The myths of the dubbing of films and videogames in Spanish of Latin America demystified
I apologize to the readers for my written English. It is worse spoken! But my profession is that of journalist and director of documentaries and dubbing, and not of translator, therefore my English is very limited. I have the audacity to try to write in English with the sole intention of transmitting the knowledge that for almost thirty years I have been absorbing of the world of the dubbing of films and the location of video games. They waited for me not to be disturbed by my audacity.
Neutral Spanish voice-over is the standard for mass market entertainment, e-Learning and corporate audio/video translation for Latin America. It allows companies localizing for this region to create one deliverable for multiple markets, lowering costs dramatically. However, neutral Latin American Spanish is tricky to get right, and there are a few misconceptions about it.
In today’s post, we’ll debunk the most common myths about neutral Latin American Spanish voice-over.
[Average read time: 3 mins]
What is neutral Latin American Spanish?
The idea of a neutral, or standard Spanish is somewhat controversial, since it comes from the colonial period. In 1713, King Philip V of Spain established the Real Academia Española (Royal Spanish Academy – RAE), and instructed it to “"to fix the voices and vocabularies of the Castilian language with propriety, elegance, and purity.” The RAE’s founder had a more direct purpose, “to assure that Spanish speakers will always be able to read Cervantes.” In this regard it’s been very effective – sixth-graders can read the original Don Quixote, though with a bit of hair-pulling.
Because of the RAE, an official Spanish vocabulary and grammar actually exists. However, the vast majority of Spanish-speakers don’t adhere to its rules or vocabulary in their colloquial speech, and there are huge differences in terms of accent and word usage. In terms of vocabulary, the most famous example is “computer” – “ordenador” in Spain and “computadora/computador” in Latin America. (Microsoft, for example, uses the word “equipo” (“equipment”) in their literature to avoid this issue.)
The most famous accent difference is the letter “z” – in Iberia (Spain) it is pronounced as “th,” akin to the English sound in “think,” whereas in Latin America it’s pronounced as an “s.” Same goes for the letter “c” when it comes before an “e” or “i,” by the way. So the first rule of neutral Latin American Spanish is that it adheres to the American pronunciation of “z” and “s” – because of this, it’s distinctly Latin American. However, further regional variations exist within Latin America, usually determined by their native languages, history, and geographical isolation.
Because of these regional variations, a standard of neutral Spanish was created for Latin American broadcasts and dubbing, which adhered to various basic pronunciation rules – one of which is to not aspirate the letter “s.” In general, the rules aren’t very drastic – in the video above, the neutral Spanish voice-over doesn’t sound all that different from the Chilean or Argentinian ones. They merely standardize pronunciation for intelligibility, and just about any Latin American Spanish speaker should be able to adhere to them, though it takes training and concentration.
The most common myths about neutral Latin American Spanish
Here they are, in order of prevalence (at least in our experience):
1. Neutral Latin American Spanish voice-over and dubbing can be used anywhere in the Spanish-speaking world.
Technically, this is true of any Spanish-language content, even if it’s not in a neutral voice. While any Spanish-speakers will understand the content – i.e., it will be intelligible to them – not all Spanish speakers will feel like the content is directed to them. Iberian Spanish speakers will recognize the content as specifically Latin American. Likewise, the accent and vocabulary in Argentina/Uruguay is quite distinct, so that most companies record specifically for this market. Don’t assume that you can use a neutral recording just anywhere.
2. The accent is basically Colombian Spanish.
But for Mexicans this is a myth: residents of Mexico City will often tell you that their Spanish is effectively neutral. You’ll hear the same thing in Lima, Quito, San José… well, pretty much everywhere in Latin America.
3. It is “educated” or “high-class” Spanish.
While voice-over artists are usually well-educated, since they have to be able to cold-read long scripts without making mistakes, the neutral accent is itself not strictly the provenance of colleges or higher education. That is to say, someone with an advanced degree may still have a strong regional accent.
4. You can use an Iberian Spanish translation for Latin America, as long as it’s voiced by a neutral Latin American voice-over artist.
A script with vocabulary and common constructions for Spain does not become Latin American Spanish if it’s spoken with that accent. However, sometimes neutral scripts can be used for both Latin America and Spain, but usually with not-so-great great results.
DLM International always recommends to its clients that they adapt the script from Spanish Spanish to Colombian or neutral Spanish. The same thing happens from Latin American to Castilian Spanish because it will be more economically profitable than all the complete translation of the script from its original version. This in addition to ensuring the satisfaction of the final viewer, ensures that the dubbing and locations are better interpreted by the actors in the lectern.
5. Iberian Spanish speakers can do neutral Latin American neutral accents.
In theory this is true, but in practice we’ve never seen it done well and I am Spanish. An Iberian Spanish-speaker would have trouble changing the z and c sounds consistently without making mistakes, and the tone will be off slightly. This affects the interpretation.
In the end, the neutral accent isn’t really an accent. A person speaks with a native accent without thinking about it, or even without realizing it – it’s effortless. (This is why no one thinks they have an accent.) Speaking neutral Latin American Spanish, though, however, requires a conscious effort, so it is better to think of it as a skill, which is learned and perfected through Years.
DLM International is one of the few translation agencies with its own dubbing studies that incorporates a dubbing school for actors. We also train professional translators in audiovisual and multimedia translation. We are currently working with several universities in Colombia to create a higher curriculum in these arts.
