06/15/2007 - 06/16/2007

CILT: Standards in Intercultural Skills

In the global economy, all sectors of UK industry and service provision are now required to operate in multicultural environments, whether in dealing with clients or with their own workforces. Currently, however, there is no national framework for the development or recognition of intercultural skills.

'Intercultural skills' are defined as those skills needed to work effectively with clients and/or colleagues from a range of linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

In early 2006, CILT, the National Centre for Languages completed research into the feasibility of developing National Occupational Standards (NOS) in intercultural skills. The project built on the work of the EU-funded INCA (Intercultural Competence Assessment) project. It involved consultation with employers, employer representatives and regional bodies, Sector Skills Councils, intercultural skills professionals and awarding bodies on whether and how the results of INCA might be used in the development of UK NOS. A summary of the key findings can be downloaded here.

CILT is now leading a project to develop a full set of NOS in intercultural skills.

Bridging the Culture Gap in the Legal field

So many countries, so many rules for attorneys to follow.....

Globalization of the legal world has led more lawyers to travel overseas and work with foreign clients, so grasping another country's customs can make or break a lawyer's deal. "There are many lawyers going abroad who are not aware of the differences, so they offend someone," said Tanja Diklic, who helps bridge the cultural gap between Americans and Europeans as the director of business development and client relations in the New York office of SD Petosevic, a Belgrade, Serbia, law firm. "I've seen people lose business over this."

Why Language Matters on Global Websites

A European Parliament draft report notes that only 6% of consumers buy from websites outside their home countries. One-third who tried to buy had their business refused by the retailer. The report concludes that "in the light of the lack of confidence of European consumers in the digital environment and the many factors that limit cross-border e-commerce, it is regrettable that the E.U. currently has no strategy of its own that would help resolve the situation." According to press coverage, members of the European Parliament (MEP) want to make it easier for European consumers to buy from websites in other member countries. They're advocating a trust mark to increase consumer confidence and a charter of consumer rights.

Multicultural market research series

In 2004 and 2005, Common Sense Advisory released a series of multicultural market research reports. Now, the research firm has released an update to the series completely focused on internet retailers -- who translates their websites, how they respond (or not) to their web forms and e-mail inquiries, and what to know to get a website ready to sell to this demographic.

Three updated reports are included in the series: "Translation, It's the Law," "Reaching America's eLatinos Online: Otra Vez" and, coming soon, "Strategies for Developing Multicultural Sites."

GALA to have major presence at Localization World Berlin

The Globalization and Localization Association (GALA), an international nonprofit association that encourages local communication as an indispensable component to a global strategy, will host several sessions for localization business owners, founders and entrepreneurs attending the upcoming Localization World conference in Berlin, Germany. The GALA-hosted sessions will offer valuable information for running a localization business. They include two sessions on the preconference day on June 19, 2007 -- “Mergers and Acquisitions Uncovered: From Seller to Buyer in 12 Months — an Insider’s Guide to M&A,� and “Practical Standards: Shaping Uniform Language Requirements for Business.� Another GALA hosted session entitled “The Joys and Pains of Growing� will take place on June 22, 2007, and will be moderated by GALA board member Matthias Caesar.

First International Diversity Summer School

Invitation for the First International Diversity Summer School – Vienna, 9.-13. July 2007

The First international Diversity Summer School is a one-week-symposium. It will bring together participants from different international communities for a practice-oriented training event, with the theme "Diversity and Diversity Management: Theory, Practice and Application". In addition to an introduction to the aims and perspectives of "diversity" within the European and international context, the training will focus on these main topics that will be dealt with in the light of participants' case studies and projects:

* Diverse Culture - Diverse Language
* Diversity Standards – Legislations - Quality Assurance
* DiverseCity – Diverse Enterprise – Diverse Projects
* Perpectives & Discussions

Where:

Center for Translation Studies – University of Vienna, Gymnasiumsstrasse 50, 1190 Vienna - Austria, Lecture Room 5 (and others for workshops)

When:

9. bis 13. Juli 2007

DEADLINE FOR REGISTRATION 23. JUNI!
Registration and information (Infos, Program, Downloads, Hotels, Registration): http://www.termnet.org/english/events/idss2007.php
The course will be held English – several lectures will be interpreted in Austrian Sign Language and German. Information about reductions for students and others can be found at the website (6 ECTS-scores credited for students): http://www.termnet.org/english/events/idss2007.php
The IDSS 2007 will be jointly organized by equalizent Vienna (http://www.equalizent.com/) and TermNet (http://www.termnet.org/english/events/idss2007.php )
in cooperation with the Center for Translation Studies - University of Vienna (http://public.univie.ac.at/index.php?id=7188/).
Contact Partner: Anja Drame adrame@termnet.org

China says "Pirates of the Caribbean" attacks Chinese honour

China has censored part of the latest installment of hit Hollywood movie "Pirates of the Caribbean" for "vilifying and defacing the Chinese," the official Xinhua news agency said Friday.

The role of Hong Kong star Chow Yun-Fat, who plays pirate lord Captain Sao Feng, had been slashed in half to just about 10 minutes of screen time, the report said. It cited local magazine The Popular Cinema as saying: "The captain played by Chow is bald, his face heavily scarred. He also has a long beard and long nails, whose image is still in line with Hollywood's old tradition of demonizing the Chinese."

Word of the day: clamber

clamber \KLAM-buhr; KLAM-uhr\, intransitive verb:
1. To climb with difficulty, or on all fours; to scramble.
noun: 1. The act of clambering.

At one point a whole horde of them fell over a shallow cliff. Plumes of red dust rose in the air as they struggled to clamber back up. -- Thomas Beller, The Sleep-Over Artist