Friday, February 26th, 2010

LANGUAGE experts based in Stirling say William Wallace would be embarrassed by the lack of foreign skills possessed by Scottish companies.

Translation and interpreting agency Global Voices are situated in the shadow of the Wallace Monument, a memorial to arguably Scotland’s greatest hero and a man who could speak two languages as well as his own. They are worried about Scottish firms’ ambivalence to the importance of foreign culture and language in business.

It is well known that Wallace was fluent in French and Latin as well as his mother tongue, but today more than 700 years on you would be lucky to find a Scottish firm conversant in more than one language.

Luigi Koechlin, who runs his agency from Stirling University’s Innovation Park, has interpreters and translators to cover all of the world’s languages, but he fears Scottish companies could lose out on millions of pounds of business if they do not address their language inequality soon. 

William Wallace knew the value of understanding different cultures and tongues. The English underestimated him thinking he was a barbarian and he managed to win great victories over them. 

“However, I think he would be a bit embarrassed that we expect everyone else to speak English instead of making the effort to train employees or call on agencies like ourselves to help out when it comes to breaking down the language barrier.”

And he adds:

“The world is getting smaller year by year in the business sense. It is turning into a United Nations of business and anyone not embracing the fact is going to struggle. It is unrealistic to rely on everyone speaking English.”

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