4 Arguments for why English is the most translated and interpreted language

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• AltaLingua, Translation curiosities

We are in an increasingly more globalised world in which communication with persons around the world is essential. Therefore, the work of translators and interpreters is in constant demand, but what are the reasons why English dominates over the rest of the languages?

1. It is the official language in 57 countries in the world

Amongst them are the best known countries such as the United States, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Canada or the United Kingdom, but we don’t forget the countries such as Cameroon, the Philippines, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Mauritius, Rwanda, Malaysia, Liberia, Tanzania amongst others.

2. It is the third most spoken native language, in the world

It is hard to believe that it has this position, but it has this position due to the number of native speakers, which for examples is lower than Spanish and Chinese. Despite this, it is the second most studied language in the world and millions of people master it.

This result translates to the large quantity of experts that exist, therefore it is really simple to find qualified professionals that translate and interpret any document into English.

3. It is the most widespread language in the world

If we consider people that speak English as a second language, English is the most widespread language in the world, it is estimated that 1,120 million people speak English, of which 60% speak it as a second language.

This means that English penetrates the market as the most demanded main language at a professional level. Therefore, the work of translators and interpreters is becoming an essential service in a professions such as conferences, fairs, meetings and assemblies.

4. The industries with the greatest export of consumer products belong to English countries.

It is essential to translate in different countries in industries such as literature, cinema or television. For example, in terms of literature in Spain, one out of two books are translations from English, while in Europe two out of three books are translations from English.

This increase of this languages has caused the massive consumption of Anglo-Saxon culture, since the majority of imported and imported products have translation in English.

AltaLingua

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