9 Surprising Stats About Languages

Languages are quite interesting but very few people are polyglots, i.e.: able to speak multiple languages. In this article, we’ll talk about some unique language stats to help you understand how powerful the professional translation industry is.

1. There Are More Than 200 Languages Spoken in Canada

According to a 2016 report, more than 215 languages are spoken in Canada including English, Mandarin, and French. About 98.2 percent of Canadians speak English and about 1.8 percent of Canadians speak Mandarin. French is also popular and is spoken by over 1 million Canadians, which equals to 22.8 percent.

At Calgary Translation, we offer professional translation services and cover almost all languages spoken in Canada. We’re a reliable translation services company and cater to all kinds of clients.

2. No Company Offers Professional Translation Services for This Language

This might come as a surprise to some but there’s a language in this world that is spoken by only 3 people, hence you might not be able to find someone who can translate it for you.

The language we’re referring to is Busuu, spoken in Southern Bantoid of Cameroon. According to a 1986 census, only 8 people spoke it but the number fell down to 3 in 2005. This is why no translation services company offers this language.

3. The US Has No Official Language

There are more than 300 languages spoken in the US; however, the country has no official language. A lot of people have the idea that English is the region’s official language but this isn’t correct.

While English is the most widely spoken language in the country, there’s no document declaring it the official language.

4. The Bible is The Most Translated Book in the World

The Bible is recognized as the most translated book or document in the world. It has been translated into more than 683 languages and is available in all parts of the world. In fact, some parts of the book have been translated into more than 3,000 languages.

Second on the list is Pinocchio, the popular children book that’s available in hundreds of languages.

5. There are More Than 800 Languages Spoken in Papua New Guinea

Despite being a small country, Papua New Guinea is home to 841 languages, the most in the world. However, due to the declining popularity of some of these languages, about 40 of these are expected to go extinct in the next few decades.

This is a problem a lot of regional languages face. When people go abroad, they lose touch with their culture and forget the language. This is why very few professional translation providers offer regional languages.

6. South Africa Has 11 Official Languages

This might come as a surprise to some but South Africa has a total of 11 official languages including English, Ndebele, Pedi, Swati, Sotho, Tsonga, Zulu, Tswana, Venḓa, Xhosa, and Afrikaans.

All official languages enjoy the same legal status in the country. Moreover, there are efforts to make the South African Sign Language an official language but the campaign is yet to find success.

We take great pride in being a translation services company that offers most of these languages.

7. Mandarin is The Most Widely Spoken Language in the World

Chinese Mandarin is spoken by about 1.34 billion people, which makes it the most widely spoken language in the world.

The interesting bit, however, is that most of these are native speakers since China is known for having a large population and the adoption rate for the language is quite low, especially when compared to other languages like English and Spanish.

Despite this, we offer Mandarin translation services. Feel free to get in touch if you need the help of a translation services company.

8. Some Languages Out There are Fake

A lot of languages have been specifically created for fictional shows. While these languages can be understood or spoken, they’re considered fake as they’re not spoken in the world.

A good example of a fake language is the Klingon language, spoken by the Klingons in the Star Trek universe.

9. Mandarin is the Most Difficult Language

A major reason why Mandarin is not very highly adopted is due to how difficult it is.

It’s one of the few languages that contain no alphabet. Instead, Mandarin has symbols that can be very hard to memorize, understand, and learn.

You will need to understand at least 3,000 symbols to be able to read a paper in Mandarin. Moreover, the average speaker is said to understand over 8,000 symbols.

At Calgary Translation Services, we house experienced and native speakers of languages spoken around the world. We offer professional translation and cover all kinds of documents including medical papers, essays, stories, and scripts.

Get in touch with us today to know more about our services and how we can help you.