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Vol. 62    February, 2006


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Relationship Power

This month Project Manager Tina Cargile and I traveled to see a client who hosted all of their vendors participating in the supply of marketing and product information materials to their worldwide client base. This client handled every detail of the trip, even sending a limo service to the airport to collect us upon arrival. From idea inception to content creation to delivery every vendor and internal process player gathered to meet and understand ‘big picture’ workflow. After work and fun we presented as a team to all division managers. That day we ‘lifted the hood’ and shared the intricacies of the process in place. The program was designed to further cement confidence in the integrity of the workflow system.

The meeting was highly successful on multiple levels. Our contact’s internal clients gained an appreciation for the process and in some cases noted better ways to use the system available. The vendor participants found new ways to work together and several discovered synergies that they could build on to develop revenue from other accounts.

‘This client really GETS IT.’ The power of relationship in building successful solutions is core to the way they do business. This philosophy guides their actions; it works brilliantly.

Culturally Sensitive Customer Service Training … preparing for the WCIT!

Delegates from around the world will arrive in Austin for the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT), May 1 – 5, 2006. McElroy Translation in partnership with Austin Community College and the International Center of Austin is helping Austin prepare to do business with delegates from over 25 different countries. Customized training is being conducted so that the Texas sized welcome offered international visitors is culturally sensitive.

What:            

WCIT 2006 ‘International Friendly’ Training (3 Hours/$25) - To prepare volunteers and individuals in the Austin area workforce who will be providing services to the delegates and their guests attending the 2006 WCIT. Training will provide a focus on increasing awareness of cultural differences and service expectations of WCIT delegates from around the world, as well as providing an orientation on the purpose and process of the WCIT event.


Read more...

“

‘Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the danger of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label of ‘crackpot’ than the stigma of conformity.’

~ Thomas Watson (1874-1956)
American businessman, founder of IBM

”


Aletta Banks –
Key Account Manager

I have always been interested in foreign languages since I was a little girl. I remember as a child, the first thing my father did every morning was to turn on the radio to listen to an English-teaching program hosted by Dr. Doris Brougham, an American who founded the Studio Classroom in 1962 in Taiwan. Even though I had no idea what she was saying at that young age, I grew accustomed to her soft-spoken voice with an intonation that resonated like music in my ear. I thought Chinese and English were the two most beautiful languages in the world.

During World War II, my father served as an intelligence officer working side by side with other Allied officers. After the war, he was a translation officer for the army, retiring eventually to become a high school English teacher. He was always fond of foreign languages. As my father’s admirer, I shared his interest in language.

In middle school, English was my favorite subject. My training in English was also “advanced” by listening to American pop music with my older brother, who would bring home new records from college. At that time only 20% of all high school graduates in Taiwan would go to college. For many parents, the ultimate honor that their children could bring to the family was to pass the College Entrance Examination. The examination score determined a student’s choice of university and major. Fortunately, I passed the exam and was placed in the major I chose, English. I went on to obtain my Master's degree in Mass Communications from Arkansas State University.

The education I received from the U.S. opened many doors for me at a time when English speaking ability was considered a precious commodity in Taiwan. I was hired upon returning to Taiwan (while a student I also served) as a communication specialist for the GIO (Government Information Office) of the Republic of China. In that position I had many memorable experiences. I had the honor of meeting the late legendary Madame Chiang Kai-shek and attend a church service with her and her invited guests in her private chapel. Later as a journalist, I also had the opportunity to meet many fascinating people from incense makers to legislators.

My first job after college was translating American movies/videos for Chinese subtitles. Since then, translation has been a part of who I am. To me, translation is such a fun activity in which the mind is constantly challenged and actively engaged in the course of switching between two languages while searching for the best words or phrases to ensure authenticity between languages. While working as a journalist, I continued in translation with a part-time job as a translator for a publishing company. I was later promoted to be the editor in chief and the added responsibilities made me appreciate more than ever the contributions of a good translator.

The most challenging job I have ever undertaken is the job of a mother. I have two of the most wonderful and adorable children any parent could dream of. They taught me things in life that I would have never learned on my own. Children are the most accepting, forgiving and loving group of people on earth. To me, they are the most precious gifts from heaven.

