On the 30th of September 2011 Chevron, one of the world’s leading integrated energy companies, sanctioned the $29 billion Wheatstone project in the Western Australian Pilbara region just days after the Australian federal government granted environmental approval. The Wheatstone project includes a two-train liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant with a foundation capacity of 8.9 million metric tonnes per year and a 190 million-standard-cubic-feet-per-day gas processing plant, based at the Ashburton North Gas Hub.

The Wheatstone onshore foundation project is a joint venture between the Australian subsidiaries of Chevron (operating 73.6%), Apache (13%), the Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC 7%) and Shell(6.4%).

George Kirkland, vice chairman of the Chevron Corporation said, “Wheatstone will be a strong pillar of the Australian economy for decades. We have achieved this important milestone with the close support and cooperation of the Australian federal, state and local governments along with the local community, our partners and customers.”

Using energy more efficiently is of vital importance to secure the future of the planet, as well as helping developing countries’ economies take off.

It goes without saying that English is a world language and that most who want to do business internationally need to do it in English. People from non-English speaking countries are not the only ones who may need to adjust their speaking habits – it can be of equal importance that native English speakers watch what they say!

In meetings involving people from multiple nations, Anglo-Saxons can sometimes stand out as strange because they cling to their original language instead of using the elementary English adopted by their colleagues from other countries. This is what the French computer engineer Jean-Paul Nerrière observed while serving as vice president of international marketing at IBM. He has developed guidelines and training in the form of two books to help non-native English speakers communicate with each other better by using Globish, a simplified subset of standard English, as a lingua franca.

These are some tips to make the life of your foreign business counterparts easier:

1. Avoid using confusing, non-committal language, such as negative questions like “don’t you think that’s not really true?”
2. Omit phrasal verbs;
3. Don’t assume that because someone speaks English well they understand everything. It’s always better to check back information;
4. Slow the information flow so that the other person won’t think that your speech is a continuous babble;
5. Don’t take for granted a basic shared knowledge such as historical or cultural references: if you say you’re happy because the Ashes are back in England, it might not be so clear for a foreigner, unless he or she is Australian, in which case it would be wiser to keep quiet…!

The business relationships with your foreign counterparts improve at the same rate as your shared cultural experience. If you need any help in carrying out efficient global communication ask SanTranslate.

Marriage may not necessarily change your lifestyle and habits but having children almost certainly will. Upon becoming a parent, you may start referring to your next 18 years, like many others, as your ‘big sleep’.

Before the noughties, it was more common for men to pursue careers and develop a working life and women to stay at home as housewives. However, with women utilising equally high educations and expertise, couples can nowadays struggle to decide who should give up their career.

Whoever chooses to stay at home, living through the big sleep can be a challenge. Although there is no sick pay, no sense of holiday time and an endless amount of chores, carers often want to keep themselves occupied outside of childcare so that they are not left behind in the working world. This is often hugely important as for many, the ability to work and do so productively is an essential part of one’s identity, which may go some way to explaining why many have started up home businesses. It may also be one of the reasons behind cloud computing’s growing popularity.

Take a look at our recent articles:

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