Spanish language healthcare website creates confusion and disappointment

Posted on 01 Feb 2014

Spanish language healthcare website creates confusion and disappointment

Recently a website aimed at Spanish speaking American residents was under criticism for incorrect translation, grammatical errors and cumbersome phrases.

The website,, was created to provide information and encourage Spanish speaking people to find and register for health insurance. With an estimated 44 million US residents only speaking Spanish, the government felt it was important to create a website which is accessible to those who may be more likely to require medical care.

It seems there were a number of problems including a web page with Spanish instructions that linked through to an English form and parts of the website written in a mixture of Spanish and English which makes it difficult to use. Since the site has gone live, users have reported disappointment and frustration in both the functionality and language.

The website creators are gradually correcting their site, as and when problems are reported.

Problems like this can occur when websites or documents are translated by a software programme rather than an experienced translator. Sometimes, the nuances are subtle and would only be picked up by someone who translates in their mother tongue.

An example of this is that the website translates "premium" into "prima," but in Spanish this is more commonly used to mean a female cousin. A more accurate translation, would be "cuotas," "couta mensual" or "costo annual."

For an experienced translation agency, please contact City Legal Translations.

Source - NBC News



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