With one of those gifts of mine in college and another quite independent the time felt right to re-emerge as a career professional. To be working with clients at McElroy Translation is a perfectly logical and very welcome development that nurtures my personal interests and my goals. I feel at home.

GREEN LIGHT SPECIAL ™ – In recognition of the Chinese New Year McElroy is offering 8% off up to $888 for Chinese orders received beginning January 29 (8 is considered a lucky number and certain three-digit numbers that end in 8 are lucky). Just reference “Green Light Special” when you place the order!


Tech Talk

By Evan Norman

Will Web 3.0 Be Localized?
Translation: What the Next Generation of the Web Could Look Like


I am usually too busy with focusing on our industry and the localization work at McElroy to remember to sit down sometimes and follow the latest in web hype. In case you are in the same boat, the buzzword for the past two years among those who love tech buzzwords is Web 2.0 and it even has a conference devoted to it :  http://www.web2con.com/.

Web 2.0 is defined many ways, but one simple definition is “the era when people have come to realize that it's not the software that enables the web that matters so much as the services that are delivered over the web.”

Read more...

Taiwan

Taiwan

The People

The people of Taiwan value hard work, patience, humility, friendliness and respect for others. They are highly motivated and centered around the extended family, their most important economic resource. They dislike loud, showy and unrefined behavior. Bringing shame on anyone (‘loss of face’) brings shame to the entire family.

Meeting and Greeting

  • A nod of the head or a slight bow is considered polite for the first meeting. Handshakes are generally only for males who are friends.
  • Introductions are important. Do not introduce yourself. Instead, have a third person introduce you. At a party or business meeting, wait to be introduced by the host.

Body Language

  • Do not touch anyone, especially a baby, on top of the head.
  • Affection for the opposite sex is not shown in public.
  • Never use your feet to move an object or to point at an object. Feet are considered dirty.
  • Place your hands in your lap when sitting.
  • Men should not cross their legs, but rather place both feet on the floor.
  • Putting an arm around another’s shoulder, winking and pointing with your index finger are all considered rude gestures. Point with an open hand.
  • Palm facing outward in front of face moving back and forth means ‘no’.
  • Placing your right hand over your left fist and raising both hands to your heart is a greeting of respect for the elderly.

Corporate Culture

  • Punctuality is appreciated, but being a few minutes early or late is acceptable. Businesspeople might be late or even miss a meeting.
  • Business cards should be printed in English on one side and Chinese on the other. Make sure that the Chinese side uses ‘classical’ characters, the written form of Chinese used in Taiwan, and not ‘simplified’ characters, which are used in the People’s Republic of China.
  • If possible, bring a team of two to four people (one senior person with decision-making power) to Taiwan. This enhances the status and image of executives and reflects on the seriousness of the meeting.
  • Businesspeople in Taiwan are hard bargainers and may try to gain concessions by wearing the other party down. Be patient. Do not push too hard or too fast in business.
  • Allow your counterparts in Taiwan to set the negotiation pace. Don’t set deadlines; if you do, don’t disclose them. Decisions are made collectively and thus are slow, particularly in the early stages. Once facts are established, agreements can sometimes be reached quickly.
  • People in Taiwan often state their ideas clearly and without hesitation. However, they will generally not say a direct ‘no.’ Instead, they may say, ‘We’ll try.’ ‘Yes’ may mean, ‘I understand.’
  • Friendship is valued in business. Taiwanese businesspeople will want to know you personally before they do business with you. Show commitment, sincerity and respect for Taiwanese counterparts. Visit often and invite business counterparts to the United States.
  • Guan-xi (qwon-she) means connections/personal relationships. Guan-xi is vital for business success in Taiwan. It is developed over a long period of time and influences social, political and commercial relationships.
  • Lawyers are not part of negotiations. Conflicts are expected to be settled by arbitrators and not in the courts.
  • The spoken word is the contract.

