Spanish Translation help - Census Encouragement
August 4, 2020 10:42 AM Subscribe
Because the US Govt. is shutting down the census count a month early, I bought some sidewalk chalk to write out messages encouraging passersby to get counted. My neighborhood is home to a lot of Spanish-speaking people that I would also like to reach, and I don't want to entrust Google Translate with important messages.
I'm thinking along the lines of "Have you completed the census yet? It takes 10 minutes! Go to 2020Census.Gov . Take a picture of this to remind yourself, and share it with others! Completing the census is important to this community - it will determine how billions of dollars get spent over the next 10 years on programs like school lunches, public transportation, housing assistance, and many others. "
If someone could translate that into Spanish so I can reach as many people as possible, that would be great. Ideas for other words that could convince people to do it would also be appreciated. I have a decent stretch of sidewalk to write on, so was going to do it spread out, not all in one giant paragraph.
Thanks!
I'm thinking along the lines of "Have you completed the census yet? It takes 10 minutes! Go to 2020Census.Gov . Take a picture of this to remind yourself, and share it with others! Completing the census is important to this community - it will determine how billions of dollars get spent over the next 10 years on programs like school lunches, public transportation, housing assistance, and many others. "
If someone could translate that into Spanish so I can reach as many people as possible, that would be great. Ideas for other words that could convince people to do it would also be appreciated. I have a decent stretch of sidewalk to write on, so was going to do it spread out, not all in one giant paragraph.
Thanks!
The Alameda County census website has a library of outreach materials in many languages, including Spanish.
posted by Lexica at 10:58 AM on August 4, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by Lexica at 10:58 AM on August 4, 2020 [2 favorites]
> It takes 10 minutes!
I know that's the official timing, but in my experience it's shorter than that. I've been telling people "It takes only a few minutes." (I'll leave the Spanish translation to others.)
posted by The corpse in the library at 11:18 AM on August 4, 2020 [2 favorites]
I know that's the official timing, but in my experience it's shorter than that. I've been telling people "It takes only a few minutes." (I'll leave the Spanish translation to others.)
posted by The corpse in the library at 11:18 AM on August 4, 2020 [2 favorites]
> Go to 2020Census.Gov
my2020census.gov is even more direct.
posted by The corpse in the library at 11:21 AM on August 4, 2020 [1 favorite]
my2020census.gov is even more direct.
posted by The corpse in the library at 11:21 AM on August 4, 2020 [1 favorite]
"Hazte contar" translates both as "get yourself counted" and "make yourself count" so it's a pretty good slogan.
"It takes only a few minutes" -> "Solo tarda unos minutos en completarse"
posted by sukeban at 12:52 PM on August 4, 2020 [4 favorites]
"It takes only a few minutes" -> "Solo tarda unos minutos en completarse"
posted by sukeban at 12:52 PM on August 4, 2020 [4 favorites]
I'd stick with short and sweet for sidewalk slogans. It only takes one rainy morning or leaky hose to wipe out your efforts.
HAZTE CONTAR and the website, that's it. If you have lots of space, just repeat at intervals. Seeing a snappy slogan repeated over and over is more effective than lots of details about how info gets used or reminders to take a photo as a reminder and share with others.
The one caveat is if you think your Spanish speaking neighbors are recent immigrants and under the impression than census = citizens only, in which case you could add a line about "the census counts everyone" or "everyone counts in the census," whichever would be idiomatic in Spanish.
posted by basalganglia at 1:10 PM on August 4, 2020 [4 favorites]
HAZTE CONTAR and the website, that's it. If you have lots of space, just repeat at intervals. Seeing a snappy slogan repeated over and over is more effective than lots of details about how info gets used or reminders to take a photo as a reminder and share with others.
The one caveat is if you think your Spanish speaking neighbors are recent immigrants and under the impression than census = citizens only, in which case you could add a line about "the census counts everyone" or "everyone counts in the census," whichever would be idiomatic in Spanish.
posted by basalganglia at 1:10 PM on August 4, 2020 [4 favorites]
Here is a translation of the passage you requested:
"Ya llenaste el censo? Toma 10 minutos! Ve a 2020Census.Gov. Tome una foto de este mensaje para recordarte, y compártelo con los demás! Llenar el censo es importante para esta comunidad - determinará cuántos billones de dólares se gastarán en los próximos 10 años para programas como el almuerzo escolar, transporte público, asistencia para la vivienda, y muchos más."
posted by Pfardentrott at 1:32 PM on August 5, 2020 [1 favorite]
"Ya llenaste el censo? Toma 10 minutos! Ve a 2020Census.Gov. Tome una foto de este mensaje para recordarte, y compártelo con los demás! Llenar el censo es importante para esta comunidad - determinará cuántos billones de dólares se gastarán en los próximos 10 años para programas como el almuerzo escolar, transporte público, asistencia para la vivienda, y muchos más."
posted by Pfardentrott at 1:32 PM on August 5, 2020 [1 favorite]
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HAZTE CONTAR
En el CENSO 2020
I know your message is longer than that but I think hazte contar is, like, the official Spanish language messaging for this census and election year. Might be a good place to build off of!
posted by phunniemee at 10:56 AM on August 4, 2020 [6 favorites]