Feb 11, 2007 | Translation News
Dear Language Friend, Time sure flies by. It’s another year! Have you noticed that people of different ethnicities celebrate their New Year at different times of the year? Dig into this issue of our newsletter and find out WHEN Chinese people celebrate their New Year, WHAT festive foods they eat, HOW they celebrate it, and WHY they follow certain customs. No matter on what date you celebrate the New Year, we sincerely wish you a fortunate and prosperous year! Lenka de Graafova, Managing Director. Thanks for reading. Chinese New Year Dates Lunar Calendar vs Chinese Calendar Have these two terms confused you? Sometimes even Chinese people cannot tell the fine difference between the two! Lunar calendar, as its name suggests, is a way of counting days, weeks, months and years according to moon phases. However the Chinese calendar, which originated several thousands of years ago, is a lunisolar calendar that combines features of both lunar and solar calendars to suit agricultural purposes. In fact, the Chinese calendar is also referred as an “agricultural calendar.” To summarize, a lunar calendar and the Chinese calendar are actually two different systems. In Taiwan, Hong Kong and China the Governments follow the Gregorian calendar as the official system. However, people still consult the Chinese calendar when it comes to determining traditional Chinese holidays, such as Chinese New Year, Dragon Boat Festival, or picking auspicious dates. Chinese New Year, also known as Spring Festivals and Lunar New Year, starts from the first day of the new year of the Chinese calendar, and ends on the fifteenth day of the year. Just like in Western culture where people reunite with their...
Dec 10, 2006 | Translation News
Dear Language Friend, Christmas is just around the corner and there are only a few windows and a few chocolates left on your Advent calendar. Never mind whether all your chocolate is long gone or still waiting for you, I still would like to take this opportunity to wish you a wonderful Christmas season and a great start in 2007!Thank you for your support and for keeping up with our Newsletters. The December issue on the WHAT, WHERE and WHEN of languages will spoil you with international film tips. WHAT are subtitles and dubbings? WHERE can you pick up international movie masterpieces? And WHEN is the right time to watch films? Mind you, it is NOW – make the most of these festive times to gather up with your family or friends. Get comfy on the sofa with a multicultural DVD or embark in the darkness of a cinema. Don’t hesitate to order some tasteful Thai, Mexican, Indian or Japanese food on the way. Otherwise, gingerbread men are always a good movie snack option, all the more in December… Christmas is back; treat your body and mind and run to the cinema! Happy Holidays from LingoStar! International Movies for Christmas Are you movie-mad? The good news is that if you are in Vancouver, you can enjoy the perks of a major film-making hub! So while the rain goes on pouring, why not sit inside, and enjoy the movies? The Vancouver International Film Centre and Vancity Theatre await you, among dozens of other movie establishments in town, for a trip out of reality. Immerse yourself in an ocean of cultural...
Dec 10, 2006 | Translation News
Dear Language Friend, Get ready, open your umbrellas and put your boots on, our November issue on the WHY, WHAT and HOW of languages will be particularly damp. WHY does it rain cats and dogs? WHAT are the foreign equivalents for this idiom? HOW do people express their awe at bad weather in Spanish, French, Portuguese, Danish, etc.? Check out the use of weather in common international expressions – be rain-smart and enjoy your reading! Lenka de Graafova, Managing Director. Thanks for reading. Talking About Website Launch Before we immerse ourselves in weather talk, if you are not up to hanging out in the snow or rain and prefer to stay in a heated room, take a minute to visit our newly launched website at: dev.lingo-star.com/cms We have introduced a new design, improved optimization for Google and added new services, such as Language Consulting. One of the user-friendly features includes the service where you can call us directly via Skype from our Contact Us page or chat with us live. And if you really want to spend more time inside than outside, then check out our Language Courses and Lessons in Vancouver. We currently offer Spanish, French, Polish and Czech language lessons for individuals and small groups. Visit the Language Courses section on dev.lingo-star.com/cms for detailed information. Talking About The Weather – Have you ever been fined for returning a wet book to the library? – Have you ever got soaked from the back wheel of your bicycle? – Do you wonder why glasses wipers are not available to short-sighted citizens? If not, you probably are no reader, no...