Dining and Entertainment

  • Entertaining is required to be successful in business in Taiwan and should never be regarded as a waste of time. Choosing the right restaurant and entertaining well can greatly enhance your chances of success.
  • Dining in Taiwan can be elaborate and exhausting with as many as twenty courses at a banquet. Business entertainment can last late into the night. Reciprocate with a dinner of equivalent value.
  • Be sure to arrive on time or early for a banquet.
  • Do not discuss business at dinner unless your hosts bring it up.
  • Toasting is common. Toasts are often made before and during meals.
  • Toasting is done with wine or liquor. The host starts by raising his/her glass with two hands, one hand supporting the bottom of the glass.
  • The glass should be drained after the toast. Turn your glass upside down to show you have drunk the entire contents.
  • If your Taiwan hosts drink a toast to you and pass you an empty glass, it will be filled by one of the hosts. You are expected to toast your hosts and drink the contents of the glass.
  • Pace your drinking. The drinking and toasting can go on for hours.
  • The guest of honor samples any dish brought to the table first. Be sure to taste the food immediately as everyone else will wait for you before they eat.
  • The hosts will place food on the guests’ plates. Each person helps him/herself to additional food by placing a small amount of food from a variety of dishes in his/her individual rice bowl.
  • Leave some rice in the bowl when you are finished. Always leave a little food on your plate when finished.
  • Place your chopsticks together on the table or on the chopstick rest when you are finished.
  • Don’t be surprised if the Taiwanese spit bones on the table or floor. This is considered more sanitary than removing them with their fingers.
  • Never place bones or seeds in your rice bowl. If a plate is not provided for this purpose, place them on the table.
  • A belch may be considered a compliment at the end of a meal.
  • Tea is served at the end of the meal. This signals the end of the party. Leave even if your host, out of politeness, invites you to stay longer.
  • The host (person who invites) always pays the bill. It is polite for the guest to offer to pay, but don’t insist.

Dress

  • Men should wear suits and ties. Men often remove jackets during meetings.
  • Women should wear conservative suits in blue or gray, dresses, pantsuits, blouses and skirts.

Gifts

  • Gift giving is common in business. Suggested gifts: scotch, ginseng, desk attire.
  • Present and receive a gift with both hands. Gifts are not opened in front of the giver.
  • Recipients may refuse a gift to be polite. Politely persist until the gift is accepted.
  • Custom requires people to reciprocate with a gift of equal value.
  • Gifts should be wrapped with great care. The container of the gift and its wrapping are as important as the gift itself.

Helpful Hints

  • Speaking even a few words of Chinese is greatly appreciated.
  • Revere the elderly. Hold doors, rise when the elderly enter a room, give the elderly your seat, etc.
  • Refer to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as ‘Mainland China.’
Read more...

McElroy Translation appreciates the business of the following clients and announces the anniversaries of these client relationships:

15 Years

  • Amgen Legal Department

10 Years

  • Eli Lilly – Global Product Safety
  • Lynntech
  • Sideris (previously Lynntech)
  • Texas Instruments – Educational Productivity Solutions

5 Years

  • Foley Hoag & Eliot LLP
  • Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear – Los Angeles
  • Reed Smith LLP
  • Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP
  • World Minerals

Also heard…..

 

Last month in the United States we celebrated Martin Luther KING Day on January 16.   I shared with my five year old the glory of Martin Luther King’s accomplishments, his beliefs, his admirable tactics and the difference that he made. After carefully reflecting on this wealth of information she nodded sagely and asked, ‘WHO WAS HIS QUEEN?’

 

Shelly Orr Priebe

Valentine’s Madness

We just couldn’t resist getting in the spirit of the Valentine’s Day. Surprise someone OR indulge yourself with chocolates and flowers. A winner will be selected February 10 in time to place an order for the special day. Chocolates or flowers? We couldn’t decide so the winner gets both!

Note: Deliveries cannot be made to a rural route address.

You know the drill. Just complete the form on our website to enter and win!

