The love of many languages leads to the profession of an interpreter. “What foreign language to learn? What languages are most in demand for a translator? – such questions are constantly asked by applicants and university students who want to add a new language to their piggy bank.
In this article, we will tell you which languages translators are most in demand and why. Let’s pay your attention to popular languages that are in demand to a lesser extent. Enjoy reading.
Table of Contents
English language
English is the most demanded language for a translator. The undisputed leadership is given to the English language: the most vacancies are published with it.
There is an opinion that for vacancies with English there is fierce competition among numerous translators of English, so you should not choose it as a language of specialization. This is not entirely true.
There are really a lot of translators with English, but the demand is balanced by supply – the vast majority of vacancies for translating from English into Russian. In addition, a good translator is not afraid of competition: employers often complain that among the hundreds of applications for a vacancy, there are at most a dozen worthy candidates.
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There is even less competition among translators from Russian into English. The fact is that translating into a foreign language is more difficult than into a native one, so not all translators take on such orders. And if the translator is a professional with a sought-after or rare specialization, then the chances of not finding a job are even less.
The disadvantages of working in an English-Russian pair include low rates, especially for beginner translators.
Some statistics: about 300 translation vacancies are posted on hh.ru a week, of which fifty are looking for English language translators.
German
Germany is one of the strongest economic powers in Europe. Companies doing business with German firms need German translators. Let’s not forget that, in addition to the population of Germany, German is spoken by the inhabitants of Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg.
We can say that German is the second most popular business language. German translators with technical, legal and business specializations are in demand and will not be left without work. Both in Russia and abroad, German is the second most popular language after English.
Chinese
The demand for the Chinese language is caused not only by the fact that China has become a leading player in the international arena, but also by the fact that Chinese culture has a cool attitude towards learning foreign languages, including English.
For a long time it was believed that there were few specialists with Chinese, so they should not be afraid of competition. Recently, there have been more specialists with Chinese, but the number of vacancies is not growing in proportion to Chinese translators.
The market is saturated, Chinese is becoming a not so rare language. Nevertheless, this is the most demanded oriental language, which is not going to lose ground. The Chinese language leads in terms of payment – rates for translation in the Chinese-Russian pair are among the highest.
Italian language
Despite the fact that there are not so many Italian-speaking countries (Italy, Switzerland, San Marino), Italian translators are in demand in Russia. The matter is in close trade and economic contacts of the countries: Italy is the second most important European partner of Russia.
Russian and Italian companies cooperate in many areas, including the production and sale of furniture, fashion, restaurants and banking. Let’s not forget about the tourism sector. At the state level, cooperation is developing in the energy and aerospace industries. Is it necessary to say that one cannot do without translators here?
Spanish and French
Despite the fact that Spanish is very common in the world, the demand for Spanish translators is low. On the other hand, there are many vacancies on the market with Spanish for other professionals: editors, account managers, export managers.
As for the French language, the situation is similar. It is French-speaking translators who are not searched so often, while workers with knowledge of French are searched regularly.
A few words about rare oriental languages
There are not so many vacancies for translators of Arabic, Japanese, Turkish and Korean. There are also relatively few translators working with these languages. On the other hand, a translator who specializes in, for example, translating from Japanese is rare, so it will be greatly appreciated.
There is a certain logic in the degree of demand for languages and for financial translation services - the more countries use the language, the more developed economic cooperation between a particular country and Russia, the more translators are in demand.
Choose the language that you like, and with due diligence, you are sure to become a sought-after translator. Good luck!
