With over 7,000 spoken languages at any given time in the world, there is a reason there are never enough translators in the world. Since there are different branches of languages that don’t tend to mix this makes communication difficult. This is where translators come to the rescue.

Here are the most common languages that require translators:

Spanish

Spanish is an official language in at least four continents. Those in the United States and Europe will find Spanish spoken commonly throughout the continents and country. Some places even require the Spanish language to come on official documents and signs.

Mandarin

Mandarin Chinese is the second most spoken language in the world and takes the number one spot for the highest number of native speakers. Most people that know Mandarin often know another language on top of that. Though it’s often a local language that has similarities to Mandarin.

Translation services are often needed for Mandarin since it belongs to the Sino-Tibetan language branch. Unlike other common languages which belong to the Indo-European branch. This also means different writing and alphabet structures are in place.

German

Germany is one of the most influential countries in the European Union. It makes it politically and economically smarter to learn. Native English speakers find it easy to understand German. But surrounding countries like France and Italy have a harder time picking it up.

This makes translation services a common career in these areas. It helps with business and with getting to know your neighbor.

French

French was once the powerhouse language of the world. It was used to trade between different regions and was the go-to language for handling politics between nations.

Even though it’s fallen off as the number one economic powerhouse, you’ll still find a vast number of people speaking it throughout the world. Chances are if you can’t find someone that translates to English, they can almost always translate to French.

Arabic

Arabic is another common language that requires both translation and interpretation services. Standard Arabic uses a completely different set of writing standards. This can make communicating and writing to someone who only speaks and writes in Arabic difficult.

Translators also need to reverse their reading styles when translating between the Latin alphabet and the Arabic alphabet. In many Latin languages, you read and write from the left to the right. In Arabic countries, you’ll need to read and write from right to left.

Keep in mind that translating and interpreting are two different things. You can learn more about translation vs interpreting with DTS Language Services.

Translators Help the World Connect

Without translators to handle all these different languages, the world wouldn’t be where it is today. These translators bring together people from everywhere. It helps keep things running and pushing the world forward.

If you want to learn more about languages, then check out the rest of the blog. Know someone interested in becoming a translator? Share this article with them so they know what languages are in demand.