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5 World Most Translated Languages

The rate at which language translation is being implemented has significantly accelerated in recent years as a result of its accessibility and popular acceptance. People increasingly exploit its utilization as a method for marketing, in addition to employing it for their personal use.

However, the rate at which some languages are being translated into others is much higher than others. The following languages are among those that have seen the most translations around the globe.

  • English: This is the language being spoken the most on the globe, with 1.5 billion cumulative speakers, less than 400 million native speakers, and the first or second official language of more than 20 countries. Its translation is the most requested around the globe.

English is a West Germanic language that evolved from Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Britain by Germanic people from various regions (Northern Netherlands and Northwest Germany). There are different varieties of the language. They include;

  • American English
  • British English
  • Australian English
  • Indian English
  • Philippine English
  • Ugandan English 
  • South African English 
  • New Zealand English

Although there are still a great number of people whose first language is not English, it is the language into which the vast majority of documents are translated. 

  • Spanish: Although English is still the most common language spoken in the world, Spanish is rapidly gaining ground and may soon overtake it. It is estimated by a particular statistic that over 399 million people speak this language, while another claim 572 million people speak Spanish around the world. 

It is however believed that there are 40.5 million native speakers of Spanish in the United States alone with 12 million of them who speak Spanish as a bilingual language.

The demand for Spanish translation services is extremely high, and providing those services brings a good chance of financial success. This demand is directly correlated to the popularity of the Spanish language.

First and foremost, the number of countries in the world that speak Spanish is more than the number of countries that speak any other language. Spanish is the official language of communication in twenty distinct countries spread across four different continents (Europe, Africa, North America, and South America). 

The importance of Spanish translation services cannot be overstated for businesses that are situated on or near the border between the United States and Mexico, where Spanish is the predominant language spoken. This is because the majority of Spanish speakers reside in Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, and Colombia. 

The Spanish translation has the potential to reach 40.5 million people within the United States alone, not to mention in other countries. When conducting business on a global scale, there is a significant likelihood that an individual or a firm will have the occasion to interact with speakers of the Spanish language.

  • Chinese: Chinese is the third most common language spoken in the world. There are 1.4 billion people who are fluent in this language.

Chinese has been spoken in the United States since the middle of the 1800s, but the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 marked the beginning of a significant increase in the number of Chinese immigrants. This act removed race and nationality as considerations in the immigration process, making it simpler for people to travel to the United States from other countries. 

As a direct consequence of this, over one million people who spoke Chinese left their homes in places such as Taiwan, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and other regions of Southeast Asia and moved to the United States which directly expands the global speaking of the language

Although we refer to them collectively as Chinese, China has distinct varieties of the language. There are eight distinct dialects, any one of which might legally be considered its language based on the way the term is used. They include; 

  • Putonghua (Mandarin)
  •  Yue (Cantonese)
  • Wu (Shanghainese)
  •  Minbei (Fuzhou)
  •  Minnan (Taiwanese)
  •  Xiang
  •  Gan 
  •  Hakka 

The Mandarin language, which has over 929 million native speakers, is the principal variety that is spoken and translated. It is in extremely high demand, particularly in the field of international commerce. It is the language that is used by most people around the globe. 

Mandarin, on the other hand, does not have the same geographical limitations as Spanish in terms of its demand. The need for proficiency in this language is driven mostly by business and international relations. 

Companies have a demand for Mandarin translation services since China is one of the most influential countries in the worldwide business sector. These services make it possible for businesses to efficiently engage with Chinese enterprises, make sales to them, and manage their overall commercial relationships with them. 

Mandarin Chinese is the only native language that is the most widely spoken form of the language anywhere in the world. It is spoken by nearly a billion people within China alone and 1.2 billion people globally, which is a few hundred million people more than the next most widely spoken languages, Spanish and English.

  • German: Following in the footsteps of Chinese and Spanish one of the most in-demand languages for translation services is German. After English, which is also considered a West Germanic language, German is the Germanic language that has the second highest number of native speakers.

German is a member of the Indo-European language family and is predominantly used in Central Europe. It is a West Germanic language. It is also an official or second language in the countries of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein, as well as the Italian region of South Tyrol, where it is the most widely spoken language. In addition, Luxembourg and Belgium both recognize it as a co-official language, and Namibia recognizes it as the national language. 

The complexity of the German language is one factor that contributes to the necessity of the demand. Because of the difficult sentence structure and syntax, a lot of people choose not to study German at all. The thriving economy in Germany is another factor contributing to this exceptionally high demand. Because Germany has one of the strongest economies in Europe, there is a good probability that enterprises from all over the world may collaborate with a German company at some point.

There are also varieties of the German language but varied by region. The dialects are traditionally classified into three, which are;

  • Upper German (Oberdeutsch)
  • Central German (Mitteldeutsch)
  • Lower German (Plattdeutsch) 
  • Arabic: In the same way that Chinese is recognized to be a macro language, so too is Arabic. Spoken in over 60 countries throughout the world there are around 242 million native speakers of the language. It is estimated that over 292 million people use it as their primary language and as a second language, it is also understandable to a much larger number of people. 

Arabic, also known as al-Arabiya, is a Semitic language just like Hebrew and Aramaic. Its origins can be traced back to the middle of the ninth century BCE in Northern Arabia and southern Levant. 

In the case of Arabic, it is a source language in and of itself, much like Latin, in contrast to the latter two, that drives language from the other. In contrast to Latin, it is still commonly used and spoken in modern times. Arabic is the de jure language of business, law, and government in the United Arab Emirates.

The United Nations recognizes the language as one of its six official languages because it is one of the most frequently spoken languages in the entire world.

There are many different forms of the language, known as dialects or varieties, several of which are spoken so distinctively from one another that it can be difficult for its speakers to comprehend. Some of these include; 

  • Modern Standard Arabic
  • Egyptian Arabic
  • Gulf Arabic 
  • Maghrebi Arabic
  • Levantine Arabic, and a great number of others.

Abu Dhabi’s contribution to the Emirate’s economy through oil is enormous. Dubai’s focus on trade and the significant growth in agricultural production in the emirates of Ras al-Khaimah and Fujairah, as well as in the two exclaves of Ajman and at Al-Ain, is also something to write home about when it comes to the Federation’s economy. 

This has created a place for them in the global market, therefore increasing the demand for its language translation, especially translation in Dubai.

Final Thoughts 

Companies and people have been forced and encouraged to expand their operations internationally as a result of the developments of enhanced technology and globalized society. 

This virtual contact between humans and other beings is something for which they are not entirely equipped. There are still hurdles caused by different languages and cultures. These are the primary explanations for why translation services exist and the need for accurate, high-quality translation services, either for your business or personal use. Torjoman can be of help. 

With proper language translation, you can finally bridge the linguistic barrier in global marketing, and boom! Global expansion sets in.