Translation facts you may or may not know

There are over 7000 languages around the world. So it’s no surprise that the translation industry is growing at a rapid rate.

We thought to share some interesting facts about translation so that you can better understand the industry.

International Translation Day

International Translation Date is celebrated on September 30th, which is The Feast of St. Jerome, patron of translators. He translated the Old Testament into Latin directly from the original Hebrew.

Most translated languages

The most targeted languages for translation are English, French, German, Italian and Russian making them the top dogs of languages in the translation industry.

Words per hour

A translator can translate around 300 words within an hour. A translator working full time can translate around 550,000 words per year, wow!

Translator town

According to the recent survey, there are more than 300,000 certified translators. That is enough to fill a whole town of people. 

Most translated book

The most translated book is The Bible, with Pinocchio in second place.

Longest English Word, One Vowel

Strengths, at nine letters long, is the longest word in the English language with only one vowel.

The most translated author, same book

The most translated author for the same book is Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, for the book Le Petit Prince, which has been translated into 382 different languages and dialects since its publication in April 1943. The number of translations the books has had ranges from Abkhaz to Zulu.

Some extra words…

Tolstoy’s original text for War And Peace in Russian and French contains about 460,000 words. The English translation has about 560,000.

 “Poetry is what gets lost in translation,” Robert Frost (1874-1963).