I'm Published! Multilingual Magazine

Hi readers, great news! for me at least. My article: "Internationalized desktop publishing difficulties" just came out in "Multilingual Computing Magazine" If you've read my previous blog posts, you'll know that I have written about the horrors of poorly constructed documents that still give me nightmares. This article highlights some basic tools and ideas that you should keep in mind when creating your next document. Check out the excerpt below:

Internationalized desktop publishing difficulties LIONEL LIM

The process of translating documents involves several specialized activities in addition to translating content from one language to another. A major step in the translation process is the desktop publishing (DTP) of translated content so that the final product closely matches its English counterpart. When you are ready to translate your document, provide your language service provider (LSP) with the name and version number of the DTP application and the platform (Mac or PC) you are using for the English document. You should include the source files for your English documents in the original application, and you should indicate ... To read this entire article you must be a MultiLingual subscriber. For immediate access to the current issue, subscribe to the digital version. Already a subscriber? Above excerpt taken from the March 2009 issue of MultiLingual published by MultiLingual Computing, Inc., 319 North First Avenue, Suite 2, Sandpoint, Idaho 83864-1495 USA, 208-263-8178, Fax: 208-263-6310. Subscribe

March, 2009

ICD in Action

Recently, the ICD sales and marketing team (trade show warriors) attended (invaded) trade shows from DC to Montreal. They have been traveling so much, that some of them have packed their entire wardrobe and then some (Mads). Well, here are two pictures from a recent show in DC. The first one above is Catherine expressing the importance of translation and why it's important to consider quality over lower prices, while Sandy gives her winning smile and shows us what a true trade show warrior can handle.
Jeff is pictured below enjoying his time behind the booth after hours of walking the show, and collecting signed POs.


Well, here's to more successful shows in the future. ICD's trade show warriors are currently taking a much needed vacation from the floor, and they'll be back on the road this Summer.

French Canadian Week

Well, this week was unofficially "French Canadian Week" here at ICD. Catherine and Madeline went to Montreal for 3 days to meet with clients, and attend a Trade show. While I had to deal with some interesting French Canadian projects. No, we really don't have language weeks, but it might be fun to have a language week. Maybe we could sample food from that particular country where the language originates, blog about a particular project in that language, and even dress in the local costumes (this might be stretching it a little).

Anyway, the French Canadian project I had was placing French Canadian translations and English text for a bi-lingual label. First off, the label was designed for one language, so the bi-lingual label had to have smaller fonts so everything would fit. Secondly, the client wasn't familiar with the idea or concept of a bi-lingual layout, which is ok, and I fielded a lot of questions about it. So, the project was finished and it was English/French Canadian, and the client asked if it was appropriate for English to go first followed by French Canadian. Generally, this is the accepted layout, but I did ask my translator in Montreal, and his response was rather interesting: " The bilingual version made for Quebec is fine as-is, but could be made 'French before English', which would be more appropriate since the majority of Quebecois are French-speaking. However, Canadians, whether they are Anglo or Franco, are very used to seeing both languages side by side. This bilingual version for all of Canada would also address French-Canadians living outside Quebec."

Well, this comment is interesting because I found out today from Catherine upon her return from Montreal, that the government of Quebec requires that if a child born to two Quebecois (French Canadian speaking couple, both parents are from Quebec) are ONLY allowed to attend schools where French is the medium of instruction. The government does this to maintain the French heritage and culture in Quebec. I just thought this was an interesting way to sum up French Canadian Week, plus I learned a little fact about Quebec and the French Canadian culture.