregorio Luperón, on this occasion.
In the context of this celebration, I would like to say a few things about Dominicans - about our love for our country, and about our inexhaustible ability to “buscársela” wherever life may lead us.
Whenever someone talks about the presence of Dominicans in the United States, they are usually referring to the number migrants who have arrived from our country. But really, this is not an easy task, because how can we know the number of Dominicans who have come to the United States since 1613, when the first inhabitant of our island arrived here? Any way you look at it, you have to base it on something, and experts who have studied the subject say there are more than a million Dominicans here, which makes us one of the foremost Latin American groups in this country.
Our group not only includes the Dominicans who have migrated here, but also Dominican-Americans, born to our families in this country. And their numbers have grown considerably, and with them, the educational level of our community has grown. Recent studies have found that Dominicans have the highest number of students in the high schools and public universities in New York. That is good evidence that wherever we are, our aim is progress.
We had been talking about 1613, which without a doubt, is an amazing date. It was the beginning of the 17th century, 230 years before the birth of the Dominican Republic as an independent nation. But, even though we were not yet established as a nation at that time, there were human beings successfully living and working there. And from there, they traveled to other parts of the world.
This is a special quality that we Dominicans have. We launch ourselves out into the world. We are not afraid of the obstacles we encounter when we leave our homeland to discover other worlds and cultures. Not only that, we integrate ourselves into those cultures and bring our own flavor to them. That is why tostones are not only eaten in Moca or Washington Heights, but also in Madrid, Switzerland and Athens! And bachata can be heard in the parks of Vienna! Bachata was introduced to the rest of the world by our own Juan Luis Guerra and it has reached a level of popularity never before imagined, thanks to artists like Grupo Aventura, Monchy and Alexandra and Prince Royce, all of whom are Dominicans living in this city. And that is one more accomplishment of Dominicans living abroad.
The Dominicans in this city maintain our own customs and identity, no matter what season of the year we find ourselves in. Right now at Lent season, in the barrios where the Dominican community lives, we enjoy the traditional habichuelas con dulce, a real Dominican treat. And at Christmas time we see the variety of traditional Dominican dishes and desserts on every corner of the Bronx.
But let us return to 1613, because it is too exact of a date to be accidental. In that year, the first person who was not a Native American (who were the only inhabitants of this land at that time) landed in Manhattan. The ship that brought this mariner was Dutch, because the Dutch were the rulers of the sea trade between the Caribbean and Europe. These merchants had sailed along the North American coastline for years without stopping, until on that occasion, the captain of one of those ships was asked if he dared to go ashore to establish relations with the Native Americans who had been watching the coming and going of the European ships from the shores of Manhattan.
Juan Rodríguez, or Jan Rodrigues, was the first to step ashore, under the curious gaze of the Native Americans who watched the brave mariner from their canoes - while his worried fellow mariners watched from the safey of their ships. And where do you think Juan Rodríguez was from? From Santo Domingo, of course. It was still a Spanish colony, but Juan Rodríguez was already as Dominican as the Inca, Garcilaso de la Vega was Peruvian.
Juan Rodríguez opened doors that have never closed since. Hundreds of thousands of Domincans to come to the United States, especially to this great city of New York, not only in search of the material security that the capital of the world offers, but also to bring their intelligence, their talent and their cultural accomplishments to this great diverse city.
That is why Dominicans excel in so many areas of culture, sports and science in the United States. To that, you can add an extraordinary number of Dominican students who attend schools on all levels. And it is no accident that there is an impressive number of Dominicans who work in the field of health care. Or in famous French and Japanese restaurants in this city – where the “chefs” are from Cotuí or Samaná!
Finally, Dominicans have reached a place in government in this country that we should feel proud of, with more than 50 elected officials in the United States, which makes us one of the most triumphant communities in this sector. In the coming elections in November, our community could win its first seat in the United States Congress, with the creation of a new electoral district, which will have a Dominican majority. Let’s go forward Dominicans! Washington awaits you, and this is the time to make changes in favor of our community.
This doesn’t mean that our people are better than any other people, but it does mean we are just as good as any other people. And it is good to remember that, on this day when we celebrate the 168th anniversary of our Independence. No matter where we are in our lives at any given moment, we have every reason to feel proud of our nationality and to say it in one voice, together with the Dominicans from “there,” who are so close to those that are “here.”
Long live the Dominican Republic! Long live the Fathers of our Country!
Thank you very much.
Spanish to English: Sample of Improving English Text Written by a Non-Native Speaker of English. General field: Marketing Detailed field: Advertising / Public Relations
Source text - Spanish This was written in English by a copywriter at Lowe Interamerica (Dominican Republic), who is not a native speaker of English:
In our group, and based upon commitment that the family is society basic unit as a key agent for social, political and cultural changes, we lead our social actions to those areas that facilitate and make possible the developing of families.
Translation - English I untangled the two main ideas and put them in separate sentences. I also edited the language to sound like a native speaker of English had written it:
Our group places a high value on the family as the basic unit in society through which the greatest social, political and cultural changes can be made. Because of this commitment toward the family, we conduct our social actions in ways that we believe will best facilitate and make possible the developing of families.
Specializing in Spanish from the Dominican Republic. (I'm married to a native Spanish speaker whom I consult when I need clarification or insight into special nuances of the language.) I translate speeches from Spanish to English for the Dominican Mission to the UN in New York, as well as proofread and correct documents and short emails written in English by the staff of the Mission. In addition to this, I receive text messages and emails from an advertising agency Santo Domingo with requests for proofreading of short texts written in English as well as requests for translation of short passages from Spanish to English.
I enjoy reading old German text (Fraktur) and can translate documents or text in this style into English for you.
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