Are you working on business content for a UK audience? If you are, your first thoughts might be to create it with English in mind, adding an English voice over and perhaps experimenting with accents. However, for better inclusivity and reach, it could be worth considering the fact that many people across the UK speak more than one language.
How Many UK Residents Speak More Than One Language?
Around 62% of people in the UK can only speak English, and 38% speak at least one foreign language, 18% speak two foreign languages and 6% speak three or more languages. There are also lots of people in the UK who have English as an additional language including a high 44.2% of pupils in London (percentages vary across the UK). For those people, language specific signage, voice overs, subtitles and more is extremely helpful in ensuring they have access to public services, learning platforms and marketing that would be relevant to their needs if they were able to understand the content.
There are various languages spoken across the UK, but there are a few that are more common than others, and they are:
- Welsh/ Scots/ Irish
- Polish
- Punjabi
- Urdu
- Bengali
- Gujarati
- Arabic
- Chinese
- Portuguese
- Spanish
If you were to be focusing on a specific part of the UK you would be able to fully localise your content to suit that targeted area as certain parts of the UK have clusters of language that differ between counties and even between towns or villages sometimes.
The Benefits Of Supporting Languages Other Than English In The UK
Various studies have been conducted showing that the UK suffers through its lack of language skills, and more children than ever before are choosing not to take languages when selecting their GCSEs. With the support of businesses, schools and any other facility offering any language-based content, it is thought that better linguistic capabilities in the UK could help boost social mobility, the efficiency of the healthcare system, overall wellbeing, quality and accessibility of public services, and enhance the value of a united UK community rich with different cultures and communities.
By supporting your customers or staff with various language options within your content, provided by a qualified voice over agency like https://matinee.co.uk/voice-over-agency/, you can boost the impact and effectiveness of your project, and support the linguistic capabilities of the UK too.
With a better understanding of the languages spoken across the UK you can ensure that your content is accurate and able to reach as many people as possible. The benefits are far reaching, from the positive impact on your potential customers, to better accessibility for employees and a boost in brand reputation too. Just be sure to use a professional company for any translation services so that the language you do choose is accurately translated and localised.
