Why your business needs Italian translations – 4 facts
If you’re aiming to sell your products or services on the Italian market or attract Italian tourists and visitors to your hotel, attraction or event, you should be aware that Italians are no language geniuses and this may have an impact on your market share.
Here are four (not-so-fun) facts that might surprise you:
- In 2016, 34% of Italians between the ages of 25 and 64 claimed they didn’t speak or understand any foreign language, and 41.6% had some knowledge of only one foreign language (source: Eurostat) https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/images/d/d8/Distribution_of_people_aged_25%E2%80%9364_by_knowledge_of_foreign_languages%2C_2007%2C_2011_and_2016_%28%25%29.png
- In 2020, Italy ranked 30th on the EF EPI (English Proficiency Index) at global level and 25th at European level (source: EF EPI) https://www.ef.com/assetscdn/WIBIwq6RdJvcD9bc8RMd/legacy/__/~/media/centralefcom/epi/downloads/full-reports/v10/ef-epi-2020-english.pdf
- In Italy, only 13.74% of the population speak English and only 6.4% speak French as a mother tongue or non-native language (source: http://languageknowledge.eu)
- Generally speaking, 40% of customers will not buy from a website in a language other than their mother tongue (source: https://csa-research.com/Featured-Content/Global-Growth/CRWB-Series/CRWB-B2C)
So, the takeaway here is: have all your documentation and online content translated and localized by a professional Italian expert, or all your efforts and investment in terms of marketing and communication will be in vain. And forget about machine translation – the errors and mistranslations it produces only drive customers away and damage your brand image and reputation.
Check out here how and why Chiara Balboni, our founder and Italian translator, can help you reach out to the Italian market in the most effective way – it’s what she does. Drop us a line at info@getawaytranslations.com to discuss your translation or localization project.
