December 2007: ISO9001
Accreditation for Alexika Ltd
Following a rigorous assessment,
we are pleased to announce that Alexika Ltd is now an ISO9001 quality
assured firm. Ever since the company was established in 1998, delivery
of high quality translations has been central to everything that
we do. Formally setting out our quality procedures has been a positive
process and we believe that our clients will benefit in years to
come. We are grateful
to the British
Accreditation Bureau for their help in preparing us for assessment.
December 2007: Historical research at Alexika office
Our latest
computer upgrade and office decoration project is a poignant reminder
of recent historical research. We were curious to know something
about the history of our office building in Addingham in the North
of England and eminent local historian Arnold Pacey was kind enough
to give us his thoughts. It seems that the building was originally
divided into several units, split between commercial use as possibly
a drapers shop and a tailors shop and also domestic use. It is
possible that the domestic use was shared with commercial weaving
in the early 1800s. We are based in an area of the North of England
that was caught up in the technological surge of the industrial
revolution, where some leading-edge textile technology was developed.
It is fascinating to think of these previous lives as we work
on translations for the 21st century!
September 2007: Alexika
to attend ATC conference
For the fourth consecutive year, Alexika attended the annual conference of the
Association of Translation Companies in London - and it was pleasure to meet
many colleagues and suppliers. We can report that the commercial translation
market is in a healthy and vibrant state with increasing demand for translation,
particularly for publication on the internet. There were some interesting debates
on the use of translation technology. Our approach at Alexika it that the sensible
use of mature translation memory technologies is a key quality benefit for our
clients.
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June 2007: Sponsored Lyke Wake walk
Mark Robinson, Director of Alexika, completed a sponsored 40 mile (60 km) sponsored
walk for charity on 21st June 2007. He was part of a group raising money for
the Prostate Research Campaign UK. The Lyke Wake Walk covers 40 miles of the
North Yorkshire Moors in the North of England, and is thought to follow routes
taken by medieval coffin carriers. Walkers must complete the walk within 24
hours to earn the title of 'dirger' - as you can read at www.lykewake.org.
Mark completed the walk in 15.5 hours - exhausted but happy! Many Alexika
clients and suppliers were amongst the sponsors and Mark is very grateful indeed
for their support - the 10 people walking on the day raised over £20,000
between them.
March 2007: German spelling reform update
Back In 1996, spelling reforms were introduced throughout Germany. The
aim was simplification – rules on commas were reduced from 25 to just
5, and the famous enormous compound words were to be broken down into more
easily digestible chunks. But rebellion is still in the air – well
known publications such as news weekly Der Speigel, the venerable
newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the racier tabloid Bild reverted
to the traditional spelling, in a move which was very popular with the older
generation. German speaking readers may now enjoy lively discussion at www.rechtschreibreform-neindanke.de where
there is even a song on the subject – ‘der Rechtschreibkanon’ You
can also keep an eye on which publications are using traditional spelling
at www.gutes-deutsch.de/ |
