Intercultural Communication and Translation News

Guanxi. It’s the first word any businessperson learns upon arriving in China. Loosely translated, guanxi means “connections” and, as any China veteran will tell you, it is the key to everything: securing a business license, landing a distribution deal, even finding that coveted colonial villa in Shanghai. Fortunes have been made and lost based on whether the seeker has good or bad guanxi, and in most cases a positive outcome has meant knowing the right government official, a relationship nurtured over epic banquets and gallons of XO brandy.

Now, like so many things in China, the old notion of guanxi is starting to make room for the new. Businesspeople—local and foreign—are tapping into emerging networks that revolve around shared work experiences or taking business classes together. Networking that once happened in private rooms at chichi restaurants now goes on in plain view—at wine-tastings for the nouveau riche, say, or at Davos-style confabs such as the annual China Entrepreneurs Forum held annually at China’s Yabuli ski resort. By tapping into these informal groups, Western companies can theoretically improve their understanding of the marketplace, hire the best talent, and find potential business partners.

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A novel idea to capitalise on language skills held by police in Westminster could help soothe some of the tensions caused by fighting terrorism, a senior officer has said.

More than 300 officers in Westminster, central London, have volunteered to register their often previously untapped skills.

Police hope a new database of language and cultural skills aimed at improving communication between officers and residents will lead the way for forces across the UK.

Borough commander Steve Allen said there is a danger that diversity work is being “overtaken” by a focus on counter-terrorism.

Speaking about how the fight against extremists threatened to alienate some sections of the community, he said: “This is a real challenge, not just for us in Westminster but for us as a society.”

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Yahoo! today announced the availability of a Chinese language version of Yahoo! Go 2.0 for Taiwan.

Yahoo! Go 2.0 is an innovative application, designed specifically for the mobile user, that allows consumers to personalize their mobile Internet experience with content from the entire Internet and a reinvention of mobile search via Yahoo! oneSearch.

The Chinese language version of Yahoo! Go 2.0 for Taiwan features a suite of widgets, including oneSearch, address book, calendar, Flickr photos, weather, news, sports and financial information.

“With the launch of a Chinese language version of the popular Yahoo! Go 2.0 service for Taiwan, millions of consumers now can have the full power of the open Internet in their pockets,” said David Ko, vice president and general manager, Connected Life Asia, Yahoo!. “With products like Yahoo! Go 2.0, we are focused on creating innovative mobile services that provide a positive user experience, fit the mobile device and put the user in control.”

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 Dublin City University is to lead a €30m research partnership which hopes to develop the next generation of high-tech automatic language translation.

DCU will work in tandem with other Irish colleges in the five-year research project, which is being funded by Science Foundation Ireland.

SFI will contribute €16.8m in funding to the project, with international and domestic industry partners ploughing €13.6m into the venture.

The plan is that the research will transform the localisation sector of Ireland’s global software business. Localisation is the process of adapting things like digital content, download manuals and software to other languages and cultures.

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Hundreds of European tourists have been refused entry to Libya after an unannounced change to passport rules.

From the evening of 11 November, visitors without an Arabic translation of their passports have been denied entry, even if they have valid visas.

Libya is the only Middle Eastern country to take such a step.

Correspondents say the sudden change of policy appears to go against Tripoli’s recent attempts to promote itself as a western tourist destination.

No warning of the change was given to foreign embassies.

Read more> BBC