HOW TO SAY I love you AROUND THE GLOBE

Wo ai ni (Mandarin)

Ngo oi ney (Cantonese)

Saya cinta padamu (Indonesian)

Sukiyo (Japanese)

Yo te amo / Te quiero (Spanish)

Ich liebe Dich (Germany)

Je t'aime (French)

Sarang Ham-nida (Korean)

Ya tyebya lyublyu (Russian)

Ti amo/Ti voglio bene
 (Italian)

Eu te amo (Portuguese)

Seni seviyorum (Turkish)

Khao raak thoe (Thai)

T'estimo, t'esteme molt (Catalan)

WCIT: World Conference on Information Technology

McElroy translation is sponsoring courses featuring guest instructor Dr. Csaba Dosa to prepare Austin services and businesses for the international visitors that WCIT will bring. WCIT is a world class event that puts Austin, Texas on the map at an entirely new level!

1.    The World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) is the premier IT forum held every two years in a different country. Much like the cities around the world bid to host the Olympics, cities bid to host each WCIT. Awarded to Austin, Texas, WCIT 2006 will be held May 1-5. The next World Congress will be held in Kuala Lumpur in 2008.

2.    WCIT is the signature event of the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA), a consortium of 67 information technology industry associations that represents over 90% of the world’s IT market.

3.    WCIT 2006 differs from other IT events in that it is a global symposium designed to ensure the positive effect of IT on our global community.

4.    WCIT 2006 will bring approximately 2,000 leaders and decision makers from 80 countries to Austin. These will include: CEOs, CIOs, CTOs, Ministers of State, IT Ministers, University Chancellors and R&D Scientists.

5.    Business, government and academic leaders will discuss IT policy, direct the future of technology, and drive social and economic development.

6.    WCIT 2006 will focus on three key global issues: Digital Access, Healthcare, and Privacy and Security.

7.    Following each global impact session, delegates will vote on actionable policy proposals; those proposals receiving a plurality of votes will be published as the official recommendations of WITSA and WCIT 2006.

8.    WCIT 2006 speakers read like the who’s who in the global tech economy. Among the confirmed speakers are:

  • Gen. Colin Powell (USA, Ret.), former United States secretary of state
  • Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft
  • Datukt Seri Abdullah, Prime Minister, Malaysia
  • Michael Dell, Chairman of the Board, Dell, Inc.
  • The Hon. Rick Perry, Governor of the State of Texas
  • Jose Natividad Gonzales Paras, Governor, State of Nuevo Leon, Mexico
  • John Gage, Chief Researcher & Vice President of the Science Office, Sun Microsystems
  • Hector Ruiz, Chairman of the Board, President and CEO, AMD
  • Dr. Richard Granger, Director General of IT, Department of Health, England
  • Anne M. Mulcahy, Chairman and CEO, Xerox Corporation
  • Paul Otellini, President and Chief Operating Officer, Intel Corp.
  • Daniel Scioli, Vice President of Argentina
  • John Thompson, Chairman and CEO, Symantec
  • Chairman & CEO, Tokyo Electron

9.    The Innovation Exchange (IE) is the kick-off event of the overall WCIT 2006 5-day program. IE delegates will explore myriad international trade and investment opportunities and meet with target trading partners.

10.     Sponsors for WCIT 2006 cover the spectrum of international excellence in industry and innovation including governments, high-tech and professional trade organizations.

For more information on WCIT 2006 speakers, please visit wcit2006.

Cultural Training

As mentioned in this E-Buzz edition McElroy Translation will sponsor cultural training to ready Austin for WCIT International visitors. This Inttranews Report indicates that Cultural learning isn't specific to homo sapiens.


Ontario, Canada (Newswise): Killer whales, which lure gulls by setting traps, are now among the animal species known to demonstrate ‘cultural learning,’ a phenomenon in which animals of the same species learn from other members of their group. The new discovery was made by Canisius College professor of animal behavior, Michael Noonan, PhD, during a study that began five years ago at Marineland in Ontario, Canada.

For more information, please visit:
newswise

When WCIT international visitors descend upon Austin in May they may struggle to understand English that is masked by strong Texan accents. Once again, InttraNews Reports shows that Homo Sapiens doesn’t have an exclusive on accents.

The accent on apes (from Inttranews)

London, UK (Times Online): Did you know that monkeys have accents too? Scientists have found that groups of Japanese macaque monkeys ‘speak’ differently, and those differences depend on where they live. The monkeys make ‘coo calls’ to keep in contact with each other, and these calls vary in pitch.

