Submitted by Pallavi Sharma on Thu, 12/30/2010 – 09:22
New-fangled regulations are likely to be put into practice in the New Year to make sure that all foodstuff items brought into the country do not bear labels and commands in a foreign verbal communication.
Fiji is to put into force new set of laws from next year keeping out foreign language labels on food items.
According to the Fiji village website, the Ministry of Health issued an instruction to all dealers and retailers last week to remove food items with labels in a foreign language from the abandons.
Attorney General and Minister for Trade Aiyaz Sayed-Khiayum said this issue should have been resolved years ago to restrict the trade in of food products with labels in a foreign language.
Sayed Khaiyum bears out that the Ministry of Health is now looking into the current set of laws and is expected to recommended changes to stop the importation of these items.
Fiji village news also found more than a few household items like cooking appliances and electrical appliances with labels and directives in a foreign language sending-off consumers in the dark on the provisions.
The measure is to make in no doubt for consumers to discover the components and expiry dates.
Source: http://topnews.net.nz/content/211000-fiji-bans-foreign-language-labels-food-items
Posted in Language in business | No Comments »
Memphis Business Journal. Date: Wednesday, December 29, 2010, 2:47pm CST
Wells Fargo & Co. has added Russian language screens to its network of automated teller machines.
The ATMs operated by Wells Fargo and Wachovia banks will now display eight languages, the company said in a press statement.
Adding Russian language screens was based on customer preference and feedback, Jonathan Velline, head of Wells Fargo ATM banking and store strategy, said in the statement. Helping customers succeed financially includes a commitment to recognizing cultural preferences in diverse communities where the bank does business, he said.
Wells Fargo added Russian language screens to its entire network of more than 12,000 ATMs. Additionally, Wells Fargo has about 8,000 envelope-free ATMs across the country allowing customers to deposit cash and checks directly into ATMs without an envelope.
As of June 30, the most recent data available from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Wells Fargo had $515.1 million in deposits in the Memphis area, making it the seventh-largest bank ranked by market share.
Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), headquartered in San Francisco, bought Wachovia Corp. in late 2008 at the height of the financial crisis.
Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/2010/12/29/wells-fargo-adds-russian-language.html
Tags: Russian
Posted in Language in business, Language market | No Comments »
By Bruce Nolan, The Times-Picayune. May 07, 2010, 5:27PM
Vietnamese fishers facing an economic catastrophe from the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico are in double jeopardy — facing lost fishing income and isolated by the language barrier from government and oil industry programs to keep them informed and send them temporary relief.
No one speaks Vietnamese at a Delaware-based contractor hired by BP to accept claims applications from fishers, and there are few or no Vietnamese speakers in BP’s program to hire fishing vessels to fight the spill. Even U.S. Sen. David Vitter acknowledged that he has no Vietnamese speaker on his staff to field emergency complaints from Vietnamese fishing families. He promised to correct that soon.
All those revelations surfaced Friday when 200 Vietnamese fishers from Texas to Florida gathered Friday at Mary Queen of Vietnam Parish to be briefed on the spill by BP and state and federal officials — and to tell those officials they are out of the communications loop.
The Rev. Vien The Nguyen provided live translation between briefers and audience.
Vitter and U.S. Rep Anh “Joseph” Cao addressed the families, with additional briefings from officials from the Coast Guard, EPA, Small Business Administration, the city’s emergency operations office and BP, among others.
Joel Waltzer, an environmental lawyer who has worked with the Vietnamese community on landfill issues after Hurricane Katrina, urged the group to organize as it did in those days and press for useful, accurate information in their language.
(more…)
Tags: Vietnamese
Posted in Language diversity, Language in business | No Comments »
APRIL 08, 2010 07:00. Editorial Writer Kwon Sun-hwal
Since 2005, the Doosan Group has tested entry-level job applicants on their comprehension and writing ability in Chinese characters. This is based on the conglomerate’s belief that such ability is necessary to better understand growingly important Asian markets. University graduates seeking jobs at Korea’s five major business lobbying organizations, including the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Federation of Korean Industries, or major companies such as Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hyundai Mipo Dockyard and the Kumho Asiana Group, must also take such a test. The Samsung Group gives extra points to job applicants who possess a superior knowledge of Chinese script.
The ability to read and write Chinese characters helps in doing business with Chinese, Japanese and Taiwanese companies or traveling in or conducting human exchanges with those countries. Even if one does not speak Chinese or Japanese, he or she can enjoy a minimum level of communication with people from the three countries by writing Chinese characters. The simplified characters used in China can be learned more easily than the traditional Chinese script that Korea uses. Certain entrepreneurs say young people with a better understanding of ideographic Chinese characters have a superior ability to express their ideas in a more compressed way and boast moderation and depth in their language usage.
(more…)
Tags: Chinese, Korean
Posted in Language in business, Language learning | No Comments »
By: Molly Miron, Bemidji Pioneer. Published July 08 2009
“Aaniin” “Boozhoo” – customers to Bemidji’s Cabin Coffee House & Café are now welcomed in both Ojibwe and English.
Table tents show them numbers, animals and the major Red Lake clans in both languages. And they can try their Ojibwe language skills to order makade-mashkikiwaaboo (coffee) and naboob (soup).
Noemi Aylesworth, Cabin Coffee House owner, said the idea came from Shared Vision, a Bemidji group working to make relations between American Indians and members of the majority culture more comfortable and friendly.
“It thought it would be a kind gesture, and it only made sense,” Aylesworth said. She said she plans to hang a framed feather painted with “Ininiwag” on the men’s rest room door and with “Ikwewag” on the women’s rest room door.
Shared Vision members Michael Meuers and Rachelle Houle set themselves a challenge to have bilingual English/Ojibwe signage in 20 Bemidji businesses within one year. But with nine additional businesses already committed to the project, they said they think they might meet their goal by the end of the month.
“I was, ‘Oh, my gosh, why didn’t we think of this before,’” said Moni Schneider, owner of The Wild Hare Bistro & Coffee House. “We just heard about it this week and we’re excited about it. It’s a good way to bring the community together.”
(more…)
Tags: Ojibwe
Posted in Language in business | No Comments »
