Ken Subedi January 26, 2020

Translation Industry Trends for 2020

The new year of 2020 is upon us and so it is time to delve into the world trends that will be dominating the translation Industry this leap year. Every year there is an ever so rapid growth in globalization and localization and this year will be no exception; which only means more demand for translation and translators.

This generalization of increased demand is great but that is not the only trend of the industry that you will be seeing in 2020 as technology overwhelms and creates more demand for translation works. What does that mean exactly? Well, if you would like to know more about the upcoming trends that will dominate the translation industry in 2020 then keep on reading forth.

Growth in the Industry

As mentioned, due to high levels of globalization and localization there still is a steady increase in the growth for translation which continues from 2019. In 2019 there was a high demand for Spanish. This year Spanish still follows its steady demand but Mandarin has taken the spot for top language in demand for translation.

Such statistics came from Ethnologue, a source dedicated to all of the world’s languages. They showcased that Mandarin is the most spoken language in the world, and the second-most utilized language online, falling behind English.

Growth in Post-Editing Machine Translation

As stated above, fast-paced technology has created new trends and demands in the translation industry—mores specifically of Post-Editing Machine Translation (PEMT or MTPE). Although PEMT has existed for more than six decades, the market seems to have started blossoming in the past few years, reaching its highest demand in 2020. Such increased demands are the result of Neural Machine Translation (NMT) which is a system that predicts the probability of a sequence of words, which then models entire sentences in a single integrated model.

Following NMT, businesses placing importance on fast-paced and cost-effective translation work which studies have found to be most effective through PEMT. This can be easily understood as machines translate works at a much faster pace but not at the same clarity as translators themselves; hence creating the perfect formula in conjunction.

Growth in Demand for Video Translation

It will not come as a surprise that video translation demands are at its peak, considering the impact of various video-based platforms such as YouTube, Vimeo, and even Twitch. Increased demand for videos and the growth of globalization seem to be congruent, as the market increases for watching videos, in order to learn more or be more entertained, by reading subtitles of videos that are not in the native language of the viewer.

Another reason for such increased demand is Google and Google’s increased importance on video placement on pages for SE rankings. Due to which video translation and subtitling is predicted to reach its highest demand yet in 2020.

Growth in Demand for Voice Search

Usage of voice search through Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri and Google’s Home Assistant is predicted to be increased almost by 50%. This would mean that although English will be prominent, the rest of the world will be using their native languages for such searches. This inevitably means raised importance for international SEO for businesses, which once again means increased demand for translators for assistance with voice search. Global markets are changing constantly and the translating industry is no exception. There will be more trends emerging, developing and changing in the following year and the years after. Though, the trends mentioned in the article seem to be the most prominent trends for 2020 so far.