10/04/2006 - 10/05/2006

Localization World Scheduled for October 16-18, 2006, in Montréal, Québec, Canada

Localization World focuses on processes and solutions for adapting a product, service or software application to a specific language or culture to seem native to that particular region.

The translation and localization services sector is vital to many businesses worldwide, and the industry will generate approximately US$9 billion in 2006. The Canadian localization market is particularly robust. The Localization World conference is designed to appeal to all levels of localization professionals and managers, both on the customer side and service side. Representatives from 60 countries have registered for the event.

Diversity and Leadership: a multi-cultural perspective

PeoplePlus, a leadership development consultancy, based at Knowledge Village, have added a new dimension to their Leadership Throughout ™ portfolio of workshops.

Aimed at helping organisations to meet the demands of rapid growth, their workshop 'Diversity and Leadership: a multicultural perspective' is designed to give both emerging and existing leaders a culturally focused understanding of those they work with. It equips them to leverage individuals effectively regardless of their cultural background.

Ethnic diversity 'not widespread'

Fewer than one in 10 of English and Welsh local authorities are ethnically-diverse despite a growth in ethnic minorities, research suggests.

The study by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) is based on a new method of analysing 2001 census data.

Sharp and IBM's Real-Time Language Translator

So is this finally it? Is this the real-time language translator that will make talking with people in a foreign language as easy as it is in science fiction films, where it seems like everyone speaks English? Maybe. Sharp and IBM introduced this hand held device that the companies say can translate Japanese to English and vice versa in real time. It's set to ship at the end of this year for around $508.

Licensee offers Polish translation of regulation

Most publicans will admit to occasionally struggling with the sheer weight of red tape and regulation that burdens the industry. So imagine how much tougher it must be if English is not your first language.

A Staffordshire pub is offering a potential lifeline to the increasing number of pubs with Polish kitchen staff – a translation from English into Polish of the latest food safety and hygiene regulations from someone working at the sharp end.

word of the day: tutelary

tutelary \TOO-tuh-lair-ee; TYOO-\, adjective:
Having the guardianship or charge of protecting a person or a thing; guardian; protecting; as, "tutelary goddesses."

For the first time in history, a republic welcomed, perhaps even required, the release of the individual from tutelary powers, and in particular from religious authority. -- Diana Schaub, "On the Character of Generation X", Public Interest, Fall 1999

God is perceived less as a savior that cleanses one's sins than as a tutelary god who provides guidance and help. -- Kwai Hang Ng, "Seeking the Christian tutelage", Sociology of Religion, Summer 2002

cross cultural mergers - synergy or disaster?

A non-international merger can already be complex enough with each company having its distinct business culture. When the merger becomes international, the complexity and the stakes increase. Not only do the merger partners have to reconcile different business cultures but they also have to contend with far-flung locations, different languages, customs and laws.

To take a recent example, the Air France-KLM merger announced on 30 September 2003 is expected to generate revenues of over USD 22 billion, according to news reports. As an airline serving 226 destinations with an operating fleet of 540 aircraft and over 100,000 people on their payroll, Air France-KLM is now the largest airline in Europe.

translation companies profit from iraq and afghanistan

Veritas Capital, the second-largest private equity firm targeting U.S. defense contracts, is seeking $4.6 billion in Army translation business in Iraq, giving L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. its first competition for the work.

Demand for linguists has soared because of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The Army next month will award $5.52 billion in translation contracts worldwide, mostly in Iraq, up from $10 million in the last bidding in 1999. L-3 is making a joint bid for the Iraq business with Northrop Grumman Corp., the Army's second-biggest translator.

english language provision in crisis

It is 5.30am and still dark, but already a queue has started forming outside Tower Hamlets College in Poplar, east London. The prospective students, including Bangladeshi older people and young Somali men and women, are desperate to get on to the oversubscribed English language lessons. At 9.30am, as enrolment finally starts, more than 200 adult learners sign up for free courses starting in January - but hundreds are turned away as demand for places outstrips supply.

word of the day: bloviate

bloviate \BLOH-vee-ayt\, intransitive verb:
To speak or write at length in a pompous or boastful manner.

Anyone who has ever spent an idle morning watching the Washington talk shows has probably wondered: how did these people become entitled to earn six-figure salaries bloviating about the week's headlines? -- Robert Worth, "Quick! The Index!", New York Times, June 3, 2001

After five years as president and thirty years as a political figure, this colossal oaf is still unable to discipline his urge to . . . bloviate. -- R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr., American Spectator, December 19, 1997