Speaking more than one language is highly beneficial. It helps you keep your brain in good shape, helps you learn additional languages with more ease, helps broaden your job prospects, and gives you a better ability to communicate.
The positives of knowing more than one language are plenty, but how many people worldwide are bilingual or multilingual? Let’s take a closer look:
How Many People Can Speak More Than One Language Worldwide?
As it stands, at least 50% (some estimates are as high as 75%) of the world is able to speak at least two languages. This is more common in some countries than others. In the UK and America, Italy, Ireland, Hungary, and Portugal, populations are less likely to speak an additional language. However, across Europe, certain countries have a high chance of speaking an additional language. A high percentage of people (over 90%) in Latvia, The Netherlands, Sweden, Malta, Slovenia, Lithuania, and Luxembourg are able to speak more than one language. Across the world: Aruba, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa, Mauritius, India, Suriname, and East Timor are well known for being bilingual or multilingual.
Does It All Come Down to Learning?
Although learning additional languages is a deliberate choice for many people, there are many countries where learning additional languages is expected or necessary. Papua New Guinea, for example, uses over 840 languages. Of course, every person doesn’t speak all those languages, but it’s common for people to be multilingual as par for the course.
Interestingly, a person who speaks a certain language, such as Ukrainian, may also have an understanding of a similar language, such as Russian. So, although they don’t speak the same languages, they, to some degree, can access materials in Russian.
Some communities may also understand a language conversationally and be bilingual in a sense, but more detailed versions of the language may not translate as well to them. They may also only communicate with that language in certain ways. So, suppose an area has a second language that many people speak. In that case, if you want to capitalise on that by adding that language to marketing or learning content, it’s essential to know how that additional language is generally used. Is it conversational? Is it written or read? This will help you to choose between adding useful layers like subtitles, voiceovers or dubbing to content.
So, where it might seem like a good idea to utilise the country’s primary language for a voiceover and perhaps a British voiceover for business materials or marketing, there are usually multiple languages you could apply to any video to further its reach.
Always Choose Professional Translation Services
Whichever languages you choose to use in your business project, always choose professional translation services. A professional voiceover agency and translation company will ensure that whichever languages end up in your international marketing strategy are correctly translated and localised. This ensures that your content has the best chance of representing your brand well and communicating your marketing message to positively impact your target market.
