Dec 5, 2018 | Communication, SEO, Tips, Worldwide
Global Websites for International Audiences If you have a website, it surely is one of your priorities to make it to the top of search engine results. To achieve this, having an excellent SEO strategy is essential. How about expanding your website to international audiences? Do you have to adopt a similar strategy or does it have to be different? Have a look at this article to create global websites! The Importance of Search Engines SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a straightforward concept consisting in making sure a website comes up at the top of search engine results for terms and sentences relevant to the website’s content. In other words, SEO allows users to find the best websites on the web depending on the keywords used in the said search engine. If you have a good SEO strategy, you are most likely to have a successful website! But what if you wish to expand your website to foreign language markets? Your Target Search Engine in a Foreign Country First, you have to ask yourself, can your website be in the target country’s language? You also must not forget to consider the culture of that country, their consumers and most importantly what search engines they use. Yes, Google is not the only search engine. Let’s take China for instance. The main search engine in China is Baidu. In Japan, it is Yahoo. Another example, in Russia Google.ru is not the main search engine. It is Yandex, for the good reason that the latter is built around the Cyrillic Alphabet. So of course, if you have, let’s say, a Chinese website,...
Nov 22, 2017 | Blog, Promotions, SEO, Translation
Things you should know (and research about) beforehand Thinking of moving abroad can be scary for most people. To begin with, you don’t really know where to start. Also, you never know what’s coming ahead. Whether you are moving on your own, or for work, being organized and planning is a must to make your experience a good one. You should start by researching the country you are moving to. Keep reading to know our Challenges of Moving Abroad list. Why move abroad I am a Venezuelan-Italian woman. I lived in Venezuela most of my life, although I grew up exposed to the best of both cultures, languages, and traditions. Since I was little, my biggest dream was to live somewhere in Europe. Despite the fact that I grew up thinking of moving abroad, little did I know that moving to Switzerland would change my life so much. I did some research before moving there, but I went without a job or language training, so trying to start a new life in a new place was a real challenge! Things you should consider when moving abroad: Yes, moving abroad makes you feel out of place, without a safe ground, emotionally speaking, for quite a bit. Whether you are living on your own or moving with family or friends, the feeling of being alone accompanies you most of your day. Things get better as you settle. Use your free time to do something useful regarding your stay. Family and friends. Moving abroad means you leave your life, including family and friends, behind. Luckily, you can stay connected with them with all...
Oct 31, 2017 | Blog, SEO, Translation
Latin American Halloween People around the world celebrate Halloween, although, it is not so popular in some places. For example, Latin American Halloween, is not as huge as it is in North America. Halloween is a holiday that many people in Latin America do not know a lot about. In the US and Canada, Halloween is the second most important holiday after Christmas. The traditions around Halloween include decorating houses, trick-and-treating, wearing costumes, and throwing parties. Contrary to the huge celebration in North America, the equivalent celebration in Latin America is very low profile. Except for some countries, in which these festivities have a strong spiritual meaning, like Mexico and Peru. Let’s learn in which Latin American Countries people celebrate Halloween and in which they do not. Time to party? Who celebrates Halloween? Halloween celebrations in Latin America have increased over the years. Lately, the nature of the celebration and traditions of American Halloween has been traveling to Latin America. In some places like Chile, Mexico, Panama, Bolivia, and Colombia, the celebration is similar to the one in North America. In these countries, people go around wearing costumes, asking for candy and partying. They may even carve pumpkins and decorate their houses. These American Halloween traditions have invaded the last days of October in these Latin American countries. People, especially kids, enjoy these traditions and celebrations, and in particular, the candies that come with them. Despite this, Halloween as we know it is not yet part of Latin American culture. The celebration of Latin American Halloween is even smaller than the one for Valentine’s Day. Who doesn’t celebrate it?...
Sep 29, 2017 | Blog, SEO, Translation
Latin American Films A movie portrays how someone perceives the world, and in turn, educates us about the culture of the place where it was made. Lately, we have been hearing a lot about Latin American cinematography and the Latin American way of doing cinema. Full of political and religious content combined with a colloquial approach, Latin American movies typically focus on the strong religious ties of their people or criticism towards politics and politicians. However, these are not the only topics that may be addressed. In just one Latin American movie, you can find comedy, horror, drama, mystery, and so on. Clearly, the way they tell their stories is unique; they know how to make you laugh, how to be serious, how to give you the creeps, and certainly how to make you cry. In this top ten you will find Latin American movies worth watching that represent their respective countries in their own unique way. Let’s take a tour! 1. Frida (2002, Mexico): This movie tells the story of Frida Kahlo, a Mexican artist whose life was full of tragedy and beauty. Due to the use of colour and music as cinematographic elements it introduces you to Mexican society, culture, traditions, and values. Frida will take you to Mexico while entertaining you with a really great plot. 2. Maria Full of Grace / María, llena eres de gracia (2004, Colombia): The tragic journey of a young woman with money problems. She takes the first opportunity to earn and ends up involved in the Colombian drug traffic industry, gaining many more problems than when she began. Do you want to...
May 19, 2016 | Blog, SEO, Translation
Dictionaries and the Development of the English language Did you know that the word “nice” originally meant “stupid”? Or that “decimate” used to mean “to kill one in every 10”? The development of the English language keeps evolving , and we don’t even realize it. Anne Curzan, professor of English at the University of Michigan, studies how the English language works and how it has changed over time. In her TED Talk, she explains how various words have developed and what makes a word “real”. People usually think a word is real when it appears in the dictionary. However, most slang words don’t, even though they fill important gaps in the English language. Curzan notes that dictionaries are not timeless since words and languages change all the time. For example, if you wanted to write a business letter, would you use a dictionary from 1910? Probably not. You would use a recent dictionary. And why? Because we usually don’t use the terms any more that have been used 100 years ago, since language is constantly developing. Languages back then Curzan gives interesting examples during her speech. In 1875, Dean Henry Alford said that “desirability” is a terrible word. In 1760, Benjamin Franklin complained about the word “colonize”. However, today, these words appear in every dictionary and no one doubts their validity. Many words develop from other languages as well. In Germany for example, people use a lot of English loan words and sometimes mix both the German and English language to create new ones. These words may sound English, but English native speaker wouldn’t understand them. “Handy” is the...
May 6, 2016 | Blog, Promotions, SEO
Mother’s Day in Vancouver Dear readers, This Sunday, May 8, 2016, sons and daughters all over the world will celebrate Mother’s Day. On this special day, they concentrate on the wellbeing of their mothers. (Actually, this should be done every day, not just once a year…) Anyway, if you are in need of some ideas on how to spend Mother’s Day in Vancouver, here are some suggestions for you! Brunch Brunch is always a good idea. It’s about food and, let’s be honest, everyone loves food! You can either prepare something at home (your mother will be so proud– lots of kisses will follow), or treat your mother to brunch at a fancy restaurant. You can enjoy a nice breakfast at The Teahouse, (Stanley Park) on Mother’s Day in Vancouver and spend the rest of the day walking through the park. Spa Day A mother’s life can be very stressful. Mothers work, prepare meals for their loved ones, do the housework, and look after their children. And no matter how old their kids are, even if they don’t live at home anymore, mothers still worry about them. Mother’s Day is the best opportunity to give back to your mother for all her hard work! And a good way to do this would be to spend Mother’s Day in Vancouver relaxing at one of Vancouver’s best spas. VanDusen Gardens If your mom loves the outdoors, you should definitely go for a walk through the VanDusen Botanical Garden, where there will be live music, a photo booth, and pop-up café in celebration of Mother’s Day in Vancouver. (The weather is supposed...
