Are you more of a listener? We’ve got you covered!
According to Google, based on the 500 million people who use Google Translate, top 10 language pairs in 2021 include English into Spanish, Arabic, Russian, Portuguese and Indonesian. Research conducted by Common Sense Advisory has concluded that the fastest growing language pairs are:
Everyone Loves Spanish!
The only right way to start our top 10 language pairs blog is with Spanish, the second most spoken native language in the world!
Spanish is an official language in 20 countries around the world and is the mother tongue of 489 million people. With more than 586 million people speaking Spanish in today’s world, the Spanish language is the world’s second-most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese, and the world’s fourth-most spoken language overall after English, Mandarin Chinese, and Hindi.
Translating your content doesn’t just open doors to Latin America and Spain. It helps you connect with your customers all over the globe. Spanish is widely spoken as the official language in Spain, Central, and South America, and as a minority language in the Philippines, Equatorial Guinea, and the USA, among others.
The top 3 most popular language pairs involving Spanish are:
Spanish to French
Chinese: The Fastest Growing Language in the World.
Chinese is spoken by about 1.3 billion people - approximately 16% of the world’s population - as a first language and is thus considered to be the most spoken native language in the world.
Chinese is technically a group of languages that form the Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages, spoken by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in greater China. Mandarin is by far the largest of the 7-10 Chinese dialect groups as it is spoken by 70 percent of all Chinese speakers (800 million) over a large geographical area.
Findings show that Chinese consumers strongly prefer advertising in their local language. Translating your content will enhance a favorable attitude towards your brand and influence higher purchase intentions.
The top 3 most popular language pairs involving Chinese are:
Chinese to Thai
Chinese to Malay
Should You Bother With Portuguese?
Portuguese is a Romance language originating in the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. It is the sole official language of Portugal, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Sāo Tomé and Principe, and Brazil.
With around 220 million native speakers and 50 million second-language speakers, Portuguese has approximately 270 million speakers in total. Globally, it is listed as the sixth most spoken language, and the third-most spoken European language, in terms of native speakers.
According to the British Council, only 5% of the Brazilian population speaks English. This is just around 10 million speakers from a total of 208 million. The number of English-speaking people is slightly bigger in Portugal (27%), but in other countries, it is much lower. So is this even a question?
The top 3 most popular language pairs involving Portuguese are:
Portuguese to French
C'est du gâteau!
French is an official language in 29 countries across different continents. No wonder we find it in the top 10 language pairs of the 2021 list.
It is spoken by about 76 million native speakers, about 235 million daily fluent speakers, and another 77 to 110 million secondary speakers with varying degrees of proficiency, mainly in Africa. OIF estimates that around 300 million people worldwide have some degree of French language proficiency, which makes it the 6th most spoken language in the world by a number of speakers.
Bloomberg ranked French the third most useful language for business after English and Mandarin Chinese. British Council’s Languages of the Future report ranks French before German as the most important language for trade. It is especially important in countries such as Morocco and Cambodia where proficiency in English is very low.
The top 3 most popular language pairs involving French are:
French to Spanish
French to Dutch
Sprechen Sie Deutsch?
German is the second most widely spoken Germanic language after English and is the most spoken native language within the European Union.
The German language is a West Germanic language that is spoken by almost 100 million native speakers and is spoken by a total of over 130 million people worldwide. It is the most widely spoken and the official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a co-official language of Luxembourg, Belgium and parts of Southwestern Poland, as well as being a national language in Namibia.
German is the second-most commonly used scientific language and among the most widely used languages on websites. Germany is also by far the biggest economic powerhouse in Europe, meaning that knowing the German language is crucial in all aspects of international relations.
The top 3 most popular language pairs involving German are:
German to Spanish
German to Dutch
Russian - The Second-Most Used Language on the Internet
Russian is an East Slavic language and is part of the Indo-European language family. It is one of four living East Slavic languages, and also part of the larger Balto-Slavic branch. Russian is an official language in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, and is widely used as a bridge language throughout Ukraine, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Baltic states.
Russian has over 258 million total speakers worldwide, and is the most spoken Slavic language, and the most geographically widespread language in Eurasia. Russian is considered the world’s seventh-most spoken language by a number of native speakers, and the world’s eighth most spoken language by a total number of speakers.
The above-mentioned stats put Russian to English firmly amongst the top 10 language pairs. Russian is the second-most used language on the Internet after English and is one of the official languages of the United Nations, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the World Health Organization, UNESCO, the World Bank, and the International Olympic Committee.
The top 3 most popular language pairs containing Russian are:
Russian to Arabic
Russian to French
Japanese Is on This List Too!!
Japanese is an East Asian language spoken by 128 million people, mostly concentrated in Japan, and is the ninth most spoken language in the world.
It is a member of the Japonic language family, which also includes the languages spoken throughout the Ryukyu islands. Although those languages are treated as dialects of the same language, Japanese is considered a language isolate.
Japanese society has a strong preference for domestic brands. Having a better product or service won’t be enough for successfully entering and connecting with your Japanese audience. Japanese consumers are also known to seek more information than western cultures when making a purchase decision. Translating your content and then providing useful information about your product will definitely help you to stand out on the Japanese market.
The top 3 most popular language pairs involving Japanese are:
Japanese to Chinese
Japanese to Malay
Why Translating Into Arabic Can Be a Game-Changer for Your Business?
Arabic is a Semitic language that first emerged between the 1st and 4th centuries, and is known as the lingua franca (bridge language) of the Arab world. It is named after the Arabs, a term initially used to describe people living in the Arabian Peninsula.
Modern Standard Arabic is an official language of 25 countries and 1 disputed territory, the third-highest number after English and French. It is widely taught in schools and universities and is a common language in workplaces, government, and the media. Arabic is spoken by 350 million native speakers worldwide and 270 million people use it as a second language, making it the fifth-most spoken language in the world.
Arabic is also the liturgical language of 1.8 billion Muslims and one of six official languages of the United Nations.
The top 3 most popular language pairs involving Arabic are:
Arabic to Hebrew
Arabic to Urdu
Language of Art and Culture.
Italian is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family, and the closest language to Latin, from which it originated.
Italian is the official language in Italy, parts of Switzerland, San Marino, and the Vatican City, while also having official minority language status in Western Istria (Slovenia). It also used to be an official language in the former Italian colonial areas of Eastern and Northern Africa, where the Italian language is still somewhat present. It is spoken by 85 million people worldwide, among which 67 million are native speakers.
It is the second most spoken language in the EU, with 15% of the EU population speaking Italian as a first language and 3% of the EU population speaking it as a second language. Italian is also one of the official languages of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and one of the working languages of the Council of Europe. Italian is the main language in the Holy See, serving as a lingua franca in the Roman Catholic hierarchy.
The top 3 most popular language pairs involving Italian are:
Italian to Spanish
Italian to French
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