Sep 28, 2006 | Translation News
Dear Language Friend, We are back with our fall newsletter. In this issue, I will discuss HOW multilingual websites help you grow your business, WHAT keywords to use when targeting foreign language speaking audience and WHEN to utilize an email translation service. Thanks for reading, Lenka de Graafova Managing Director. Office Closed First of all, please note that our office will be closed between 23 October and 3 November 2006. At that time, we will not be able to handle any work and projects will be dealt with either before or after these dates. Apologies for the inconvenience Expand with Multilingual Website Recently, there has been an enormous growth in multilingual websites. Corporations realize that a multilingual website is a powerful marketing and sales tool. But a multilingual website is not just about translation. There are many steps to consider in the process of expanding across the English speaking border. If you’re playing with the idea of a multilingual website, research your target market(s) well. Is your product or service suitable both for Quebec and France, for Hong Kong and Mainland China? The languages you choose, will ultimately determine your marketing and sales strategy. Since we at LingoStar are redesigning our very own website and planning to launch it in multiple languages, I’d like to share with you my experience of multilingual website development: – Decide whether to purchase & set-up country specific domain names (.fr for France, .de for German, .pt for Portugal, etc.) – A local country extension will help customers find you. – Locate a suitable web-developer with multilingual website development experience – Make sure the...
Aug 10, 2006 | Translation News
Dear Language Friend, Welcome to our August issue on the WHERE, WHAT, HOW, and WHO of languages. We will discuss WHERE various English accents come from and WHAT is an accent. Then I’ll give you a few tips on HOW to play the accent game and WHO you can choose for foreign language voiceovers. Lenka de Graafova, Managing Director. Thanks for reading. Accents and History “In Canada we have enough to do keeping up with two spoken languages without trying to invent slang, so we just go right ahead and use English for literature, Scotch for sermons and American for conversation.” Stephen Leacock (1869-1944) Since Canada is a very multicultural country, we hear many different accents around us every day. But how have different accents of English actually developed? What are the ‘Standard’ accents? For answers on these and many other questions regarding varieties, dialects and accents of English, I consulted Wikipedia.org. In short, here are some basic facts: British English: It all began in England, of course. In the later period of Middle Ages, London became the center of administration and commerce and the dialect spoken there developed into Standard English. The accent used in Standard English is labeled as The Received Pronunciation (RP) or BBC English and it is no longer appropriate to call it the Queen’s English since the Queen speaks a slightly archaic version. American English: English was introduced to the Americas by British colonists in the 16th century. Subsequently, the settlers from the Eastern U.S. brought their accent to the Western Territories where it was mixed and leveled. In the course of 400 years,...
Jul 10, 2006 | Translation News
Dear Language Friend, Welcome to our July issue on the WHAT, HOW, WHEN, and WHO of languages. We will discuss WHAT bilingualism is all about, HOW to deal with multilingualism WHEN starting to teach your child new languages and WHO the experts are. Lenka de Graafova, Managing Director. Thanks for reading. Bilingualism I’ve always been fascinated by languages and the human ability to master two or more of them. Obviously, some people really have a knack for languages and can easily pick up new words, accents and phrases. Unfortunately, not everybody has been gifted with the supernatural force to painlessly absorb a foreign language into the left hemisphere of their brain. However, would these so called unfortunate ones be more language savvy if their mothers had sung French songs to them in their early years? Would they embrace idioms in seconds and avoid truancy during German language classes if their mothers exposed them to German radio? Would they easily switch between English and Spanish if, as a child, they had been nursed by a Mexican nanny? Yes, they would. That’s what the experts say: The academic experts as well as the expert-mothers. It’s been proven that children absorb languages really quickly and naturally. If exposed to the right environment, they can understand and speak up to 3 languages by the age of 4. But don’t push it! Trying to teach your child more than 3 languages at once can become quite confusing. What is Bilingualism all About ? So what actually are bilingualism and multilingualism? Clever online sources state various definitions; here are two examples: “Using or able to...
