06/23/2006 - 06/24/2006

u.s. army uses world cup to recruit arabic translators

More than 300 million people in over 200 countries are expected to tune in to the World Cup of Soccer this year. Most viewers see an impressive display of athleticism and international camaraderie on a global stage, but local Arab-American community leaders helped Army recruiting officials here see an opportunity.

To promote the Army’s Arabic Translator Interpreter recruitment program, recruiting officials launched an all-Arabic recruitment advertising campaign airing exclusively on Arabic television during the World Cup games.

the cultural crossfire

Ford Motor some religious conservatives last year when it ran advertisements in magazines aimed at gay readers. The Jaguar and Land Rover ads prompted the American Family Association, a Christian group that boasts three million supporters, to call for a boycott if the auto maker didn't pull the ads. The AFA not only objected to Ford's advertising policy, but also to its donations to gay pride events and commitment to other workplace diversity efforts. Blue-chip companies like Microsoft and Procter & Gamble have been targeted by the AFA over similar issues.

Joshua Margolis, professor of business administration at Harvard Business School, says companies and their top executives are increasingly likely to be caught in the cultural crossfire when it comes to controversial social issues. And more and more they're faced with the dueling pressure of achieving outstanding financial performance as well as meeting certain standards the public holds them to.

doctors lack equality training

Health chiefs have been blasted after it was revealed three quarters of hospital doctors in Northern Ireland have never been given training about sex discrimination, race, religious or political discrimination.

Only a third of the medics who responded to a British Medical Association (BMA) survey had ever attended general equality training or disability discrimination training.

when in rome...

A colleague in the European parliament remarked recently that the most widely spoken language in the world is "poor English". Wherever we go in the world, he said, we meet people who have an ability to speak at least some English.

The flip side of that coin is that we native English speakers are, by contrast, getting steadily worse at learning other languages, a fact that is evident at all stages of our education system and which is having a negative effect on UK business. Trade is now significantly lower with non-English speaking countries than with English speaking ones.

liverpool uni cuts language courses

Staff and students at Liverpool John Moores University reacted with outrage last night after it emerged courses in languages and business are to close with the loss of up to 35 jobs.

The University and College union (UCU) vowed to fight back, saying staff had not been consulted about the planned closures of the two schools in languages and business information.

blowing bubbles good for language development

Infants who can blow bubbles and lick their lips are more likely to pick up language quickly, research suggests.

A Lancaster University study of 120 toddlers found the ability to perform complex mouth movements was strongly linked with language development. They also found children who were good at 'pretending' an object was something else had better language skills.

czech translation industry "tough"

Czech translation agencies have an increasing amount of work, but their sales grow mainly owing to a higher number of clients from abroad and permanent clients from large companies, a CTK poll has shown.

Translation prices grow very slowly and translators' wages are way below the European average because of huge competition in the segment, CTK has learnt from experts and agencies.

"Competition is tough," said Ljubov Sucha, chief executive of Artlingua, one of the biggest Czech translation agencies.

word of the day: littoral

littoral \LIH-tuh-rul\, adjective:
1. Of, relating to, or on a coastal or shore region, especially a seashore.
noun:
1. A coastal region, especially the zone between the limits of high and low tides.

Professor Henslow tells me, he believes that nearly all the plants which I brought from these islands, are common littoral species in the East Indian archipelago. -- Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle

A country that is landlocked or has few neighbors will be more vulnerable than one that is littoral or extensive. -- Franklin L. Lavin,, "Asphyxiation or Oxygen? The Sanctions Dilemma", Foreign Policy, September-October 1996