Glossika Mexican Spanish translation question

[ShawnP]

Hello everyone,

I have a simple question I hope someone can answer. Working through the Glossika Mexican Spanish course, I’ve came across some sentences, using “has been or have been” that are constructed differently. I can’t seem to wrap my head around when to use the llevar vs. he, has, ha, hemos han estado. The below sentences quite similar but are translated differently. I’m sure it will come in time, but I wanted to make sure I wasn’t learning incorrectly. I'm not sure how to add accent marks, so please overlook. Thanks for your time.

Maalik’s in Seattle right now. He has been there for the last three days. Maalik esta en Seattle ahora mismo. Ha estado allli los ultimos tres dias.
Mexico has been an independent country since 1821. Mexico lleva siendo un pais independiente desde mil ochocientos veintiuno.

Geonhong has been here since Tuesday. Geonhong ha estado aqui desde el martes.
Michel has been sick for a long time. Michel lleva enfermo mucho tiempo.

[iguanamon]

This is one of the inherent problems of depending too much on translation. A language is not a cipher code where words are equivalently plugged and chugged. Both carry the same meaning in English but can be expressed differently in Spanish. So, yes "ha estado" is closest to English "has been". "Lleva siendo" is more literally "continues (llevar meaning to carry- transporting physically or metaphorically, I chose "continues" here, but translation is hard work) being" but if it were translated into English like this it would be an awkward sentence:

"Mexico lleva siendo un pais independiente desde mil ochocientos veintiuno."
"Mexico continues being an independent country since 1821" just simply doesn't sound right in English, hence a more free translation of "has been" carries the meaning of the sentence without being awkward in English.

[caam_imt]

"Llevar" here sounds wrong, I would write it like this:
México ha sido un pais independiente desde 1821.

This one can also be written in the same way:
Michel lleva/ha estado enfermo mucho tiempo.

I agree with Iguanamon, don't rely too much on translations. There are often many ways to write stuff, but chances are that it sounds off to native speakers if you don't do it our/their way. Also, don't worry too much, just practice and be sure to use native materials as soon as you can. Good luck!

[JohannaNYC]

I noticed that the translations stick very closely to the English word order which works most of the time, but not always. It would sound more natural to say:
"Michel lleva mucho tiempo enfermo."

"Ha estado enfermo mucho tiempo" would also be correct, but in this case "llevar" is more common.

Also, more often than not dates have "el" written in front of them.
"Mexico lleva siendo un pais independiente desde el mil ochocientos veintiuno."
Or better yet, similar to what caam_imt said,
"México ha sido un pais independiente desde el 1821."