Evolution - Paolo Sarpi - Milan’s Chinese Quarter

February 7, 2008 · Filed Under Milan - My Zone · Comment

Back in May 2005, I wrote this post about the silent invasion by Chinese businesses of the area of Milan which is on my doorstep. Well, I have to say that things have changed, or rather evolved, quite considerably since I last wrote about this subject.

There are still quite a number of shops selling cheap clothes to those who run markets, but there are now quite a few other types of shop, and many of them are starting to take on the appearance of typical Italian shops.

For example, there are now at least four shops selling computer hardware and electronic goods such as Mp3 players and the like. And, in addition to odd Chinese brands, many of the products stocked in these shops are familiar names such as Acer, Sony, and LG, amongst others.

Next, we have the mobile phone stores, again, offhand I can think of at least four of them, including one newly opened shop.

However, the most interesting thing is the transformation which is starting to take place of the formerly cheap wholesale clothing outlets into smarter, more up market boutique type shops. OK, I can only think of one or two at the moment, but I’m pretty sure that this trend will continue.

Along with the clothing stores, there are now a number of reasonably good quality Chinese run jewellers selling well known brands. Yes, they could be copies, but I’m not so sure. Indeed, there is no reason why they should be really, seeing as it is probable that some of the more well known brands most probably sub-contract their production to Chinese producers.

There is also a perfume shop, which looks very Italian in style.

And the ever industrious Chinese are not doing too badly as a result of the evolutionary expansion, as I see plenty of youngish Chinese cruising around in very expensive cars.

There is a bustling Chinese community here, and it looks as though it will become stronger and stronger.

I was half expecting this transformation to take place, so it is very interesting to see it happening before my eyes.

Oh, and it is not just Chinese faces you see in these recently transformed shops, you may like to know.

It will be interesting indeed to see how things differ in another three years time, and if I’m still running this blog, and I plan to be, I’ll write another little update.

Tags: Acer, brands, Business, cars, change, chinese, computer, evolution, evolve, good quality, interest, interesting, Italia, Italian, Italy, LG, market, Milan, mobile, mobile phone, Paolo Sarpi, phone, product, shop, Sony, strong

DIESEL

January 28, 2008 · Filed Under Italy · 4 Comments

Nope, I’m not going to waffle on about eco friendly fuels, but in my continuing micro-attempt to raise the feel-good factor for Italy in these troubled times, I’m going to have a look at an Italian brand, which, at first, quite a few years, I did not know was Italian. Not a surprise, I did not even know how to pronounce Versace until a more fashion conscious friend corrected me.

Anyway, DIESEL actually kicked off way back in 1978, but the company did not start to become an international brand until the late 1980’s. Now, of course this 100% made in Italy company is very well known at an international level. Traditionally, Italian fashion tended to cater for the upper ends of of the market, so DIESELs operation could be viewed as being a wily attempt by its Italian owners to bring the international strength of the Italian fashion industry down into a younger, for the Italian fashion industry, market sector. A shrewd move which paid off.

Now this company, based in Molvena, a relatively unknown town in north eastern Italy, can boast stores in locations as prestigious as Lexington Avenue in New York city. The company provides employment for around 3,500 people too, and while this may not be an enormous number, it is not at all bad for a company that manages a worldwide presence, and is also about average for a fashion sector company from what I’ve managed to glean.

Sales of 1.2 billion Euros were achieved worldwide in 2005, a figure which is not too far behind that of the archetypal Italian brand managed by one Giorgio Armani at 1.69 billion Euros in 2005. Both companies appear to have a per capita sales income level of around 350,000 Euros. This compares quite favourably with the 2006 income of the British Burberry group, which achieved a per capita sales income of 373,000 Euros in 2006.

All of the above goes to show that Italy has people that are more than capable of producing world beating products and brands. Just imagine what this country could do with good sound leadership.

PS If you think I’ve got my facts wrong - tell me!

Tags: Armani, Business, company, Diesel, good, Italia, Italian, Italy, made in Italy, market, Maserati, People, product, profit, sales, strong, town

Wordfast - a translating system - first steps

January 14, 2008 · Filed Under Work · 3 Comments

Seeing as I’m becoming more and more involved in the translation of things like technical due diligence reports and other quite repetitive reports, I’ve invested in a Word add on known as Wordfast. You can discover more by clicking on the link.

What is this thing? Well, it’s known in the trade as a ‘translation memory’ application. Basically what it does is remember things you have translated and then proposes an exact or approximate translation of a sentence or ’segment’, as the jargon goes.

I’ve yet to put this system to the test, but I have been going about the rather laborious task of creating translation memories from translations I have already done. Then, when someone rings me up and says ‘Can you do this by…..?’, I shall reply ‘yes’, and get down to work.

Why use one of these systems? Simple, it can speed up translating work appreciably. And it ensures that translations are more consistent, plus it means that I do not have to go hunting around for some expression or other that will not spring to mind. A great time saver in itself.

Wordfast is a wee bit fiddly to get the hang of, but the more you use it, the easier it becomes. And building translation memories allows me to become more familiar with how the system works. Although I’ve yet to become proficient with it.

I’ve also been creating a few glossaries, which I can then print off, send off, etc and distribute while I’m teaching. Although I’m not sure how many people really use my glossaries. The paper versions are OK, but finding stuff can be very slow. However, put a glossary in a .pdf file or even a Word document and by using the ‘find’ functions you can search quite painlessly for the right expression or word. .pdf files are a little safer, as you cannot accidentally overwrite something or delete it, which could be something of a problem with a Word file. You know, the phone rings and two seconds later you have deleted something you should not have. ‘Undo’ may save you, as long as you are aware that you have mucked something up. With .pdf files this cannot happen.

Of course, putting glossaries on the web is one of the best ways of ensuring that all and sundry can access them. So I may have a go at putting some on the new site I’ve been building.

The only trouble is that producing these glossaries is fairly dull, and slow, work. Something for those semi-idle moments when you can’t be bothered to use your brain, I would say.

I also reckon that Wordfast or a variation may well be useful, not only for translators, but for businesses working in an international environment, especially those working with technical expressions, like lawyers, architects and engineers. However, I’m not too sure how such a system could be adapted to work efficiently. If I come up with an angle, I may post here, but if anyone out there on the WWW, especially those from Wordfast, can think of how to do this, then I believe that there may be one heck of a, growing, market for it.

Tags: Business, lawyers, market, teaching, TM, tra, translating, translation, Useful, web, Wordfast, Work