Germany, you are losing out!

[Torsten]

It's amazing, the level of complacency most German cities and communities show when it comes to their websites. Here is why: German cities are so complacent!

TOEIC listening, talks: Informing city residents about an Independence Day parade

[Jamie (K)]

The languages a city uses on its website may reflect who they want to do business with. It may be that some cities find business with Russians so problematic (corruption, unreliability, etc.) that they don't want to encourage it and would rather focus on countries other than Russia. When I was in the Czech Republic, there was a conscious effort on the part of the city where I lived to reduce the percentage of German tourists and business people frequenting the city and to encourage more tourism and business with the French, the Belgians, the British, the Americans, etc. This was not only because the city didn't want to tie its future to just one country, but also because (according to the locals) German tourists tended to be much worse behaved than people from those other countries.

[Torsten]

Jamie, your logic is failing you. If the Germans didn't want to do business with the Russians, German companies wouldn't have been investing billions of euros in Russia and they wouldn't have such giant projects like the Baltic gas pipeline. Why is Dresden's websites in Russian while Leipzig's website isn't? According to your logic, the Germans in Leipzig think that all Russians are corrupt and unreliable while the Germans living in Dresden think otherwise. This doesn't make any sense, does it?

TOEIC listening, talks: A radio traffic update reports problems including an accident as well as road works

[Jamie (K)]

It does make sense if you're not talking about "The Germans" but only about the priorities of individual municipalities. The priorities of local elected officials and people planning the city's communications may differ from those of the business people actually living in that city. And politicians don't always know much about business. In the Czech city I discussed, local businesses readily accepted money from anyone willing to pay, while the local officials were trying to discourage too much reliance on business with Germans.

A similar example would be the difference between the private and municipal government views of doing business with South Africa during apartheid. Large corporations in my city were actively doing business with South Africa in a way that they felt undermined the apartheid system, while government officials here wanted companies to cut off ALL business with South Africa.

[Torsten]

As you can see from the following letter, Chemnitz's website is not in Russian yet because they lack the resources. It's not because they don't want to attract more business people and tourists from Russia:

Sehr geehrter Herr Därr,
vielen Dank für Ihre Anfrage an die Stadt Chemnitz.

Tatsächlich gibt es bereits Überlegungen, die Informationen auf http://www.chemnitz.de auch in russischer Sprache anzubieten. Momentan stehen dafür leider keine finanziellen Mittel zur Verfügung. Die Übersetzung und Umsetzung in kyrillische Schrift ist finanziellaufwendiger als in die bisher bereit gestellten Sprachen. Gern nehmen wir Ihre E-Mail aber als Anregung, die baldige Umsetzungeinzuplanen.

Ich wünsche Ihnen einen schönen dritten Advent.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Michaela Haustein
Stadt Chemnitz
Bürgermeisteramt
Abt. Presse- und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit

TOEIC listening, talks: The co-pilot gives flight information to passengers
_________________
Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

[Jamie (K)]

So you are saying that ALL German cities without Russian on their websites lack the language because they lack resources. That's an awfully risky generalization.

The letter from the city of Chemitz is stupid, because it is not more expensive to get a good translation into the Russian language. The translation can be outsourced to a Russian translator at a fraction of Western rates. And there's no added expense for mounting a website in Cyrillic script. That official is blowing hot air at you.

[Torsten]

So are you saying that those cities without a Russian version of their websites don't have the Russian version because they think that this way they can contribute to fighting corruption in Russia? Wouldn't you agree that German cities are very happy when they are visited by Russian tourists who spend lots of euros on accommodation, food, services and products? If your logic were sound, then German cities should stop offering guided tours in Russian. They should also encourage their hotels to stop offering their services in Russian.

Also, you haven't answered my question: Do you think that Dresden does want to attract Russian tourists while Leipzig doesn't? If so, what exactly is the difference between Leipzig and Dresden then? Both cities are of the same size, they are in the same state and they are only an hour apart. So, if a Russian tourist comes to Dresden it's very likely that he also visits Leipzig so Leipzig would benefit from the business the Russian version of dresden.de generates.

TOEIC listening, talks: Announcing the collection of charity items

[Jamie (K)]

Torsten, you're making wild leaps of logic and putting words into my mouth that I never said!

I have seen city governments make the decision to downplay business with certain countries not because it will "contribute to fighting corruption", but because they think businesses in those countries are a pain in the neck to deal with. It's got to do with their own priorities as viewed by their officials and not with some kind of activism.

Also, you can't compare municipalities inviting business into their city with corporations investing in another country on more or less their own terms.

And you're displaying a typically Eastern outlook when you imagine that a city not actively pursuing business from a certain country would mean they would stop private services from being offered in that country's language. That logic makes no sense, and it's nothing like what I said.

[Torsten]

So you still can't give me a reason why Dresden's website is in English while Leipzig's isn't. I thought this would be the case.

TOEIC listening, talks: A company president introduces the keynote speaker at a corporate event

[Alicja1]

Hello Torsten! Could you sometimes check up a link?. I try to produce sth. when my time let me for it. I'm greeting you . Alicja

[Jamie (K)]

[Torsten]

The city government of Leipzig is paid by the tax money of their citizens so if they decide something we have a say in that too. That's how democracy works in Germany. By the way, I have called the city government of Leipzig and asked why our city's website is not in Russian yet. They said they are indeed very interested in attracting more business from Russia. As the city official put it 'Der Rubel rollt überall, warum nicht auch in Leipzig?"

If I have 'an inadequate understanding' of what the Leipzig's city government is doing, I can ask and the city government of Leipzig will give me sufficient information so I understand their decisions. What's more, if I don't agree with one of their decisions, we have a system in place that allows me to voice and channel my opinion so it has an impact on further decisions.

Again, this is how democracy works in Germany. Maybe it's different in the US.

TOEIC listening, talks: A traffic report is being given on the radio
_________________
Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

[Jamie (K)]

You can bark all you want, to anyone you want in the US. However, the Obama administration is said not to be cooperating with Freedom of Information Act requests for documents if they come from someone they believe is with the opposition.

[Torsten]

What do Obama and the Freedom of Information Act have to do with the Russian version of German city websites? Also, who is barking?

TOEIC listening, talks: A company president gives a speech at a corporate event

[Jamie (K)]

You said you didn't know how things were in the US, so I told you.