English voiceover

Happy New Year! ¡Feliz Año Nuevo! Why My Ritual of A Word Of The Year?

December 28, 2023 by Rosi Amador

Updated from a previously published post.

Instead of making a New Year’s resolution, for many years I have picked a “word of the year” to guide my decisions each year. My Word of the Year last year was ASPIRATION, and I’m happy to say that I definitely brought that word to fruition. I studied and advanced my learning with coaches in both my voiceover and singing careers. I studied online with an amazing VO coach in Madrid and another in the U.S to make my auditions pop and to book more work. And I studied with several expert vocal improvisation coaches throughout 2023, both online and in person, which filled my heart with more joy than I can express in words.

Unintended Consequences

Along with all this growth, guess what happened? I was overcommitted, ran around a lot doing so many things I loved and found I had too little downtime (big surprise, right?!) so my new word for 2024 is EASE. Oddly enough, when I was looking at my blog post from 2020 about my word of the year it was… EASE. I had completely forgotten! This is clearly a recurring need for me, as my family could tell you.

So here’s what I’m thinking: I will continue to study and take working vacations, but at a more relaxed pace. That way I can enjoy my life more fully and keep working on that never ending life/work balance! My hope is that all of my choices next year will be guided by this word. Do me a favor and email me every now and then to see how I’m doing. 😉 Who knows? Maybe it will help you, too.

A LITTLE UPDATE ON OUR FAMILY’S VO’s LAST YEAR

Fabulous Museum Audio Tour Narrations

We are thrilled to share that museums around the country invited us to narrate audio guides and audio descriptions. Some of our favorites this year were: MoMa, The Getty Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Miami Institute of Contemporary Art, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Seattle Art Museum and The Jewish Museum. You can hear some examples and videos here.

We were so fortunate in 2023 to guide thousands of visitors through various exhibits and travel destinations. Whether it’s in English, Spanish, or even Hispanic accented English, we thoroughly enjoy recording this type of work. It feels as though we are exploring the world, all from the comfort of our studio!

Brilliant Health-Themed Narrations/eLearning

We also worked on a wide variety of health and medical projects, recording spots for hospitals, health insurance plans, medical products, and health-related educational programs.

Health-medical commercial voiceover should exude warmth and reassurance. It should also demonstrate expertise in a confident and authoritative manner. The voice should bring to mind a knowledgeable doctor who not only excels in her field but also possesses the bedside manner that makes you feel at ease. That is what we had the privilege of doing for clients such as: JSI, MCD, Mount Sinai Hospital and Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Check out this playlist to see and hear for yourself.

Inspiring Public Television Voiceovers

Public television and radio have always played a significant role in our family’s life. We have been enthusiastic advocates and dedicated viewers/listeners for many years. That’s why we love recording promos, educational narrations, pledge drives and community outreach media for many stations around the country and are grateful for their trust in us to help them with their projects.

Last year, we had the joy of working with our new clients Oregon Public Broadcasting and North Carolina PBS, and some of our cherished regulars like Maryland Public Television and WNET Thirteen in New York City. Here are some samples for you to check out.

Overdubs and Translations

Overdubbing into Spanish is an art. It requires skill and patience because there are about a third more words in Spanish than in English, and making it sound natural is one of our specialties. We love the challenge. Check out our playlist of overdubs if you’re curious.

Other Genres

As always, we cherish the opportunity to work with our clients and welcome new ones who may want us to work in different genres from the ones I highlighted above.

Happy 2024 to all! Contact us by clicking here and tell us how we can help you. ¡Feliz año nuevo!

Our son Zia is more available than ever for voiceover

Zia Amador is now fully done with college and now can help you with his gender-fluid/younger male voice. Some of the projects he did this year include Central Park Conservancy, MoMA, JSI and WNET Thirteen,

Our family looks forward to collaborating with you this year. Let us know (hyperlink) if you have any bilingual projects in mind.

Two Sides to “Bilingual”

September 14, 2023 by Brian Amador

Updated from a previously published post.

The growth of the Hispanic population in the U.S. (around 18% of the population in 2023) has led to increased demand for audio content targeted to that demographic. All genres of voiceover work, from commercials and explainer videos to e-learning, corporate narration, promos and more, are incorporating Spanish and bilingual content. And the increased demand has brought an expansion of VO talent offering their services in Spanish, from fluent native speakers to those who learned a little Spanish in high school.

I think anyone seriously involved in Spanish or English-Spanish bilingual voiceover work would agree that it’s not a good idea to sell yourself as a Spanish-speaking talent if you are not able to speak the language fluently, expressively and with an impeccable accent. In this regard, there are obvious advantages to hiring talent born and educated in a Spanish-speaking country.

But it’s not an absolute necessity. There are U.S.-born Spanish speakers who are completely bilingual – native speakers who can speak both English and Spanish and switch effortlessly between the two languages.

