7 Facts that Have Changed Translation Industry

1. There are 2,700 languages with over 7,000 individual dialects spoken around the world today. The most widely spoken languages are Chinese, Spanish, English, and Hindi.
   • About 1.051 billion people speak Mandarin Chinese.
   • About 490 million people speak Hindi.
   • About 420 million people speak Spanish.
   • About 510 million people speak English.
2. Language is thought to have originated circa 100,00 BC. The question of how old language is still being debated, but most linguists agree that it began around the time when modern humans (homo sapiens) evolved in Africa with modern skull shapes and modern vocal chords.
3. Every two weeks, another language dies. Or, perhaps, not a language but a dialect. There are over 231 completely extinct languages and 2,400 of the world’s languages are considered to be in danger of dying out.
4. The oldest known languages include Sanskrit, Sumerian, Hebrew, and Basque. But, the only reason we really know this is because there is a written record of those languages. The answer to the question, “What is the oldest language?” can never truly be answered, as it doesn’t take spoken languages with oral traditions into consideration
5. Languages are constantly influencing each other. For example, the English language is, in itself, 30% French, as it has adopted words through lexical borrowings.
6. Nowadays there exists over 200 artificial languages that have been invented for particular, mostly cultural purpose. But “fake” languages date back centuries when languages were invented for the purposes of philosophical debate.
7. A translator is one of the highly demanded professions in the job market. Language professionals have allowed different countries to communicate, thus resolving important issues or discussing various topics.

What has not changed is the requirement for certified translation on anything official.