By Sarah-Claire Jordan
For translators and other language specialists, the fact that Internet growth is intrinsically linked to translation might be a given. Language controls almost everything in terms of how we communicate, what we communicate, and why. It is so important to our daily lives, and even more so now with all of the advances in Internet technology, that we almost forget it even exists, much like oxygen. How exactly, however, has translation been linked to Internet usage lately?
Just to start, the top three mobile apps in the world as of this year are huge translation proponents. Facebook, WhatsApp, and Google Chrome didn’t earn their stars by ignoring non-English speakers, but by embracing them and doing their best to give them the best possible mobile app Internet experience they can provide. This also includes localization, which goes beyond translation by taking into account the culture, economy, and political landscape of areas that speak specific languages. This means creating lighter apps for certain languages and options for less data usage, for example.
Continuing with the theme of leaders in the Internet sector, data from this year shows that the best way to get into the top five Internet-based companies is to emphasize the importance of reaching a wider user base through translation. Apple, Google, Amazon, and Facebook are all at the top of the list this year, all thanks to policies geared towards connecting with new clients and customers in their own language.
Anything voice-enabled is likely to be the next hot thing, from Skype Translator to any iteration of voice-based technology you can imagine. This new kind of Internet technology has its benefits in terms of Internet usage. As not everyone in the world is literate or even good at typing, it is extremely helpful to have the option of using a voice-enabled tool to speak with others, or to have text read back to them. This only works, however, if there is support in the user’s native language, and this is where translation saves the day, yet again.
One last thing to mention here is the fact that, though in many developed countries such as the U.S., Internet growth has reached a point where it might as well be turned up to 11, it is growing at different rates in other parts of the world. For example, only about half of the population of India has access to Internet, and yet growth has increased by 40% this year. We tend to assume that, because someone doesn’t use the Internet much, they aren’t interested in it, but that is far from the truth. The statistics for Internet growth in India show this, and show us that we need to be more informed about the reasons why Internet growth differs from region to region.
With all of this new information for this year, it is obvious that translation and Internet-based companies will continue to depend on each other to keep business growing, help people communicate, and more.
For an overview of Alpha Omega Translations’ expertise, visit our website translation and localization page.
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