Full Bilingualism = Value Added

In my career as an English/Spanish bilingual voice actor, my standards are exactly the same for both languages: perfect, native pronunciation and expression. Surprisingly, I’ve found that sometimes being a native English speaker is just as important as being a native Spanish speaker. Being fully bilingual has advantages:

It’s important to recognize errors in translation and be able to make suggestions to correct them. Sometimes English expressions are translated directly into Spanish; if you are familiar with the colloquial expressions in English, it may be easier to find the best Spanish equivalent.
Some translation problems are due to grammatical errors or ambiguities in the source text. If you have a complete command of written English, you can more easily identify and correct these errors.
In overdubs, errors in translation may be due to the translator misunderstanding spoken English words because of the speaker’s accent or dialect. As a native English speaker, I am able to understand many different accents (although I admit I still watch “Masterpiece Theatre” with the subtitles on!)
For recordings of a specified duration, mastery of both languages makes it easier to adapt translations to fit in in a given time without sacrificing the meaning of the source copy.
It’s an extra perk for the client to be able to use the same voice talent in English and Spanish and have both languages sound natural and conversational.

Quality is What Matters

Given the growing importance of the Spanish language in the United States, and just as a matter of principle, the standards for Spanish and bilingual voiceover should always be as high as they are for English. It is as important for creators of content in Spanish, as it is for English-language creators, to find speakers who have a perfect command of the language, whether they are “native” or ”imported” speakers. There are two sides to “bilingual”. In some cases, mastery of English may be just as important as mastery of Spanish.

Amador Bilingual Voiceovers Brian Demos

A Game-Changer for Hispanic Content Producers: The Revolutionary Accent-o-Meter!

January 31, 2018 by Brian Amador

Finding the Right Accent

Producers of content for the Hispanic market often rely on Hispanic-accented English voiceover to reach their target audience. But finding the right amount of Hispanic accent can be a challenge. Well, we’ve just made that job easier with[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Want Hispanic-accented English voiceover, but you don’t how MUCH accent you need? Just use this nifty little tool to find exactly what you’re looking for! Don’t stop before you reach Level 6.

The Revolutionary Accent-o-Meter™!

Readers of this blog probably know that a large part of our voiceover work is in Hispanic-accented English. While we love doing this work, the process of determining just how MUCH accent the client wants can be rather time consuming. I love figuring out ways to solve problems, so one day I put on my thinking hat to work on this one.

Necessity – the Mamá of Invention

I thought, “Wouldn’t it be great if our clients could hear the same copy read with varying levels of accent, and choose the level they want?” From that came the idea of creating an audio player for that purpose, and the Accent-o-Meter was born! Now anyone interested in hearing the different types of Hispanic-accented voiceover we can provide simply has to click on a name, a level and the play button. They can hear varying levels of accent in the voices of Rosi Amador, Alisa Amador, and yours truly, Brian Amador. Try it at
accent-o-meter.com; it’s fun! Make sure to keep listening through Level 6!

Aside from making our website more interactive and engaging (and who doesn’t love that?), this is a very practical tool. It allows producers to:

zero in, with their clients and creative team, on how much accent is appropriate for their project.
communicate clearly with voice talent how much accent they need. (Note to producers: although of course we’d love it if you hired us, feel free to use the Accent-o-Meter as a reference any time you use Hispanic-accented talent.)
save time and labor for both producers and voice talent.
hear and compare different accents in male, female, and young adult female voices.

But it Wouldn’t Have Happened Without…

Like many of my ideas, for quite some time the Accent-o-Meter existed only in my head. It wasn’t until I reached out to our friend and colleague Joe Davis of Voice Actor Websites that it began to move toward fruition. Joe put me in touch with his colleague Karin Barth, who did a phenomenal job on both the design and the functionality, creating an easy-to-use widget that looks great on our site. Kudos to them!

Using Our Voice Overs to Make a Difference

October 13, 2017 by Rosi Amador

The Amador family, Brian, Alisa, Sonia, and I, have always enjoyed doing work geared toward making the world a better place. That’s why we were thrilled to provide voice overs for both the English and Spanish versions of La Familia Verde, an environmentally-themed PSA campaign.

Amador Bilingual Voiceovers - The Green Family - La Familia Verde PSA Want to find out how to save money on your energy bills? Want to learn how to stay healthy in a changing climate? Meet the Familia Verde, The Green Family! Their enthusiasm for saving energy may seem a little exaggerated, but they’d love to be your guides to a green, healthy lifestyle.

On this project, we had the pleasure of working for the first time with ChavoBart Digital Media. They’re a media production and distribution company specializing in short-form environmental and educational content. ChavoBart created the delightful Familia Verde segments as part of a campaign sponsored by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.

Hear La Familia Verde in English:

Hear La Familia Verde in Spanish:

All in the Family

As a family of bilingual voiceover artists, we love being able to work together. This is especially true when we get to record meaningful content in both English and Spanish. We hope to be able to lend our voices to many more projects like this – projects that connect our skills with our values. Given the current tendency to ignore science and promote environmentally-damaging energy policies, it’s especially important that we do all we can to protect our planet.

