Discover the latest trends in the translation and localization industry in 2022

The translation industry is rapidly evolving. As a result of increasing globalization, ever more people are traveling to foreign countries, which means translation is now more important than ever before, whether for the sake of business meetings or simply communicating with locals. Such a move has resulted in a surge in demand for translators, who now have various remote and on-site options. If you work on-site, you'll want to stay up to date with the latest industry trends. The translation industry is expected to grow considerably in 2022. Companies can get the best translator for the job regardless of location thanks to the internet, which has made it simpler for translators to communicate with one another and share information. Translation technology has also advanced significantly; software can now automatically translate text between languages, making translation faster and more precise. With this in mind, let’s take a look at the trends in the translation industry that we are expecting to see in 2022.

Rise of innovation & technology

As technological innovation expands across borders, so too grows the need for translators to aid in communication. Many companies wish to share everything from reports and marketing slogans to online events and workshops with their global audience, and expect to bypass linguistic barriers with the click of a mouse. It is here that the help of a reliable translation partner becomes essential. This is particularly so for newcomers to the internet, who are most likely to come from non-English speaking  countries with growing economies. There are several opportunities for businesses willing to branch out of their comfort zones and into non-English speaking areas.

E-Learning

E-learning was a rapidly growing sector even before the pandemic hit, but now it has become more crucial than ever. As the pandemic forces students and teachers to move away from in-person teaching, Forbes believes the sector will be worth $355 billion by 2025. As businesses increasingly convert English e-tools and content into other languages, the language translation and transcreation markets are booming.

Medical translation

Another area where the Covid-19 pandemic has had an impact is medical translation. As countries worldwide worked to create a vaccine and control the disease, the need to communicate in a rapidly changing situation has only become more stark. Medical and pharmaceutical industry professionals need to communicate research, ideas, data, and discoveries worldwide. Once the pandemic had begun, governments had to inform the public about safety procedures, ensuring that everyone knew the instructions regardless of their native tongue. As long as the fight against COVID-19 wages on, demand for medical translation is unlikely to drop very soon. It will be challenging for organizations to find enough qualified translators to tackle this complex subject.

AI and its impact

For years, tech prognosticators have predicted the end of human translation and the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). Machine translation tools have evolved significantly, but are still far from perfect. Google Translate, for example, struggles with complex texts and documents yet continues to work with local and colloquial terminology. In many cases, having human translators translate the information is faster than using a machine and then post-editing the translation.

However, new hybrid platforms may make for a superior choice for the language industry in the future. Computer-assisted translation (CAT) keeps the human translator in the loop, allowing them to examine and change the machine's translation as they proceed. A person still leads the translation process, but it is simpler and faster. Using a type of machine learning called 'deep learning neural networks,' the system crunches many levels of training data, including the human's translation style, vocabulary, and preferences. On the other hand, editing machine translation is now time-consuming and labor-intensive. Whether computers will eventually be able to match the consistency and expertise of the human translator, only time will tell. In any case, the world of AI translation is certainly one to watch.

Localization of websites is becoming more crucial

There's no denying that online commerce is the way of the future. As we have seen, internet usage is expanding, and mobile shopping is becoming more popular. In 2024, mobile commerce is expected to account for 44% of all e-commerce.

With this in mind, more businesses are turning their attention to e-commerce. Even a tiny corporation must reconfigure its systems to suit global consumers in order to flourish.

Having an online store is now a necessity. However, if you want to succeed online, you'll need to include website localization in your digital marketing strategy.

Localization of a website is a translation service that allows your audience to appeal to people from other cultures and languages. The obvious advantage is that you will be able to communicate with people from all over the world, regardless of linguistic or cultural background.

Trends in Subtitle Translation

The increased demand for subtitle translation services, spurred in part by the advent of worldwide streaming providers like Netflix and the younger generation's preference for video over purely audio content, is one of the translation trends we are noticing in 2022. The demand for accessible videos is on the rise, and as a result, high-quality subtitles are required.

According to a Cisco study, videos will account for 82 percent of internet traffic by 2022. Captioning is also required because 75 percent of consumers watch web videos on mute.

It's critical to match your content style to your audience's ability, especially when it comes to language. Subtitles help match audience expectations and make your videos easier to follow.

Many businesses are including subtitles in their videos in various different languages and subtitling is indeed the way to go if you want to reach a global audience. According to a Facebook marketing study, captioned videos increase views by 12%.

Although captioning videos appears to be a minor step, the difference in accessibility is significant. Though some may choose not to make the investment in quality subtitling, this is a tremendous mistake if you want your message to reach people from all walks of life. Ensure that professional subtitlers handle your video captioning tasks.

Professional translation services are familiar with a variety of languages and cultural settings. They're your best bet for avoiding embarrassing and costly subtitling errors.

Final Thoughts

The new developments in the translation industry are promising, and we are particularly excited to see how machine translation’s potential only grows over the course of 2022. Yet until machine translation becomes a wholly reliable tool, we must not disregard the importance of investing in quality translation and subtitle production from experienced translators to meet the needs of ever-expanding global markets.

Looking for a reliable translation service provider? Look no further. Lingual Consultancy provides you with the best quality translations. We provide you quality in return to your trust! With a pool of more than 16000 translators/interpreters/voice artists/transcribers across the globe, we provide localization services in the industry in more than 250 languages.