For more information, please visit:
timesonline


Marketing to the Global Inbox—Part II

This article originally appeared in the online marketing magazine, imedia connection, and is re-used here with the author's permission.

By Elizabeth Lloyd

DMO Global’s CMO reviews worldwide email marketing laws.

With globalization and online marketers realizing the huge potential that expanding their efforts internationally has, it is of utmost importance to realize that what constitutes email best practices in one country is different than in others. However, there is one common denominator upon reviewing email marketing laws worldwide: opt-in.

Clearswift has released a poll of over 1,200 business people around the world, concentrated in Germany, France, Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom. The poll found that 84 percent of businesses are unaware of local spam laws.

The following is a synopsis on email marketing laws worldwide highlighting Korea, Malaysia, Germany, Spain. (Please note this is the second review of a three-piece segment. The first installment highlighted the United States, the UK, Australia, Canada, China and Japan.)

Korea

South Korea is an economic and technological leader, which makes it an important example for the rest of the world. One distinct area of leadership is South Korea’s success in dealing with spam where recent policy changes seem to be effective. The new regulations, enacted this July, are similar to those found elsewhere with some notable distinctions. The rules require marketers to identify their emails as advertisements and allow people to opt out from future emails through a toll-free hotline. Additionally, it is also forbidden for marketers to harvest or generate email addresses. Most notable, however, is the penalty that can reach up to $853,000, according to a report in the Washington Times.

At least initially the regulations seem to be successful as the percentage of email that is spam has dropped from about 40 percent in March to 20 percent in July. Furthermore, pornographic spam dropped 27 percent over the same period, according to the Korean Information Security Agency. Although it is always difficult to establish a chain of causation, changes are truly dramatic and will no doubt influence other nations in dealing with spam.

However, despite the short-term drop in spam, there is ample evidence that the problem continues to grow. For instance, Business Week reports that South Korea currently produces 19.7 percent of the world’s spam compared to 11.6 percent in the previous year. Although it is possible that Korean users are actually receiving less spam and that the increased production is all exported, it is likely that this summer’s lull was only temporary.

Exactly how effective Korea’s regulations are is still unclear. What is clear, though, is that given the combined international and technological problems facing governments, such regulations will not do the job alone. What is needed to curb this growing problem is continued global coordination and incentives for the development of anti-spam technology

Malaysia

According to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), they have no specific provisions on the illegality of spam and no immediate plans to legislate. However, with Malaysia’s increasing internet connectivity and mobile penetration, the MCMC should be prepared to deal with email marketing laws.

According to the Computer Industry Almanac, as of March 2005, 37.9 percent of Malaysia’s population is online. The number of users has tripled in just five years. One of the reasons for such rapid growth is the Malaysian government’s involvement in bringing broadband access to its people. In July of last year, Datuk Seri Lim Keng Yaik, Malaysia’s minister of Energy, Water and Communications, announced plans to bridge the countries' digital divide by making broadband available to all.

Additionally, according to Huei Min Lee, research manager, telecommunications research, IDC Malaysia, “In the next five years, Malaysia's broadband subscriber market is expected to increase at a healthy compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32.9 percent from 2004 to 2009.”

Malaysia has over eight million users online, about one-third of the total population. The online population is two times that of the entire Singapore population already. Having said that, the internet infrastructure needs to be improved in order for the online population to continue its growth and encourage greater usage of the internet. This also means that the MCMC needs to take preventative measures such as self regulation by users through education and awareness initiatives, and management of email service providers.

Germany

Last August, The Economist released an article titled “Germany’s Surprising Economy” (August 20th, 2005) which highlights the country’s revival of its business and consumer confidence as well as domestic demand.

It is no surprise then, that Germany’s online ad spend is growing exponentially. According to Horizon.net, German online advertising spend increased 157 percent from 2003 to 2004. With the exception of the UK, Germany is leading the rest of Europe in terms of online ad spend. 

The German government is taking an active role in its attempt to regulate email marketing. New laws are currently being passed that will make it illegal to manipulate email headers that are misleading to the recipient. Additionally, email marketing messages promoting advertising messages must be identified with a (ADV). 

