If you didn’t grow up speaking English or French in Canada, you most likely spoke Chinese, according to new census data released on Tuesday. Statistics Canada reported the number of people listing Chinese as their mother tongue grew by almost…
French is such a rich language that it now has, by state decree, two words for “@” — the “at” sign that has become a worldwide symbol for the Internet — but only one official way to pronounce it. A…
McDonald’s is about as American as apple pie, and that’s not such a good thing in parts of the world where America not in vogue. Consider the following from the Toronto Star: Around the world, McDonald’s restaurants have been burning.…
Language never stands still, particularly in NYC: “When you think that the United States is the fifth largest Spanish-speaking nation in the world and New York has more Spanish speakers than 13 Latin American capitals, you begin to appreciate the…
A great article in the International Herald Tribune about Vietnam’s approach to globalization: The country’s 80 million people want their piece of global prosperity and the benefits that come from the free movement of capital, goods and people. They just…
Very interesting article in the NY Times today about the inner workings of Google: The projected display, called Live Query, shows updated samples of what people around the world are typing into Google’s search engine. The terms scroll by in…
The BBC has long been the global news leader. It has also invested heavily in Web globalization — offering the news in 43 languages: Now to give you some idea of how significant an undertaking this is, most major multinational…
Ford Motor Co. is paying an “incredible penalty” for Britain’s absence from the European single currency and its UK competitiveness will be hurt if the nation does not join, the auto giant said Monday. “The longer we stay isolated, the…
Internet users are expected to number 655 million worldwide by the end of 2002. That’s a 30 percent increase over the previous year, with the developing world accounting for a full third of all new users. From the UNCTAD E-Commerce…
I contributed an article to the John Rhode’s WebWord site. It’s all about the importance of the global gateway – an often overlooked and increasingly important aspect of Web globalization. I’d be curious to know what you think.
Research International just released the results of a study on global branding. I found this excerpt very interesting: Despite the growing need for localized positioning highlighted through the research, there are two groups of brands for which marketing that is…
The translation industry used to have four vendors that towered over everyone else: Bowne Global Solutions, Berlitz GlobalNet, Lionbridge, and SDL International. In September, Bowne bought Berlitz, and then there were three. Check out the article: Bowne translates strategy into…
I wanted to highlight a few good Web resources that I’ve been reading lately: Asia Business Intelligence This is a weblog maintained by Rich Kuslan. Rich has worked and traveled throughout Asia over the years. This is important reading for…
Former advertising executive Charlotte Beers, now undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, is launching a $10 million ad campaign that promotes America to the Arab world. Ads are airing on television and radio in the Middle East…
According to Gartner, more Europeans use short messaging service (SMS) than email. Currently, 41 percent of European adults use SMS, compared to 30 percent that use the Internet Increasingly, people don’t interact with the Internet (or each other) through a…