The Linguist is a languages magazine for professional linguists, translators, interpreters, language professionals, language teachers, trainers, students and academics with articles on translation, interpreting, business, government, technology
Issue link: https://thelinguist.uberflip.com/i/271849
Email linguist.editor@gmail.com with your views OPINION & COMMENT Vol/52 No/1 2013 FEBRUARY/MARCH The Linguist 29 A good article – that's clear I greatly enjoyed the article 'Keep it Clear' (TL51,5). It reminded me of the occasion when I was travelling through Holland on a touring coach with a group of Norwich school boys in 1955. The Dutch guide, who prided himself on the excellence of his English, switched on his microphone and said, 'If you will observe through the fenestration you will perceive the depredations caused by the inundations.' Silence. Then the boy across from me said, 'Sir, wha' do 'e mean?' I said, 'I think he means that if you look through the windows you can see the flood damage.' 'Well, why don't 'e say that?' At which point the boy sitting next to him said, 'Tha's because he's a foreigner – they can't speak English proper.' The Linguist is going from strength to strength – keep up the good work! John Floyd FCIL May I congratulate you on another fine edition. I particularly liked the article 'Keep it Clear'. I have lived in Nepal for the last 36 years and, when I meet English people, I am saddened not only by the lack of grammar and bad pronunciation of the younger generation but their dismal diction. I am also visited by foreigners whose English is often better than those from Britain. English grammar is taught in Nepalese schools and the British volunteer teachers I have placed are always at a loss when local school teachers ask simple grammar questions. It pains me. J P Cross MCIL A successful start, Russian style Following a very informative article by Marta Stelmaszak, who brilliantly described her linguistic start-up experience (TL51,6), I would like to share my story, which might be of help to fellow linguists. I came to London in 2008 after selling my small educational business in Russia and started a Master's at UCL to supplement my MPhil in Linguistics. In 2009, I became a self-employed Russian language tutor and, in 2010, incorporated the limited company. Until 2012, I was involved in another full-time venture, so I undertook only very basic marketing steps, including creating a website, www.russianinlondon.com. You can't underestimate the importance of choosing the right domain name. A significant part of my success has been based on the keywords included in the domain name and SEO (search engine optimisation) efforts. After referrals and word-of-mouth, the website brings me the largest number of inquiries. In January 2012, I found a business mentor with an academic background, and we had several meetings to talk through and shape my company vision, mission, values, business goals and, based on these, the company re-branding and marketing strategy. I can't agree more with Marta, who stresses the importance of branding. In the age of fierce global competition your identity and reputation are what will bring you customers. It might sound heretic, but to be a professional is no longer enough. Your name, your brand – they matter. These must be based on solid vision and mission. Sceptical as I was about this, I am now a strong believer. Within a year I have seen how my decisions and my business success have been shaped by my vision and mission. And, more importantly, they have made me feel comfortable dealing with challenges and mapping my future development. Early last year, Russian Local signed a year's contract for our first consultancy work. Alongside language and cultural awareness training, we started offering translation and marketing services, business partner matching and consulting. This involved some rewarding work to identify key partners to collaborate on the projects. During the summer, when every client seemed to have gone on holiday, I spent time revisiting our business goals and looking at our client portfolio. I realised that we needed to look for clients worldwide more proactively, which would help us avoid dead seasons in future. Thus we added more translation services, offering Italian, German, Chinese and French to Russian translation. We also paid attention to PR and featured in The Guardian, The Times, on the BBC etc, and became members of a number of professional organisations. Like Marta, I have also written a book – a Russian language textbook – which hopefully makes our language training proposition even stronger. Last but not least is the company focus on corporate responsibility, including business mentoring to fellow entrepreneurs. Ignaty Dyakov ACIL GRAMMAR LESSONS Teacher and pupils at a Nepalese primary P HOTOS : © I S TOCKPHOTO