What are top Language Translation Services in Singapore?
As of this year, the world’s population is reported to have reached an astounding 7.7 billion and continues to grow up to this very day[1].
Considering the staggering figure making up our population, perhaps it is not so surprising to find that there are over 7000 spoken languages in the world especially considering the vastly diverse make-up of Mankind on Earth.
What is surprising however, is that although there are over 7000 spoken languages, just a mere 23 is enough to serve more than half of the world’s linguistic needs.
Of this 23, the top five ranked languages in 2022 include English, Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Spanish and Standard Arabic[2].
Naturally with these languages being the most used languages worldwide, the demand for translation for these languages make up some of the highly requested translations in the industry.
Here is a list of some of our highly sought after top language translation services in Singapore that we have been working with in the recent years.
English Language Services
Topping the list of spoken languages, English comes in first with an overwhelming 1.132 million speakers, of which more than half consist of non-native speakers i.e., speakers who have adopted it as their secondary tongue.
The adoption of the English language first spread through conquest dating back centuries and further came to cement its influence in other non-dominantly speaking countries due to colonialism over the 18th century[3].
Over time, English became well recognized as a middle ground for most communities around the world and is to this day, primarily used for international communication.
With the dominance of English speakers whether native or otherwise, this makes it one of the most requested translated languages used.
Added to the prevalence of its usage over the internet, English is the most highly sought-after language of translation for a multitude of works from business documents, marketing collaterals to daily news and the like.
Being the most widely recognized language, many certificate translations for government purposes such as the application of permanent residency and visas and business transactions are often most done in English for all parties involved.
Chinese Language Translation Services
Although the Chinese make up a sizeable chunk of internet users being the largest number of users in the first quarter of 2021, it is interesting to note that the bulk of information existing on the internet is mainly catered in English.
This is because although Chinese at almost 20% is the second most commonly-used language, the next largest groups of internet users come for the US and India – which are English dominant speaking countries[4].
Incidentally, China also has a slower penetration rate in comparison to its other Asian counterparts therefore, affecting the availability of the Chinese sources of information on the internet and its prevalence to users[5].
However, despite the extensive use and deep-rooted influence of the English language, it is worthwhile to note that nonetheless, Mandarin is a fast-growing contender as a common language used.
By native speakers alone, the Chinese speaking community make up a whopping 918 million[6] by itself.
Notwithstanding the exponential increase in the pool of Chinese speakers, the strong growth of the China markets paired with rising interest in its rich heritage and culture, make it a formidable second language of interest for many[7].
Picking up the language has also given others access to better advance business cooperation and open doors to many economic opportunities with global Chinese giants.
For a deeper insight into translation on both Traditional Chinese translation and Simplified Chinese translation services, read more here.
Malay and Tamil Language Translation Services
As a local translation company located in Singapore, other desired languages that we faced most times are of course, minority languages.
Entrenched in Singapore’s DNA, it is to be expected that apart from Chinese, we are often requested for Malay translation and Tamil translation services too.
Uniquely representative of Singapore, the three languages as well as English make up our official languages and is a staple in our daily language translation requests.
This is especially so for nation-wide announcements from HDB upgrades, holiday wishes to national infographics, posters and other outreach collateral and would generally be presented in all four languages.
For more examples of our past translation works, do check out from our website portfolio here.
For more on certified translations for Tamil and Malay, check out our video here (for Tamil) and here (for Malay).
Bahasa Indonesia and Vietnamese Language Translation Services
Another popular language for translation that we often encounter is for from and to Bahasa Indonesia translation services.
Being geographically located near to countries like Indonesia and Malaysia, we are often requested for translations from Bahasa Melayu for Malaysia – this is very similar to Malay but may sometimes, have slight differences in terms of local terms used and translations from Bahasa Indonesia.
The requests for such translations in fact become essential for visa or permanent residency applications and to meet other government requirements.
Notably as we have many foreign workers, it is understandable that there is a steady pool of workers who will always need to have their documents translated from their native languages to English.