Spain

According to the AUI—Associacion de Usuarios de Internet (Spanish Internet Users’ Association)—the following are email marketing guidelines:

  1. The distribution of promotional or advertising communications by electronic mail or equivalent electronic means is forbidden if they have not been solicited before or if they have not been explicitly authorized by the recipient.
  2. Commercial communications sent by email or by equivalent means of electronic communication, in accordance with set terms, have to start with the word “publicidad” (“publicity” in Spanish).

Additionally, Spain’s internet users have legal rights regarding commercial email communications. According to Spain’s Law on the Information Society and Electronic Commerce (adopted in late 2002), “In case the user of an internet service has to give his email address during the contracting or subscription process with the service provider and the provider has the intention to use this address afterwards for the purpose of sending commercial communications to the customer, he has to inform the customer of this intention. Also he has to ask for the customer’s approval to do so before finally concluding the contract procedures.”

At the end of the day, whether it is in Korea, Malaysia or Spain, responsible email marketing adheres to the same key elements:

  1. Marketers are required to use the opt-in approach
  2. Prohibition against using false or misleading transmission information
  3. Prohibition against using randomly generated or harvested addresses
  4. Prohibition against relaying email from computers without authorization.

Please stay tuned for my next article when I’ll explore The Global Inbox in India, Brazil, South Africa and the Netherlands.

Elizabeth M. Lloyd is chief marketing officer of Dragon Media Online, Inc., and its subsidiary DMO Global, Inc., a leading affiliate network solely dedicated to serving international and multicultural markets. Lloyd’s work on international online marketing has been highlighted in numerous publications as well as in academic curricula for MBA programs worldwide.

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Read about McElroy’s localization services.

Culturally Sensitive Customer Service Training … preparing for the WCIT!

(continued)

When:           

Saturday, March 25th and Saturday, April 1st, 2006

9:00am - 12:00pm, and 1:00pm - 4:00pm both days (4 sessions to choose from!)

Where:         

Austin Community College Highland Business Center - Room 201

5930 Middle Fiskville Rd., Austin, TX 78752

                       

Why:             

Participants attending the training will receive: a certificate of completion for continuing education; a ‘window sign’ suitable for posting in their businesses that designates them as ‘international friendly’ and a supporter of the WCIT; a take-away packet of customer service information as a supplement to the training; and other materials that can be used to promote the WCIT event.

Registration:          

Contact ACC’s Registration Department at (512) 223-7542 or online at www.austincc.edu/ce/register Register for course number/name: BUSG 3009 International Friendly WCIT 2006 Training … for the date and time that works for you!

NOTE: Customized training sessions for local business are also available and can be tailored to your needs. To receive additional information regarding this valuable opportunity, send email to Kirk White at kwhite@austincc.edu or call 512-223-7535.

Visit our web sites at: wcit2006, austincc, mcelroytranslation and www.austin-international.us ACC’s Continuing Education and the Business Studies Division are co-sponsoring this training with support by a Business and International Education grant from the U.S. Department of Education. McElroy Translation supports the ACC Localization Program through a variety of ways and welcomes this opportunity to assist local businesses and city service organizations. The International Center of Austin works to make Austin a more international city on behalf of business, education, and culture.

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Tech Talk

(continued)

The social networking and blogging phenomena appear by my estimation to be dying down and losing their appeal as web business models since everyone has exhausted and copied what you can do with sharing information with your friends and making new friends. The trend seems to be toward creating little online applications using existing client-server technologies or API (Application Programming Interfaces) provided by other toolmakers, like making a site that shows you where all the good beer is in town http://www.beerhunter.ca/ or plotting your jogging routes http://www.walkjogrun.net/ or sharing travel information in a journalistic, collaborative way travbuddy.com through Google’s maps API.

