04/16/2007 - 04/17/2007

The Workplace: Profiting from diversity

Johan Talenti, a 43-year-old Swedish entrepreneur, says he does not see himself as a do-gooder or activist. "You don't run a company for the sake of taking social responsibility," he said, sitting in the offices of Silentium, a fast-growing telemarketing company that he founded in 1998. "You do it to make money."

But he has also done something that he thinks many more business leaders should do: He has made a conscious effort to diversify his staff. And, he said, the results have contributed to Silentium's success.

This might not sound unusual, especially from an American perspective. In the United States, promoting diversity in the work place has been part of business planning for years. Many big companies even have a chief diversity officer. But in Sweden, as in much of Europe, this has simply not been the case.

Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions

A new U.N. treaty entered into force on March 18, 2007: the "Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions." This new treaty has been ratified by 56 nations, and it is only a matter of time (and who occupies the White House) before it is presented to the U.S. Senate for ratification.

The purpose of the treaty is to further integrate the world into a global village by applying a few more strokes of the international eraser to national borders and national sovereignty.

European survey on language skills

The European Commission has adopted a Communication presenting a European Survey on the foreign language skills of pupils in the EU Member States. The survey will test pupils' skills in their first and second foreign languages learned.

In the first round of testing, planned to be carried out in 2009, the tests will measure three skills (reading, listening and writing) in the first and second most widely taught European languages of the EU: English, French, German, Spanish and Italian.

Korean officials vow to improve court translations

South Korean legal officials acknowledged that the English translation system for U.S. troops in local courts has flaws, but they’re working to fix many of the issues.

“We are currently trying hard to select simultaneous interpreters who are … proven capable of carrying out the court trial proceedings translation,� said an official with the Criminal Judicial Policy Division of the Supreme Court of Korea who declined to provide his name. The translation problem isn’t limited to Americans, he said. People from many different countries wind up in court in South Korea and officials are struggling to find them qualified translators.

Even a Sofa label can get Lost in Translation!

A racial slur that appeared on the label of a leather couch may be a case of 'lost in translation.'

That's the possible explanation being put forth by the sofa's supplier. The offensive label was discovered last week by Doris Moore's young daughter Olivia after the furniture was delivered to their home. "I didn't even know what it was. I had never heard of the word," the youngster admitted, upon seeing the colour label, which read "Nigger Brown."

The furniture store where Moore bought the couch claimed no knowledge of the label and suggested the supplier should be contacted. The supplier didn't want to speak on camera, nor did he disclose the name of the sofa's Chinese manufacturer. However, he emailed CityNews with a picture of the Chinese translation that the company may have used to get the colour name.

Word of the Day: cavort

cavort \kuh-VORT\, intransitive verb:
1. To bound or prance about.
2. To have lively or boisterous fun; to behave in a high-spirited, festive manner.

. . .Enkidu, who was seduced by gradual steps to embrace the refinements of civilization, only to regret on his deathbed what he had left behind: a free life cavorting with gazelles. -- Yi-Fu Tuan, Escapism

But why struggle with a term paper on the elements of foreshadowing in Bleak House when I could be cavorting on the beach. -- Dani Shapiro, Slow Motion