Notes From Antarctica, Part 1
I was fortunate to spend 10 days in Antarctica recently. It was an experience that I haven’t quite shaken, and probably never will. Frankly, I still can’t quite believe I …
John Yunker
Globalization Notes…
I’m getting caught up after a very long trip and came across a few interesting items worth mentioning: * From the law firm Baker & McKenzie: As of March 1 …
Global Internet Usage Trends
The UCLA World Internet Project released findings from a recent survey of more than a dozen countries. Key findings include: • Television viewing is lower among Internet users than non-users …
What You Need to Know About The Translation Industry
We’ve just wrapped up production of The Savvy Client’s Guide to Translation Agencies. This guide is now in its second edition, which is a testament to the demand out there …
Web Site Review: Dura Automotive
We received a press release this week from DURA Automotive Systems regarding their Web globalization efforts. Here is an excerpt: With locations in more than 14 countries, Web-based communication transcending …
Starbucks in Strange Lands
The Wall Street Journal recently interviewed Starbucks CEO Orin Smith about the company’s experiences in new markets. I was impressed by Smith’s candor. Starbucks is learning the hard way what …
Localized Washing Machines
The Reveries Web site has an interesting piece on Whirlpool and its localization efforts in Latin America. Apparently the company has had great success in Brazil by creating a low-cost …
Vonage: Voice Over Español
The upstart voice over IP (VoIP) telecoms operator Vonage just launched a Spanish-language Web site: Here’s a press release excerpt: “Vonage is pleased to present a Spanish translation website as …
François in a world without ç
In the recent Globalization Insider newsletter, there is an excellent article by Chuck Wrobel about managing names across different scripts. This is a real challenge for multinational organizations, and it …
Coke’s Nativa Product Launch
According to this interesting Dow Jones article, Coke is recently launched a new beverage in Argentina that takes advantage of the local fondness for the yerba mate plant. Called Nativa, …
Global Web Site Review: Swagelok
It is becoming much more common for companies to issue press releases after adding another language (or locale) to their Web sites. For example, Swagelok, a maker of “fluid system …
AT&T: Going Global Awkwardly
AT&T boldly announced today that it had launched a seven-language Web site at www.att.com/global. I’ll give AT&T and ‘A’ for effort and a ‘D-‘ for execution. The major problems have …
Most Global Countries
A.T. Kearney, Inc. and Foreign Policy magazine recently released their list of the top 20 most global countries. The survey takes a number of factors into account, such as politics, …
Multilingual Health Care
HIP Health Plan of New York today announced that it has added a fourth language, Korean, to its Web site: www.hipusa.com. Now the press release isn’t entirely honest. It says …
Wanted: A Few Good Translators
According to this article, the government is in need ofa few (or few hundred) translators of Arabic, Farsi, and Pashto. Here’s an excerpt: The government is looking for linguists who …