A smorgasbord of languages
Europe is a smorgasbord of languages, to borrow a word from Swedish. In all, the 27 member states have 24 official languages and numerous unofficial ones. Admittedly, up to 90% of residents can make do in English if they have to consult a document or webpage, but there’s a big difference between “sort of knowing” and fully understanding—and that’s an important distinction to make when you realize that the European Union’s 700+ million inhabitants produce 14% of the world’s economic output. Talk about a market!
Add a language, add millions of potential customers
If you’re currently producing materials only in English, just adding French will boost your potential customer base by over 77 million regular European French speakers (and—bonus—another 8 million in Canada). Add German and that’s another 78 million, mostly in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Italian and Spanish will bring in a further 65 million and 45 million respectively. In fact, even lesser-used languages can boost your totals by millions: Dutch by 23 million, Romanian by 19 million, and Portuguese, Czech, and Hungarian by around 10 million each.
Europe loves and protects its languages
Respect for linguistic diversity is written right into the founding treaty of the European Union and into its Charter of Fundamental Rights. Having many languages is viewed as a rich cultural heritage that fosters understanding. September 26 has been declared the European Day of Languages and is celebrated every year to raise awareness of the value of learning languages.
Tap into language diversity
You can benefit too. When you adapt your materials for local markets (called “localizing” in the translation industry), you tap into a wellspring of goodwill. You’re no longer some outsider whose webpages people are trying to make out in English—you’re part of the local crowd, a group of trusted providers of goods and services.
We can help
