Multilingualism

"One language sets you in the corridor for life, two languages open every door along the way.’’- Frank Smith The world's language system is undergoing rapid change because of demographic trends, new technology and international communication. These changes will affect both written and spoken communication. English may not be the dominant language of the future and the need to be multilingual will be enhanced. Although many languages are becoming extinct, new ones are emerging in cities and extended social groups. It...

''Language has been described as medicine's most essential technology - the principal instrument for conducting its work.'' - (Jackson, 1998) Language is the most common barrier in any health care setting and has been found to be a risk factor with adverse outcomes. Health care providers and patient communication are positively correlated with improved health outcomes. Health outcomes include medication regimen, preventive testing and patient satisfaction. Medical translation services are vital to providing quality care to foreign language speakers. Hospitals, emergency rooms, doctor's offices, public health organizations and nurses' stations...

“Personalization — it is not about first/last name. It’s about relevant content.” — Dan Jak, Head of e-mail & SMS, British Gas While it is true that the use of e-mail for social communication has dwindled over the years, the same doesn't hold true for marketing. Many brands have invested heavily in their social media presence to promote brand image. A study by e-commerce software firm Moneate found that 4.24% of visitors from e-mail marketing make a purchase, compared to only 2.49% of visitors from search engines and 0.59% from social media. E-mail marketing...