Jun 11, 2007 | Translation News
Dear Language Friend, Welcome to the LingoStar Summer Festival Guide (Part I) In this issue of our newsletter we invite you to find out: WHAT Vancouver offers in terms of cultural outdoor festivals in June, WHY you should not miss the festivals,po HOW you can bring tasty and easy-to-prepare recipes into your home and HOW all these festivals are related to language. Lenka de Graafova, Managing Director. Thanks for reading. Festivals are an integral part of the city’s events and offer people from different cultural origins the opportunity to express their cultural roots, traditions and linguistic background within a Canadian multicultural context. Summer has just started – time to spend time outdoors with your families and friends. Explore cultures from all over the world, taste new flavors, mingle with different cultures and enjoy summer! We have been thinking about what the word FESTIVAL really stands for and we have come up with the following suggestion: F Fun & Food E Experience & Explore S Sun & Summer T Time to enjoy I Ideas & Inspiration V Values & Variety A Activities L Learning How do you experience festivals? 2nd Annual Hellenic Cultural Week Ouzo, Retsina, Tzadziki, Kalamaria, Horiatiki, Souvláki, Moussaka…Does this sound all Greek to you? When I visited Greece a couple of years ago, I was amazed by the people’s hospitality, by the huge amount of ouzo they can drink and by the delicious food they eat. What are your first associations when you think of Greece? Ouzo, delicious wine, tasty foods, dances, lively streets, friendly people? Come and experience Greece in Vancouver. Organized by the...
May 11, 2007 | Translation News
Dear Language Friend, In this issue of our newsletter, we would like to introduce you to the know-HOW of desktop publishing work, describe WHAT some of the challenges are when dealing with multilingual documents and provide tips on how to make the typesetting process flow smoothly. The WHEN topic of this newsletter refers to the arrival of spring and the WHY to the large numbers of blossoming trees in Vancouver. Multilingual Typesetting / Desktop Publishing At LingoStar, we have recently seen an increasing demand for multilingual typesetting. People refer to ‘typesetting’ in many ways: “drop translated text into a brochure, insert text, layout the text”, etc. Despite its many names, the well established name of DTP (desktop publishing) or typesetting refers to the same process: Formatting a (foreign language) text into a format ready for print or optimized for web. At LingoStar we provide multilingual typesetting and DTP work as a continuation of our translation service. With the ongoing and ever accelerating globalization, we have seen more of our clients having their commercial documents translated and typeset in foreign languages in order to communicate with customers in different countries around the world. A high demand for Asian and Middle Eastern languages makes the localization and layout arrangement of multilingual documents more challenging and complex and this is why: The major complexity appears with languages that use a different writing system to the Roman alphabet. The fact that, for example, Arabic and Farsi read and write from right to left, doesn’t make things particularly easy. Also, Hindi and Punjabi use different encoding in their systems that is not always compatible...
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...
