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February 24, 2009
More cross-culture. More writing well.
“The teacher’s son’s classroom” may lack elegance, but is surely better than the roundabout “La salle de classe du fils du professeur.” Similarly “John’s sister’s programme” is more succinct than “El programa de la hermana de Juan”.
Pragmatic German and Nordic languages simply add ‘s’ to denote the genitive: Deutschlands Wetter; Danmarks kong; Sveriges huvudstad; while Romance languages have to resort to a variety of forms...
Heartless marauding northern European cultures may have certain advantages with words: economy, for example. See Richard D. Lewis's article "The Possessive Apostrophe" at his Cross-Culture. Don't get the elegant Mr. Lewis wrong, though. Read the whole thing. It starts with the Birmingham (England) City Council's removal of the possessive apostrophe from street signs. No kidding. Them Brummies.
Birmingham, above, is like Pittsburgh USA--just more pretentious.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Getting to "cross-culture consensus" in international disputes.
The panel will kindly note she's had several seconds to answer. Nothing further. And I will sit down. In international arbitration and mediation, first-language barriers can be the least of the challenges for your client. Consider, too, subtleties like the meaning of the "delayed answer" to a question. In one culture, delay means hesitancy and evasiveness (e.g., to most Westerners); in another, it may denote careful consideration of the question, and a sign of respect to the questioner.
In IDN No. 61, GE's in-house counsel Mike McIlwrath interviews Australian mediator Joanna Kalowski for the second time (see IDN No. 44). Kalowski, who works out of both Australia and Paris, shares how she became a mediator and lessons that come directly from her work. Kalowski has also trained mediators in Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore, Italy, Thailand and Hong Kong.
Their 25-minute discussion, "Public Consensus Across Cultures", just taped on February 13, is part of McIlwrath's award-winning interview series on International Dispute Negotiation sponsored by the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution, or CPR.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
If you believe in Ed., maybe he won't die.
See Blawg Review #200, in which Ed. meditates on, well, his demise, and the death of Blawg Review. He and his Sherpas have been the idea, force, class and hard work behind the best trading in the global marketplace of legal ideas that anyone has ever seen. He wouldn't up and die on us, like that wonderful demented old hound dog I once had in Ohio, would he? Ed's human, mainly, and therefore a bit cagey and manipulative, too. But so was that dog. Look, just in case, everyone should close their eyes, and with feeling say together "I believe in Ed." or whatever--and maybe he and it will live on. Okay? Or you can host Blawg Review. Do something. He owes WAC? about $20 USD.
Above: Disney's Tinkerbell, who started out pretend life as J.M. Barrie's fairy in 1904.
Posted by JD Hull at 06:47 PM | Comments (2)
Is that an elected state judge in your pocket?
Or you just hugely happy? In The National Law Journal by Marcia Coyle: "Study finds strong relationship between campaign contributions and decisions by state Supreme Court judges". Who would have thought it? You'll see lots of coverage on this issue as the time nears for U.S. Supreme Court to hear arguments in the Massey Coal case on March 3.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 03:59 PM | Comments (2)