Borrowing from a couple of “Top 10 Web 2.0 Innovations” lists, I have attempted to examine some of the applications/websites in terms of their potential for future localization.

del.icio.us is a social bookmarking tool. Everyone shares favorite URLs with their friends, so why not make a website where you can share your Favorites with the rest of the world? Yahoo! recently purchased it, and although Yahoo! isn’t as localized as heavily as Google, they obviously have an interest in markets beyond their front door. It stands a fairly good chance of becoming a localized application, or perhaps the similar existing Yahoo! application http://myweb2.search.yahoo.com/ will be.

netvibes.com is a personalized page to display your favorite newsfeeds, shopping alerts, weather alerts, etc. It looks to me an awful lot like my customized my.yahoo.com page, only the content is aggregated from any RSS source. I wasn’t especially impressed with it, but it bears mentioning because it is one of the only Web 2.0 apps I could find that has bothered to make an attempt at localizing its interface. If you click on the languages at the bottom of netvibes’ homepage, you will still see most of the content in English, obviously, because the sample aggregation is pulling in English newsfeeds.

flickr.com was cited as a top Web 2.0 app of 2005, even though it has been around for a while longer than just last year. Photosharing is pretty hot stuff with a lot of people, and flickr has an appealing interface. As an aside, I think that online digital photo-sharing is preferred by the hipper younger crowd, and am not sure why companies like HP continue to market photoprinting devices so heavily to this target market. Flickr is another cool web app purchased by Yahoo!, and I look for its interface to be localized in the next year or so. Native English-speaking people aren’t the only ones who take digital photos and share them with each other.

Looking for a light, online word processing tool that you can easily use to collaborate with other users? You have quite a few choices, and I predict that Google or Yahoo! will have an entire office suite of online applications in the not-so-distant future in an attempt to compete with each other as well as anyone else who makes an office suite. In the meantime, there are several online word-processing applications springing up : writely.com, writeboard.com, rallypointhq.com, zohowriter.com. The last one mentions multilingual support, i.e., you can write in your "mother tongue", however, once again, the portal and the interface are English-only. In a similar vein, a few "online project management" suites have sprung up: basecamphq.com, centraldesktop.com, sidejobtrack.com. Once again, every single one of them has foregone the option of localizing the interface.

Like the multitude of blogging tools that came before them, these apps are used by multilingual users everywhere. It seems obvious to me that companies developing an application to be used by the entire world would pause to consider that most of the online world consists of non-native English speakers.

If you click through blogger.com’s random-blog button, you discover that there are probably more bloggers writing in Portuguese or Spanish. Yet, after more than five years of existence, Blogger still has no localized user interface whatsoever. As an aside, Blogger happens to be owned by Google, which is highly praised for its localized site. However, looking past its search interface and the machine translation tool for websites, Google has failed to localize most of its tools http://www.google.com/intl/en/options/.

Hopefully, the case will be different for the more robust online applications that are popping up everywhere. The decision to localize a web application interface doesn’t involve the level of investment risk it once did. A successful web app localization requires a relatively small investment yet will dramatically increase use and exposure in major non-English language markets.

If the thin-client, online software trend continues (the bulk of the data processing occurs on the server rather than client-side) and isn’t simply a fad of online application gadgetry, then all of our beloved office tools will move completely online. At some point, this will have implications for the translation and localization industry, in terms of how files, translation memories and projects are managed, and how collaboration takes place across the globe on translation projects. However, the more pressing question as to how this new trend of applications relates to the translation industry is, why are so few of them being localized?

Further reading:
http://www.web2con.com/
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html
http://www.web20workgroup.com/
http://webservices.sys-con.com/read/172417.htm
http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Top-10-Innovative-Web-2-0-Applications-of-2005/10891
http://web2.wsj2.com/the_best_web_20_software_of_2005.htm
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-6031272.html

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Do you have killer web app you need localized?

Taiwan

(continued)

Especially for Women

  • American women generally can do business easily in Taiwan, though it may take time for some businessmen in Taiwan to accept women in business roles.
  • Most Taiwan businessmen will invite a businesswoman to dinner, but normally not to after dinner entertainment.

— Excerpted from the ‘Put Your Best Foot Forward’ series by Mary Murray Bosrock. These publications are available for the U.S., Asia, Mexico/Canada, Russia, Europe and South America.

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Not visiting Taiwan? Check out our archives for more articles about doing business in other countries.

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