560 million speakers. 465 million native speakers: only Mandarin counts as many native speakers! It is the official language in 22 countries and is spoken by communities spanning 57 countries across the world and all its continents.
Today we would like to talk about the language’s history, its future and why it is essential to rely on professional Spanish translators to penetrate and access what is a massive segment of the public.
As is the case with all romance languages, Spanish was the evolution of Vulgar Latin and started growing from around the X-XI century in the Iberian Peninsula alongside other regional languages (Portuguese, Catalan, Galician, etc.). It was enriched by the other non-Latin languages across the peninsula (the Basque, Arabic, Celtic language, etc.). The success of Spanish, or rather Castilian, was due to the Reconquista, which saw the dialect spoken in the southern central part of Spain become the governmental language. Moreover, the exploits of the Christian heroes against the Arabs meant that Spanish became the language of culture in the Iberian Peninsula as well as in Europe.
The global expansion of Spanish started soon after the unification of Spain and very quickly spread to South America, to the Asian archipelago of the Pacific Ocean and to Africa. To date, it is spoken in most of the Americas and although not an official language, the Spanish-speaking community in the USA counts more than 50 million people (more than all of Spain!). It is also commonly spoken in Equatorial Guinea and the Western Sahara and is widespread in Morocco. In the Pacific archipelagos, particularly the Philippines, it developed together with the local languages and went on to give rise to a pidgin language. In Europe, there are more than ten million speakers, especially in France, Italy, Portugal and the UK.
The future of the Spanish language looks bright: a progressively significant increase in speakers is expected with a growing economic and political relevance over the years to the extent that it may well rival the English language and overtake the geographical diffusion of Mandarin and Hindi.
As mentioned, the Spanish-speaking market is in constant growth. Not only that, but it is also a multi-segmented market, which is extremely interesting in terms of the potential expansion of businesses offering a range of products, from retail to luxury.
Given that it is a language that is used in what is essentially an already mature market, the level of competition is high. However, having said that, Spanish-speaking consumers know what they want, and they are looking in particular for quality European products.
The translation of user manuals and instruction booklets for the automotive sector is fundamental, but so is the translation of manuals for other consumer goods and marketing products.
The market does not stop at the sale of products. Spanish-speaking markets are expanding and are on the lookout for financial products that meet the demanding public’s needs and wants. Translating and proposing financial and banking products in Spanish could very well lead to obtaining a position in a promising market.
And that brings us round to culture. Spain is a rich and developed country, with an extremely high level of education and a well-developed R&D sector. The countries in South America make up thousands if not hundreds of millions of individuals who come from Europe and want to read and learn about their own culture. This means that the translation of literature and other educational sources (such as translation of informative websites, translation of blogs, translation of educational campaigns) and training materials (translation of online courses of language and culture, and the translation of cooking courses) can lead to a significant impact in terms of popularity and revenue.
As we have seen, translating into Castilian/Spanish is important and can reap great rewards for your business. That is exactly why we recommend using trusted professional translators rather than looking for cheap alternatives to save money, as ultimately, they can end up costing a lot more in terms of your business’ image and reputation.
A language spoken in 22 countries and with at least 30 certified variations cannot be properly translated by software or artificial intelligence.
A translation agency will be able to provide you with a localisation service for your products, either directly or collaborating with a communications agency, to guarantee specific translations of your content for the relevant reference market (for example the Argentine market as opposed to Chile). Translations may also be created with the relevant population segment in mind (the middle class of Bogotá rather than the families living in rural Peru). On top of that, a translator – especially if they are from the area – knows the cultural references well so that your product reaches exactly the market you were targeting, be it youngsters from Mexico City or the elderly of Montevideo.
Of course, technology is not at all solely an enemy. If anything, it is essential to have a rapid overview of the content of a document or to quickly reply to emails. The message we want to make is that technology (such as machine translation or artificial intelligence) can make you think you are saving time and money but in actual fact can end up costing a business in terms of reputation and market credibility.
You might not know this, but Traducendo Ltd was actually created in Barcelona, Spain before expanding (to Malta, Italy, Spain and Hungary). Due to our origins, we have continued to have a strong connection with the Iberian Peninsula and all Spanish-speaking countries. Choosing Traducendo Ltd for your translations will be a winning choice because our network of expert translators has the know-how and expertise to provide you with precise, efficient translations that are not literal. All rigorously human translations. Contact us for a quote and discover how easy it is to access Spanish-speaking markets with Traducendo Ltd.
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