THE ESSENTIALS OF “INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH” (Part 2)

Continuing from last month’s column, here are the last six of the ten essential points of using “International English.” 5) Avoid negative questions/ tag questions. English is somewhat unusual in that the framing of this kind of question doesn’t really impact the answer; it merely reflects the speaker’s guess at … Continue reading

The Least Corrupt Country in the World is…

Transparency International is a Berlin-based organization whose mission is “to stop corruption and promote transparency, accountability and integrity at all levels and across all sectors of society.” They publish the annual “Corruption Perception Index.” This index ranks countries and territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to … Continue reading

COUNTING THE HOLES Pt. 2: Important Lessons

There are some important lessons to be learned from “counting holes” (see the previous post, Counting the Holes, Part One). First, Japanese (and many other high-tech oriented countries’) customers pay very strict attention to quality. These local quality standards and expectations may be higher or broader – or both – from … Continue reading

COUNTING THE HOLES Pt. 1: Why Your Standards May Not Be As Good As You Think

Small companies founded on engineering or technology can face problems when communicating their ideas and concepts to an international audience who may approach problem-solving from a different perspective. The following is a condensed true story.  Taking a cue from Hollywood, names have been omitted, details changed and disguised, and the … Continue reading

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