Intercultural Communication and Translation News

The Academy for Intercultural Dialogue, founded December 2007 in Berlin, has established a new platform: cm-germany.org . Beyond the political scene and exempt from economic incitement, the Academy is designated to provide a forum of dialogue between groups of different political, religious and ethnical backgrounds. With its name ‘Civilisations Matter’, underlining the need of an interdisciplinary and intercultural discussion, this academy is bound to be an international site of encounter for scientists, philosophers, artists, politicians and business representatives.

Read more >  The Academy for Intercultural Dialogue

The survey by networking company LinkMe.com.au found 79 per cent of workers believe body language speaks louder than words, especially when it comes to interpreting the boss’s directions or making sense of a conversation at work.

Furthermore, 87 per cent of the 1568 people surveyed say they are usually correct with their interpretation.

They pick up the warning signs far quicker from understanding body language than analysing words, which can often be ambiguous.

“Body language is a vital part of everyday communication and having the capability of understanding physical signals can have a significant impact on corporate success,” LinkMe CEO Campbell Sallabank said.

“Well-crafted body language helps people in all areas of their career, particularly in interview situations where first impressions are crucial.”

“Emails are misinterpreted so often because the words on screen do not convey the all-important tone, expression or nuance,” Mr Sallabank said.

Read more > Body language 

Welocalize, Inc., a leading provider of integrated globalization services, announced today the acquisition of Sinometrics, a multilingual software localization firm based in Seattle. The acquisition (number eight for Welocalize) signifies another major stepping stone in building a great company with first-class talent and customers.

As the largest Seattle-based localization company, Sinometrics has corned the Seattle market by providing language solutions to technology companies using a value-based service model and a solid technology platform. Their venerable presence and down-the-hall attitude has won Sinometrics significant business from Microsoft and a place as preferred localization service provider for Cisco. “We were immediately impressed by their fresh and forthright approach, and are delighted to join forces in servicing two key customers in the Seattle region,” explains Smith Yewell, CEO of Welocalize.

Read more >  Welocalize, Inc.

Athletes, coaches and officials from 205 nations and regions who visit China during the Olympic Games will be served in 55 languages, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) said on Tuesday.

Foreign-language hotlines would be open around the clock.

“Language services will be provided at all Olympic venues and sites with large-scale activities,” said Zhao Huimin, head of the international department of BOCOG.

Zhao forecast that up to 5,000 oral interpretation services would be provided and daily translation services would reach 500,000 characters.

Read more > Beijing 

There are plenty of programs to help learn a new language but pure translation programs are rare. This is because this type of software is still very much in its infancy.

Enter Linguatec Personal Translator 2008 Home Edition, a reasonably priced package that integrates with a word processor for instant translation of words, sentences or entire documents between English, German, French, Portugese, Spanish, Italian and Chinese.

The program has a logical, friendly layout. The screen can be divided into two areas, vertically or horizontally. One area displays text to be translated, the other shows the results of the translation. We found it easier to split the screen vertically on our widescreen notebook, but the results box can be totally collapsed, leaving what is essentially a text-editor similar to a basic word processor.Read more > Computer Active!