Connections Blog
Category Archives: Technology
A breakdown of Latin American Twitter users
In our last post we mentioned that Latin America is now the fastest growing Twitter population in the world. We found a tech blog that breaks down the trend and gives us more data about who the users are. Although … Continue reading
What machine translation can and can’t do
While WLS adamantly and singularly advocates human translation (that is, translation done by a professionally trained person, not processed by a computer), there is a case to be made for machine translation in select circumstances. A NYTimes editorial disputes the … Continue reading
Google’s machine translations aren’t perfect… but getting there
Google has refined its translation tool to a point that “can make the language barrier go away,” as one of the principal scientists of the company’s machine translation team said. Now handling 52 languages, Google is yet again a visionary … Continue reading
How to translate your eCommerce website
An online article on eCommerce discusses the importance of translating your website. It’s not a simple as you might think—and definitely not as easy as sticking your text into a machine translator and hoping for the best. First, everyone needs … Continue reading
More countries are online than ever
Just a few years ago, you might not see anyone logging onto Facebook on the remote island of Boracay in the Philippines—much less clicking “buy now” to purchase a product they saw on a Web site. An online article explains … Continue reading
Multicultural Marketing and Hispanics
In a post on the Future of Media blog, Maria Lopez-Knowles opines that the election of Obama illustrates what demographers have predicted: that we as a nation are becoming a hybrid of various cultures and that shortly those historically in … Continue reading
Closed Caption Latina Encourages Assimilation and Literacy
Closed Caption Latina is a Florida company which provides simultaneous dubbing and subtitles for Spanish-speakers and the hearing impaired. Maria Victoria Diaz, a Colombian immigrant and co-ounder of the company makes the case that their services help non-English speakers and the … Continue reading
Reaching Out to Hispanic Consumers
A recnt article in NJ.com compares the services to Spanish-speakers that Latino-focused retailers provide to those provided by big box stores. Stores such as Best Buy are hiring bilingual sales associates and linking their staff to online help when they … Continue reading
Mexico City No Longer Center for Dubbing
A fascinating article in AZ Central’s online newspaper describes the history of movie dubbing and voice overs and how Mexico City is no longer the nexus for this field. Mexican Spanish has long been lauded as being the most “generic” … Continue reading
Language Lines Services Put To Use in Florida
Language Lines is often mentioned in articles about strategies for working around language barriers. But this particular article about Pasco County’s demographic shift shows the impact that Language Line has had on communicating with non-English speakers at County offices. The … Continue reading
