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In this issue…


How globalized are you?

John Freivalds

LISA members take pride in being more global than any other organization. See how many you can answer and rate yourself. Answers are given at the bottom of the page.

[15 to 20 correct—You should be transferred to Paris with a raise; 8 to 14 correct—Not bad, but don’t leave your day job in Fresno yet; Less than 8—The only way is up.]


  1. Where do they speak Putongluia?
  2. How do you write August 9, 1997 in numerical form in Germany? In Russia?
  3. What language do the Spanish say they speak in Spain?
  4. Can you match the accented vowels with the modern European languages they are used in? (ė, ŵ, ő, ę, ē)
  5. Is a football field always 100 yards long?
  6. Which of the following languages or scripts are read right to left, left to right, and top to bottom:
    Russian, Latvian, Arabic, Hebrew, Hangul, Mandarin, Croatian, Traditional Mongolian?
  7. Where does the term Hispanic come from? In which countries is the term used?
  8. How many official languages does Switzerland have?
  9. Name five currencies in the world with a unit value of more than US $1.
  10. What year is it in Israel? Saudi Arabia?
  11. Which countries refer to the USA in the following ways? ASU, EEUU, Etats-Unis
  12. What is the day of rest in Islamic countries? On what day of the week do Canadians get their biggest paper?
  13. How many time zones does the Russian Federation have?
  14. If people say corn in the U.K., what grain are they referring to in the U.S.?
  15. How would you change the following name and address to conform to Brazilian custom (keep it in English)?

    Rory Cowan
    Lionbridge Technologies
    940 Winter St., 4th Floor
    Waltham, MA 02154
  16. The following company legal abbreviations correspond to what countries?
    a) A/S; b) OY; c) A.S.; d) Cie; e) Gmbh; f) BV.; g) Cia
  17. How many pounds are in a short ton, a long ton, and a metric ton?
  18. What do they call a cowboy in Argentina? Mexico?
  19. The following ordinal numbers correspond to which languages? The choices are French, German and Italian.
    a) 1o; b) 1.; c) 1er
  20. In what European country are names spoken and written with the family name first (i.e., in "Asian" order)?

Answers

  1. People's Republic of China.
  2. Germany: 9.8.97; Russia: 9.08.97.
  3. Castellano
  4. ė: Lithuanian, ŵ: Welsh, ő: Hungarian, ę: Polish, ē: Latvian
  5. No. In Canadian football the field is 110 yards and in soccer (called football around the world) the field is 130 yards.
  6. Croatian, Russian and Latvian, left to right; Arabic and Hebrew, right to left; Hangul and Mandarin, left to right (but often top to bottom), Traditional Mongolian (top to bottom).
  7. Invented by politicians in the U.S. No Spanish speaking country in the world uses this term.
  8. Four—French, Italian, German, Romansch.
  9. U.K. pound, Irish punt, Latvian Lat, Kuwaiti Dinar and Omani Riyal
  10. Israel: 5761; Saudi Arabia: 1421.
  11. ASU, Latvia; EEUU, Latin American countries and Spain; Etats Unis, France.
  12. Friday, Saturday
  13. 13. 11
  14. Wheat
  15. Sr
    Rory Cowan
    Lionbridge Technologies
    Winter St., No. 950, 4o
    02154 Waltham-MA
    United States
  16. a) Norway; b) Finland; c) Turkey; d) France; e) Germany; f)Netherlands; g)Brazil.
  17. 2000, 2240, 2204
  18. Gaucho, Argentina; Charro, Mexico
  19. Italian, German, French
  20. Hungary



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