On this new Web Portal, we will continue the great work of the tcworld magazine. tcworld.info is a platform for anyone facing the challenges of communicating across borders, selling products and services to target audiences from different cultural backgrounds and establishing business relations with partners from around the world.
tcworld ...
... highlights strategies for international management
... offers solutions to translation and localization challenges
... discovers the path to successful outsourcing relationships
... sheds light on the latest development in information development
... uncovers business etiquettes from different cultural locales
tcworld.info offers professional articles, news, event reports and a group listing of service providers and association from the various fields of information management.
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February 2010
English in Chinese and Japanese – Adopting loan words in foreign languages Loan words are part of each language and they enrich its vocabulary and texture. Some are used to explain new words and fields, some are used just because they are cool. Today English is the international lingua franca. So let’s have a look at how the Chinese and Japanese languages incorporate English terms and how they are used. www.tcworld.info/index.php?id=141
Keys to producing user-friendly manuals for the Japanese market In today’s Japanese market, winning the customer’s trust in one’s company and products requires placing ever more attention to after-sales service. For instance, the corporate image is often determined by the quality and reliability of the after-sales service when problems occur after buying a product. With a wide variety of products to choose from, helpful and comprehensive operation manuals are a particularly important aspect of after-sales service. This article highlights points to be considered when producing printed operation manuals for the Japanese market. In addition, it provides concrete examples to illustrate these points. www.tcworld.info/index.php?id=142
The future of the language services industry Olga Pechnenko-Kopp became Chief Executive Officer for McElroy Translation (of Austin, Texas USA) last October. As an under-40 leader with deep entrepreneurial experience, she brought a fresh perspective to the venerable language service provider. In this interview with her, we learn about changes in the industry and how it recovers from the economic downturn. www.tcworld.info/index.php?id=140
Implications of increasing Europe’s trade with China Is English still the language of business? There is no simple answer to this question, but there is also no doubt that China is investing more and more outside its borders, including the European continent. Companies and governments around the world with no significant economic ties to China in the last decade of the twentieth century are now trading with this giant, some of them heavily. How then are these countries doing business with China? Is it in English, the so-called “language of business”? Or is it through language services? If the latter is the case, who has adapted to whom? Are Chinese entrepreneurs learning other languages or are people in other countries learning Chinese? Are language service providers (LSPs) translating more from Chinese into European languages or vice versa? www.tcworld.info/index.php?id=135
GALA 2010 focuses on global content delivery The Globalization and Localization Association (GALA) will hold its second Language of Business conference from May 10 to 12 at the Intercontinental Praha in Prague. “GALA 2010: The language of business. The business of language.” will bring together suppliers, technology providers and consumers of translation and localization services to collectively share and debate the latest technologies and advancements in localization, language and global content delivery. www.tcworld.info/index.php?id=139
January 2010
Ten good reasons for using a translation memory More than 20 years after the first commercial translation memory products became available, surveys indicate that while the vast majority of those surveyed do use a translation memory system, less than 30 percent of translators use this type of tool for every translation project or on a daily basis. Even studies of translation memory usage among the most advanced users show that it is still not well understood that the benefits of using a translation memory go well beyond re-using existing translations. www.tcworld.info/index.php?id=129
2009 ends with hope for future growth Language service providers around the globe have been heavily impacted by the economic downturn, but optimism for growth next year has increased substantially, according to the Globalization and Localization Association’s (GALA) most recent quarterly survey. For the seventh straight quarter, GALA asked its members (language services and technology providers) about the economy and its impact on business, allowing the association to draw a picture of the effect the recession has had on the language and localization industry. www.tcworld.info/index.php?id=131
Using social media in technical communication In our daily activities, we see an increase of information exchange, both in our personal and professional lives. Social media like forums, blogs and wikis have a great impact on the user, turning him from content consumer into content producer. A large number of today’s content users, belonging to various professions and walks of life, have started to dig deep into online information sources. Apart from their regular profession of writing user manuals, technical writers are also becoming increasingly keen on writing information in social media applications. www.tcworld.info/index.php?id=130
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