One-Stop Voiceovers

As a family business, we pride ourselves on providing our clients with a one-stop shop for a wide range of voices and languages. Improving the voiceover experience for our clients is something we always strive for! Producers often need to search far and wide to cast their commercials or PSA’s. Not when they come to us! At Amador Bilingual Voiceovers, we can provide all the voices they need in one location. Let our avatars tell you all about it.

Our NEW Voiceover Website for Producers of Hispanic Content!

July 31, 2017 by Rosi Amador

Meaningful Content For the Hispanic Market

¡Bienvenidos a Locuciones Bilingües Amador! Our brand new Spanish voiceover website, www.locucionesbilinguesamador.com, created for producers of Hispanic content, is now online! ¡Estamos encantados de anunciar que finalmente hemos lanzado nuestra nueva página web completamente en español, www.locucionesbilinguesamador.com!

Honoring our Mission

Amador Bilingual Voiceovers‘ mission is to be the foremost provider of Spanish and English voiceover services for clients who create content related to Hispanics and the Spanish language, and who serve Spanish-speaking markets. Being a one-stop voiceover shop for commercials and narrations in perfect neutral Latin American Spanish or North American English, our goal has always been to make our clients’ lives easier through every aspect of our business.

Getting the Word Out – Twice!

One of the most important pieces in building a voiceover business is making yourself known to the people who are looking for your particular skill set. Our new Spanish site enables us to connect with Spanish-speaking content producers in the language in which they’re most comfortable.

Paired with our new whimsical animated, 90-second explainer video, “Somos los Amador – La Familia Latina de Locutores Bilingües” (gracias to the talented team at the Boston University AdLab!), the new site lets us introduce our family of voices to anyone in the U.S. or Latin America looking for voiceover services in North American English, Hispanic-accented English, or neutral Latin American Spanish.

We’re also excited to announce that we’ll be posting the same informative articles you find here on our bilingual voiceover blog in Spanish on the new site moving forward.

It’s All About the Client

Having a wide range of services, languages, and voices to meet our clients’ needs is our raison d’être. Our fully bilingual staff (our studio manager, engineer and social media director are all bilingual, too) are always happy to help make your customer experience a pleasant one.

Let us know what you think of the new Locuciones Bilingües Amador website! Whether in English or Spanish, we invite you to read the latest blog post by Brian, Making Lemons into Limonada.

Haz clic aquí para leer este artículo en español.

Bilingual Voiceover and Marketing to Hispanics

March 19, 2017 by Rosi Amador

Our good friend and super-talented voice actor Doug Turkel recently shared this insightful article with us, “The Importance of Marketing to Hispanics Online in Spanish” by Walter Godinez, which ties in beautifully with our experience in our bilingual voiceover profession.
bilingual voiceover marketing hispanics
As Godinez explains “By the year 2017, the U.S. Hispanic buying power in the United States will equal $1.7 trillion dollars and by the year 2020 the population will represent almost 20 percent of the entire U.S. population.” These statistics show the increasing power of the Hispanic consumer and the increasing need for advertisements and e-learning materials to be in Spanish.

A Bilingual, Bi-Cultural Generation

As the Hispanic population in the U.S. continues to grow, the Spanish language remains important, both culturally and linguistically, to every Hispanic generation. While most Hispanics are bi-cultural, constantly shifting between English and Spanish, marketing that is authentic to Hispanic culture is the most effective way to reach the Hispanic population. However, authentic Hispanic marketing is more than just adding tacos and llamas!

As fluent or semi-fluent Spanish speakers, the Hispanic population in the U.S. appreciates accurately translated and voiced advertising that reflects their culture and identity. Making truly bilingual content targeting Hispanics requires an emphasis on quality in both language and content.

Growing Need for Content in Spanish

Producers of commercial content for and about Hispanics in the United States often hire us to voice ads that promote services and products to the Latino population. In addition, we’re frequently asked to overdub web videos, as well as voicing e-learning content for a Spanish-speaking audience. As the Hispanic population in the United States increases, the importance of educational materials in Spanish becomes necessary for the advancement of future generations. This growing group of people express themselves in both in English and Spanish. Nurturing their bi-cultural identities through bilingual content is a win-win for the producers and consumers.

Bilingual Voiceover Works Both Ways

Here is a bilingual TV commercial I voiced for Nevada Health. (Spanish spot immediately follows English spot.) In this instance our Spanish translation expertise also came into play to help the producer move away from a literally translated script to a more colloquial read that reflected the original English – one that matches how the Latino viewer actually speaks. Sometimes we’re asked to overdub from Spanish to English to make the message accessible to a U.S. audience. Either way, we’re honored that our work helps increase the reach of important messages.

To read more about the importance of bilingual content, check out Brian’s blog post “Two Sides to Bilingual“!