Businesses are expanding to new markets throughout the world and professional business translation has facilitated that growth.
eCommerce companies are translating their product descriptions to sell internationally. Multinational corporations are expanding their training facilities and localizing online training to better communicate with their employees. Manufacturers are translating their user guides and product manuals, and most global companies have at least given thought to the many possibilities that could arise with website localization.
It was not too many years ago, that if you wanted to be successful in business, it was wise to familiarize yourself with Canadian French and/or Latin American Spanish, better yet, to translate into those languages.
The most popular languages for business translation
Simplified Chinese translation and Traditional Chinese translation
Simplified and Traditional Chinese are written by over one billion in the world and are the main written languages of the most populous nation. While there has been a movement to simplify the written Chinese language (Simplified Chinese) and the majority of the population uses Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese writing has been trending and making a comeback. These two translation languages will continue to make impact on the economy and depending on the target geography, businesses are using Simplified Chinese translation and/or Traditional Chinese translation to better connect with their audience. China’s economic growth is one of the highest in the world and they are moving into a consumption economy, meaning US businesses will have lots of opportunities to sell to a hungry consumer market in the near future.
Additionally, China has emerging outsourcing capabilities due to its low costs and high productivity levels. Therefore, most large manufacturers and software developers will use China for at least some work in the future.
Arabic translation
The Middle East will still play an important part of our everyday lives. There is a lot of wealth in the area and there are plenty of governments attracting tourism to their countries, especially for shopping. Arabic has had the problem of being difficult to render on websites, but the latest software has overcome this, so it is likely that more businesses will be translating their content into Arabic soon.
Latin American Spanish translation
While it doesn’t hold the same position as it did a few centuries ago, the Spanish language is still the main language for most of South America. Many of the countries in South America have booming economies and are constantly looking for new products and investment opportunities.
Hindi translation
There are 500 million speakers of this language from India. India is often one of the top considerations when organizations want to outsource work. Understanding their language might help businesses attract the right outsourcing company and the best talent in the nation.
Conclusion
Without a proper business translation and localization strategy, your business could face significant challenges in matching the results competitors achieve. The businesses that will get the most benefit will be those who gain the first market advantage. This is why businesses should consider now which languages would be important in the future and how they can translate their content and products to reach those audiences.