Likewise, interest in Vietnamese translations have also seen a growth as Vietnam’s economy expands.
In the US, its relevance has increased with the growth of the Vietnamese Americans population to more than 1.6 million.
Added to that, with certain government agencies and businesses required to provide Vietnamese documents when conducting transactions with the Vietnamese, hence, it has become a necessity to have as well.[8]
Vice versa, as we are geographically nearer to these markets, businesses also seek to localize their marketing campaigns to reach out to their overseas’ audiences better.
For instance, major e-commerce websites such as Lazada, Tokopedia, Shopee have customers from all over the region therefore, having marketing materials in the spoken language of the consumers’ country allows them to better capture their intended consumer groups.
Japanese and Korean Language Translation Services
Demand for translations in certain languages can also be attributed to current popular phenomenon.
In the case of Korean and Japanese languages, the wildfire popularity of Korean culture brought about by the K-wave[9] and fascination with Japanese culture such as consumption of anime and manga[10] worldwide drives more demand for translations to and from these languages.
As more people are interested and keen on consuming content from these countries, naturally we see more demands for original text to be translated so more communities worldwide can also consume these contents.
These can be in the form of movies, dramas, reality TV and many more and add on a fundamental reason as to why certain languages are requested more than others.
Lastly if you would like to know more about the most popular language translation services in Singapore, do check out our Youtube video to find out more
Top Language Translation Agency in Singapore
Language translation services are very wide and varied and can provide many benefits.
They are versatile and can be used interchangeably across a vast range of industries and cover all types of communication.
At WhizWordz, we have the relevant pool of native translators who have the qualification, and the relevant experience in your area of industry.
At the end of the day, translation can be a major tool in your communication with others and it is up to you to pick the type of service that best achieves the results you want.
This will ensure that all of your important documents, website and/or marketing collateral are translated properly and with a high degree of professionalism.
If you are looking for professional translation service, do check out with our business representatives for a non-obligation quotation for any language translation services provided above.
References:
[1] Worldometer. (2022, March 25). Retrieved from https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/
[2] Edudwar. (2022). List of Most Spoken Languages in the World – Top Languages in the World. Retrieved from https://www.edudwar.com/list-of-most-spoken-languages-in-the-world/
[3] Nelson, L. (2015, March 3). 25 maps that explain the English language. Retrieved from Vox: https://www.vox.com/2015/3/3/8053521/25-maps-that-explain-english
[4] Johnson, J. (2022, January 26). Most common languages used on the internet as of January 2020, by share of internet users. Retrieved from Statista: https://www.statista.com/statistics/262946/share-of-the-most-common-languages-on-the-internet/
[5] Statista Research Department. (2021, November 24). Internet penetration Asia 2021, by country or region. Retrieved from Statista: https://www.statista.com/statistics/281668/internet-penetration-in-southeast-asian-countries/
[6] Wikipedia. (2022, March 4). List of languages by number of native speakers. Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_speakers
[7] Shao, G. (2015, March 3). Chinese as a second language growing in popularity. Retrieved from CGTN America: https://america.cgtn.com/2015/03/03/chinese-as-a-second-language-growing-in-popularity
[8] Hiep, P. H. (2011, November 3). Translation for the audience: The case of Vietnamese. Retrieved from MultiLingual: https://multilingual.com/articles/translation-for-the-audience-the-case-of-vietnamese/#:~:text=Vietnamese%20is%20certainly%20one%20of,speaking%20clients%20with%20Vietnamese%20translations.
[9] Korean Wave (Hallyu) – The Rise of Korea’s Cultural Economy & Pop Culture. (2021, October). Retrieved from MartinRoll: https://martinroll.com/resources/articles/asia/korean-wave-hallyu-the-rise-of-koreas-cultural-economy-pop-culture/
[10] Sutomu, S. (2004). Japanese Culture on the World Stage. Japan Spotlight. Retrieved from https://www.jef.or.jp/journal/pdf/cover%20story%201_0403.pdf
