image: Enrique Pato, a Hispanic studies professor at University of Montreal Department of Literature and Modern Languages, is investigating how to help Céline Dion get wider audiences in Latin America. view more
Credit: Claude Lacasse, University of Montreal
This release is available in French.
Montreal, February 17, 2008 – Céline Dion has won over the hearts of millions of fans around the world by delivering hit after hit in both French and English. Yet the global chart queen hasn't fully conquered Latin America, with a potential fan base of 500 million people, according to a group of Canadian academics.
That's why Enrique Pato, a Hispanic studies professor at Université de Montréal Department of Literature and Modern Languages, has established the Research Group on Spanish in America (RGSA) to provide the Quebec diva with new tools to break through Spanish-speaking markets. Composed of 14 Master's and Ph.D. students of Quebec and Latin American origin, the RGSA began studying Dion's Spanish songs and revised their translations. They also developed a synthesis for the pronunciation difficulties encountered by the singer and selected original Spanish and Latin American songs the songstress could include in future albums.
The objective of the RGSA is to provide Dion linguistics advice and help her fluently reinterpret her songs in Spanish. "Céline Dion's repertoire includes four Spanish songs. She could record an entire Spanish record and garner great popularity among Latinos that remain an unconquered market," says Professor Pato, a Madrid native.
To gain greater Latin American exposure, says Pato, Dion will need to correct Spanish diction faults evidenced in the songs Amar haciendo el amor, Aún existe amor, Mejor decir adiós and Sola otra vez (the Spanish version of All by Myself). The professor says Dion needs to pronounce each "Z" as though it were an "S" and learn to roll her "Rs" as Latinos do.
Neither Dion nor her manager-husband René Angélil commissioned the research group, which was created as a learning tool for linguistics students. "Will the Research Group on Spanish in America become a new source of inspiration for Céline Dion and her team? Who knows. We hope she'll like the idea of singing more often in Spanish," says Professor Pato.
About the RGSA:
Members of the Research Group on Spanish in America include Pilar Ahumada (Chile-QC), Belkis Barrios (Venezuela-QC), Patricia Carrera (Argentina-QC), Victor Fernández (Chile-QC), Isabel Foy Valencia (Peru-QC), Daniel Giraldo (Colombia-QC), Adriana Hernández Sierra (Mexico-QC), Catherine Huneault (QC), Corinne Langlois (QC), Victor Lopez (Chile-QC), Christian Pageau (QC), Enrique Pato (Spain-QC), Denia Portillo (El Salvador-QC), Luz Helena Rodríguez (Colombia-QC) and Raphael Vargas (Peru-QC).
On the web:
About the Université de Montréal: www.umontreal.ca/english/index.html
About the Université de Montréal Department of Literature and Modern Languages: www.littlm.umontreal.ca.