Intercultural Communication and Translation News

The business set up in the Philippines is hierarchical. Intercultural management needs to take into account the need to maintain a formal manner and pay strict attention to titles, positions, and hierarchical relationships. Expect to find many gatekeepers whose job is to protect the schedule of and limit access to the ultimate decision maker. In this relationship-driven culture, you will find it easier to make the proper contacts if a third party who already has a relationship with the decision maker makes the introduction.

Filipinos avoid behaviors that would make either party lose face. This leads to an indirect communication style, so carefully watch facial expressions and body language. This is a country where a smile may mean many different things, not all of them positive.

Read more > Intercultural Management Philippines

Travellers who have not familiarised themselves with the value of local currency are going over budget on their holidays, according to new data.

In a survey conducted by American Express Global Foreign Exchange Services, 46 per cent of tourists admitted to not fully understanding the conversion rate to the currency in their chosen destination.

Vice president of American Express Global Foreign Exchange Services Helen Grace noted that with the increasing demand for exotic currencies, such as the Dominican Peso and the United Arab Emirates Dirham, holiday makers must improve their knowledge of local currencies or risk over spending significantly while abroad.

Ms Grace said: “It can be really difficult to stick to a budget when you are unsure of the currency rate, and some find it hard to think of foreign currency as real money.”

The survey concluded that travellers are losing £975 million pounds per year due to confusion over foreign currency.

Read more > AMEX

The growing translation bill makes a mockery of the Government’s pledge that migrants wanting to settle in the UK must demonstrate a command of the language.

By the time newcomers are applying for a passport they will have already passed a citizenship test and are supposed to at least be able to answer basic questions.

But translators are still needed for some when they attend the new face-to-face interviews, designed to question applicants and cut down on identity fraud or bogus claims.

More than a quarter of a million pounds was spent on such services by the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) last year.

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “It is absurd that interpreters are being provided for people who the rules say must be able to speak English to qualify for a passport.

“This suggests that the Government’s pledge to make sure a passport was conditional on being able to speak the language and integrate is simply hot air – leaving taxpayers to pick up the bill.

“We must have proper control of migration and citizenship, but the authorities seem more interested in talking tough and then leaving taxpayers to pay the price.”

Read more > UK

Gmail, Google’s email service, has launched Message Translation, a service which automatically translates 41 languages.

The feature integrates Google Translate technology into Gmail and will appear within Gmail Labs as an experiment called “Message Translation”. It will be available to Gmail users around the world.

Message Translation will automatically translate email conversations between 41 languages, allowing people from different countries to conduct entire conversations in multiple languages. Each participant will be able to read the emails in whichever language they prefer.

Read more > Gmail