“Shorai wa, maruchiringarudearimasu”. Did you know what that means? Most likely not, unless of course, you speak Japanese! The translation industry is one of the most coveted and multi-faceted cogs in the ever-evolving wheel of today’s world. The cost of miscommunication poses threats to business profits, reputation and even industrial scale disasters. With over 6,500 languages spoken in the world today, it only makes sense that for effective communication to thrive, translation needs to exist. Without further ado, let’s delve into some of the most exciting trends that will enhance and possibly revolutionize the translation industry in the year 2019.
The explosive integration of AI and Machine learning translation.
The fast-paced development in the areas of Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning has completely swept the translation industry off its feet. Some observers speculate that the recent breakthroughs in the sophistication, viability and reliability of machine translation has the potential to completely eradicate the need for the expensive, and sometimes not so accurate human translators, with the eventual consequence of the elimination of thousands of jobs in product and service localization. However, these observations are nothing more than speculations as it is impossible for software to completely replace human translation contributions such as considerations in context. However, human translators will need to integrate machine learning and artificial intelligence into their scope of operations as these software will help in cutting costs, increase overall accuracy and incorporate rarer languages into the translation fold.
NEW LANGUAGES.
With over 6500 languages currently embedded into the communication scheme of today’s world, it only makes sense that the addition of more languages into the translation industry will help to effectively evolve the way we perceive communication. As the internet penetration rate expands across borders, most companies need to become multilingual in order to extend their business reaches onto various niches in different countries. How can they do this if translation services aren’t as whole as possible? The language barriers as a result of the variety of languages spoken around the world will continually lead to an evolution of the translation industry in its quest to become more inclusive and ultimately, more comprehensive.
ATTENTION TO MOBILE ACCESSIBILITY.
Almost everyone has a mobile device. Be it a tablet or a smartphone, these handy gadgets are as ubiquitous as sand. Initially, these devices were used for basic tasks such as mail, text, gaming and calls, but how about translation? The translation industry will see a rise in the number of CAT (Computer Aided Translation) tools and translation project management apps that could give a mobile user the power to break the barriers of communication. In concept, a combination of translation memory containing useful data about terminology and language vocabulary, multilingual SEO, tracking and access to multiple concepts are all working dynamics of mobile app translation. However, the industry still has a long way to go in perfecting the translation prowess of these apps.
THE VIDEO TRANSLATION SAGA.
One other very exciting trend in the 2019 translation industry will be video translation and multilingual subtitling. One of the most effective means of communication in the world is via video. Videos can be accessed on virtually any platform; hence it serves as a really powerful and versatile communication component. Localizing videos into one or more foreign languages makes it easy for people who don’t understand the source language to understand or communicate with the aspects of the video. The addition of multilingual subtitling also ensures seamless communication and makes it all the more easy to pass a message across. However, the translation industry still has a long way to go in achieving this feat, a feat that could possibly revolutionize the industry and bridge the barriers of miscommunication.
STORAGE AND THE POTENTIAL OF CLOUD COMPUTING.
Another breathtaking trend that could impact the translation trend in 2019 is storage, specifically cloud computing. The translation industry is much more than just bridging the gap in conversational communication. It also plays its part in data analysis and documentation. For example, in the medical field, translation could be very important for, say, an English speaking doctor to attend to his Arabic speaking patient. Health records from different countries with disparate languages could be stored, translated and distributed efficiently and consistently. This not only makes the world a universal understanding hub, but it also ensures that services are not restricted by language. Records, Documents, even Academic curricular could all be translated into numerous languages, stored in the cloud and seamlessly distributed over the internet, or from one country to another. Translators from any part of the world will be able to access these documents in a safe environ and provide the much needed access that humans the globe over will need.
THOUGHTS?
To keep up with the burgeoning demand of translation and localization, TheWordPoint was set up to establish a base for a wide range of translation offers. With a perfect blend of professionalism, expertise and accuracy, they offers a diverse mix of translation expertise ranging from personal content, medical content translation, art subtitling, business papers and even literary profiling. We ask ourselves, ‘what’s a world without communication?’ Do you ask yourself the same? You’re one click away from getting an answer.
As the world becomes more sophisticated in its attempts to bridge the communication gap, the $40 billion translation industry must play its part in the evolution of communication access, ensuring that the languages in which we express ourselves do not in any way contribute to the retardation of our progress as a species. With a reliable and sophisticated translation infrastructure in place we empower ourselves with the means with which to administer clear-cut transparency in not only the way we do understand our selves, but also in the way in which we evolve. Remember, “Shorai wa, maruchiringarudearimasu”: The Future Is Multilingual.