To which language should you translate to localize in Argentina?
What we know from our community
Argentina speaks one language: Spanish. The difference with the one used in Spain and most of Latin America is the “VOSEO”. This means that the formal use of addressing a person (“USTED”) is replaced by the informal form of address (“VOS”). So, if a headline reads: “USTED PUEDE GANAR” or “TÚ PUEDES GANAR”, it is clearly not intended for Argentina. Instead, it would read: “VOS PODÉS GANAR.”
Like most countries, there are differences in idiomatic expressions and inflections, mainly defined by geographic circumstances. For example, people from the Córdoba Province are well known for having a very distinctive accent (and also for drinking ridiculous amounts of Fernet). Up north, Salta and Jujuy have their own singular cadence and pronunciation, similar to that of Bolivia. Misiones Province, closer to Brazil, has its own funny intonation. And the rest of Argentina speaks pretty much similar to the Spanish you hear in Buenos Aires. There are a few dialects used mainly by indigenous communities.
LANGUAGE INSIGHT
Official language
Spanish (96%; 44.78 mln)
Actual languages
Spanish (96%; 44.78 mln), Italian (1.7%; 793k), Guaraní (0.5%; 233k), Quechua (0.2%; 93k), other (1.6%; 746k)
What the top 150 best localized websites in the world do in Argentina
(Top 150 websites listed in the Global by Design ranking – published annually by Byte Level Research, this report provides a list of globally localized websites, showcasing best practices and emerging trends in their globalization)
92/150 localize by translating into standard Spanish
13/150 localize by translating into the Argentinian variant of Spanish
3/150 localize by translating into LatAm Spanish variant
1/150 localizes by translating into both LatAm Spanish and Cymraeg
1/150 localizes by translating into LatAm Spanish, French and Simplified Chinese
1/150 localizes by translating into Spanish, French, German, Korean and Japanese
1/150 localizes by translating into Spanish, Italian, French, German, Portuguese, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Polish, Hungarian, Romanian, Bahasa Indonesia, Thai, Ukrainian, Russian and Turkish
1/150 localizes by translating into Spanish, Cymraeg, Nivaclé language, Guaraní, Quechua and Argentinian Sign Language
1/150 localizes by translating into Spanish, Cymraeg and Nivaclé language
1/150 localizes by translating into Spanish, Cymraeg, Guaraní and Quechua