Translation Industry Trends - 2021

Over the past 15 months, the pandemic has forced professionals in all industries to rethink how they operate. Fortunately, the translation industry has been quick to adapt because its model was already based upon distance collaboration and other agile technologies. The translation industry was already growing rapidly; the pandemic's putting people at home in front of their computers has sparked further growth as businesses work to put multilingual content in front of consumers quickly. That growth is expected to continue.

Here are some other industry trends we'll see for the remainder of the year.

Growth in Machine Translation and Post-Editing

Artificial intelligence has led to improved accuracy, and machine translation is now an efficient way to translate many types of content.?The use of MT?has been growing and will continue to grow. A?survey on the European Commission website?indicates that 78 percent of the region's language service providers plan to increase their use of MT. A compound annual growth rate of 19 percent is predicted for MT in the Asia-Pacific region through 2024.

However, machines still are less accurate than human linguists for most types of content. Companies in industries that are struggling to rebound will be particularly careful about communicating better with stakeholders. To ensure?content is accurate and maintain consumer trust, companies will continue to give?machine-translated content?to human linguists for editing afterward.

Emphasis on Security

Enterprise-level security is becoming a trend not only for enterprises but for organizations of all sizes.?Translation software applications often deal with highly sensitive data, so the trend toward increased security will be important in the translation industry. SSL, multi-level and device authentication, encryption, and other security features will become more widespread.

Need for Increased ELearning Translation

eLearning was gaining popularity before the pandemic, but the pandemic raised its popularity further. Companies are discovering that eLearning saves money and time and that its ability to appeal to diverse learning styles enables greater retention. Unfortunately, many training courses or resources are only available in English, which creates a market for translations.?

More Brand Transcreation

Brands continue to expand into new markets. As part of that expansion, they seek to give consumers in that market personalized experiences. To do so, they need to translate their content into the foreign language and transcreate it as well.?

Transcreation occurs when the company takes the original intent of brand assets such as slogans, marketing copy, images, and product names and creates these anew in culturally appropriate ways for the new country. It goes beyond translation to ensure that marketing campaigns tug on the appropriate emotions in each country.

Increase in Video Translation and Subtitling

Video plays a prominent role in eLearning and in marketing. In online learning, videos can demonstrate procedures, appeal to visual learners, and communicate concepts in an engaging way. More than?80 percent?of businesses are using video in their marketing, and 90 percent of consumers say video helps them make buying decisions. The more brands and eLearning expand, the more important video translation and subtitling will become.?

Need for Specialized Translators

Information technology and science-based industries are growing. These industries have specialized terminology and, as they translate for other markets, they will need translators with knowledge of this terminology.

Another factor creating the need for specialized translators is the move in the US and UK back to domestic manufacturing. This will create a need for specialized translators for manufacturing as well as?a trend toward English source language translations in this industry.

In South America, the demand for legal translations is growing, creating a need for translators who are knowledgeable about legal terms and procedures.

Rise of Robust Translation APIs

As translations become more important for global brands, companies are looking for a way to streamline them. For some, this leads to the use of a translation management system that automatically forwards the text to the appropriate machine or human translator, allows for easy team collaboration,?and tracks the translation project from start to finish.

An API is an application programming interface, which defines a way to access certain software through programming. Basically, APIs?connect different systems. APIs are important in the translation industry for connecting translation management systems with other business software such as content management systems. As the?move toward using translation management systems grows, the need for APIs will rise, too.

Key Takeaways

• The translation industry is growing. The growth of global brands was already fueling this growth; the pandemic has placed more consumers at home in front of their computers, increasing the need for multilingual online content.
• The pandemic also has fueled the growing of multilingual online learning.
• The use of MT in combination with human editing is rising because this enables companies to translate content quickly, accurately, and at a reasonable cost.
• Videos are used to inform consumers about the brand and in eLearning. Video translation and subtitling is a growing niche.
• The need for translation services in technical industries such as information technology, science, manufacturing, and law is growing.
• As companies compete to translate their content quickly and efficiently, they will use translation management systems more frequently. This creates a need for APIs to link these systems with other software.

Until next time, keep the conversation going.

Best Regards,

Avi Bhattacharya