Italian readers are crazy for books translated from Welsh into Italian.

Indian readers are reading dozens of self-help books and little-known Dutch titles in the modern Hindi language.

English-speaking readers may want to check out Yeeyan to find translations of articles and blogs originally written in Chinese, with notable ones such as US Internet companies' top 10 mistakes in China

The Global Watchtower looks at a couple of translation companies that are doing business in a greener fashion.

For almost two years, McElroy Translation has been a member of the Austin, Texas Energy GreenChoice® program. Shortly after becomeing members of this program, McElroy swapped out its existing fluorescent and incandescent lighting with newer technology that uses far less electricity.

While the Chinese market may seem like a prime, untapped space for makers of luxury brands such as those of makers of spirits, some education of the consumer may still be required.

In a poll, 471 regular international spirits drinkers in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou were asked if whisky and Cognac are the same drink. Some 19% said they agreed that whisky and Cognac were the same drink, and although 38% said they were not, a further 43% said they weren't sure.

David Warlick has raised some good questions at his blog about learning languages and culture, and the value of learning multiple languages. I think that the newer communication and translation technologies are rapidly reshaping the traditional approaches to these questions, but not eradicating the need to know multiple languages--nor are they going to ever completely reach the status of "language killers," as some people fear.

Speaking entirely from the perspective of globalization, millennial learners, and a new information landscape, the question that begs asking in my mind is, “What good is a second language?” What I mean to say is, don’t we really need fifth or sixth languages? If it is our goal to be able to interact in a global community in the community’s tongue, then one more language (among the hundreds or thousands of human languages) really isn’t that much.

In Harrisburg Thinking about Languages

Now as for languages, we got to talking about how much we can learn about culture from learning about their language. The question was posed, does the culture make the language or does language make the culture? I don’t know, but it made me wonder about evolving languages, tipping points, and a rapidly changing world.

We, as individuals, can publish to a global readership, and be responded to. This word, blog, has become a part of our vocabulary, part of our dictionaries. That’s a tipping point. What does it mean to a culture that can practice such democratic activities?

 In this article, the head of a language school indicates a fundamental shift in perception that speaking English is good enough for doing global business.

Valentine Cawley, Head of Department, Linguaphone Language School, said: "Two years ago, we were carrying just four languages. Now we are teaching over 15 in tutorial classes. I think there has been awareness among Singaporeans that if they are going to communicate with the rest of the world, they do need specific language skills.

"In many of the countries they are going to, the take-up (rate) of English is not as good, and in business, it is best to speak the language of the person you are relating to. It is not only polite, but gives you a better change of signing that contract."

A good comparison between the behavior of Chinese consumers, and consumers in the U.S. and U.K. An interesting item that points to Chinese consumers as a still-untapped market:

Asked if they would mainly spend, save, invest or pay off debt if their income grew by 20%, over half the Chinese responded that they would indeed spend it.

The U.S. can stay on top of the world by seeing opportunities in global markets, rather than threats. This seems to be an imperative for not so much "staying on top," as it is to be competitive and viable as an economy, period. With this imperative follows the natural necessity of learning and implementing the languages and cultures of those places where opportunities lie.

Antoine van Agtmae provides this insightful article:

South Korean carmaker Hyundai recently had to deny newspaper reports that it is a leading candidate to take over Chrysler. True or not, it already has a $1.1 billion plant in Alabama and now beats Toyota in performance quality, according to the J.D. Power survey. Less than five years ago it was the joke of a Jay Leno show.

Hyundai is just one of the many profitable firms in emerging markets that produce just about everything consumers consume. Within hours of Apple CEO Steve Jobs' recent unveiling of the stylish new iPhone, shares in Taiwanese electronics giant Hon Hai Precision Industry shot up.

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Many more corporations should develop a clear emerging-markets strategy, embed their young managers with local families (as Procter & Gamble already does), build crucial local relationships, establish international focus groups to tailor products to local tastes, and form business alliances with this new breed of companies. And our universities should focus more on creative problem solving and integrate study and work experience abroad if we want students to be comfortable with foreign languages and cultures.

Nestle offers companies tips for succeeding in the Chinese market.

The world's leading ice cream company, Nestle, has just kicked off the 2007 ice cream season today by introducing many new tasty and innovative products to Chinese consumers. The company said, to succeed in Chinese market, companies must not only manufacture quality products that taste good, they must also keep up with local tastes and lifestyle trends, and be able to turn product concepts into products quickly.

Not impressed with 140 million Chinese internet users, because you think they are saving all of their money, or have no money to spend online?

The results indicate that old stereotypes of Chinese consumers stuffing yuan under their mattresses can no longer be attributed to the increasingly well-off middle-class Chinese youth segment. This bodes well for multinational companies that hope to tap into China's fever for Web 2.0 and e-commerce.

Chinese consumers now buy more than $6 billion worth of luxury items a year, making them the third largest segment in the world after their counterparts in the United States and Japan. 

Another example of a successful Western product exported to China. Coffee appears to be there to stay.

Is the development of China's coffee culture motivated by a desire to embrace all things Western, or is it a culture that the Chinese have adopted from outside but made their own?

The speed at which Chinese took to coffee is demonstrated by the 90 percent increase in total volume sales in China between 1998 and 2003, when it reached 6,504.5 tons. Demand for coffee more than doubled between 2001 and 2006 and is currently estimated to be growing by 10 percent a year, according to the International Coffee Organization (ICO). Many industry leaders credit the birth of Chinese coffee culture to Nestl's intensive marketing of its Nescaf brand when it pioneered the market in the mid-1980s. Then, the company introduced Chinese to soluble, or instant coffee, which today accounts for about 90 percent of retail sales, according to the ICO.