What consequences can it have for a patient if they do not understand the instructions their doctor gives them? This is perhaps the most striking case, because one does not play with health, of all the objectives that seek to satisfy a more direct and understandable language for citizens, what is known as clear language and also easy reading.
“Clarity in language in the Administration improves public service and opens the possibility of communication with the administered, in addition to being the basis of accessibility,” said the Ombudsman, Ángel Gabilondo, in his speech at the first convention of the Pan-Hispanic Clear Language Network, promoted by the RAE.
For some time now, many social agents have been demanding an effort from institutions to use clear and direct language, so that any citizen can clearly understand what is being said to them, rejecting complex constructions and unnecessary circumlocutions, whose only merit is to hinder understanding. of the message.
With regard to the Spanish language, the initiative for easy understanding of the language was established in June 2022, in an event at the Supreme Court of Justice of Chile, with the purpose of promoting clear and accessible language as a foundation of democratic and citizenship values, and propose solutions for their implementation throughout the Spanish-speaking world. That is to say, that the communications from any public entity, school or hospital that treats us with a health problem are understandable without the need to have extensive linguistic knowledge on the subject or know the specific terminology of each citizen area.
This Monday and Tuesday, in Madrid, the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE), the Association of Spanish Language Academies (Asale) and two hundred institutions that have joined the initiative have held this first convention, with the purpose of promoting clear language in the public sphere. The interventions addressed the judicial, political, educational, third sector, media and even artificial intelligence sectors.
On Monday, at the opening of the convention, the director of the RAE and president of Asale, Santiago Muñoz Machado, praised the growth and importance of the adoption of clear language in official and legal communication addressed to citizens. “Now the laws are indebted to the language,” said Machado, a jurist by profession and director of the Pan-Hispanic Legal Dictionary.
King Felipe, who presided over the closing, stated: “The conclusions of this convention will serve all public powers and entities that provide services of general interest to improve the transparency of their programs and actions, which will undoubtedly contribute to strengthening the quality of democracies”. Likewise, pan-Hispanic academic resources to support clear language have been presented, which include the Pan-Hispanic Guide to Clear and Accessible Language, to be published in the future.