2019 is drawing to a close. People are looking forward to 2020 with new hope and firmer resolve to do better than the previous year.
At eTranslation Services, we have much to be thankful for and much more to look forward to in 2020. So before the year closes, we thank our staff and our clients for a bountiful 2019.
We wish everyone, wherever you may be, a very Happy New Year!
Different cultures observe so many customs, traditions and beliefs when celebrating the New Year. Each one is interesting. Some are awe-inspiring, and some will make you think.
Did you know?
Majority of the people count down the hours starting in the morning of December 31 until 11 PM. Then people start counting the minutes until 11:59 PM. From then on, people will start counting the seconds until midnight.
- 2020 is a leap year.
- The island of Samoa and parts of Kiribati greet the New Year first. From there the New Year starts to move across the islands in Oceania and Pacific regions, and from New Zealand to Australia. Asia welcomes the New Year next, from East Asia, starting with Japan and South Korea, to China, Singapore, and the Philippines before passing across the rest of the Asian continent to the Middle East, parts of Africa and Russia.
- Greece and the rest of Europe greet the New Year next, followed by South America, Canada, sections of the United States towards Alaska and the Polynesian islands. American Samoa and the other outlying territories of the United States are the last areas to welcome the New Year.
- The earliest new year celebration on record was in Mesopotamia. It happened around 2000 BC although their new year was in the middle of March, during the vernal equinox.
- Other ancient cultures have their day to celebrate the new year. The Greeks celebrate the occasion during the winter solstice while the Persians, Phoenicians and Egyptians have theirs on the fall equinox.
- The calendar used by the Romans in their earlier times only had 10 months, with March 1 as the day of the New Year.
- Fireworks displays are now a significant part of New Year celebrations. Australia holds one of the grandest and biggest spectacles at the Sydney Harbour. Berlin has their New Year celebration at the Brandenburg Gate while in London, the focus is on the bell and Big Ben on the Westminster Clock Tower.
- Dubai sets off their fireworks display from the Burj Al Arab on Jumeirah Beach and at Burj Khalifa.
- In Japan, Buddhist temples ring their bells at midnight. The bells ring 108 times to represent the 108 worldly sins humans are likely to commit according to Buddhist beliefs. The ringing of the bells is supposed to rid the Japanese citizens of these sins.
- The calendar Ethiopians follow is different from the Gregorian calendar that most of the world uses. So when you are in Ethiopia, you will be behind by 7 to 8 years. Effectively, while the rest of the world is celebrating 2020, Ethiopia will be in the year 2011-2012. Each month has 30 days, and to do that, Ethiopians insert days (epagomenal days) in some of the months, which can result in a year having 13 months instead of 12. According to their calculations, which are based on the seasons, they celebrate New Year’s Day either on September 11 or September 12 if it is a leap year.
You’ve just learned some of the fascinating facts about the New Year. Additionally, there are the New Year’s resolutions that never get accomplished and the predictions for the year ahead. The translation industry has its share of predictions for 2020.
Translations Industry: Predictions for 2020
- Due to the opening of more markets, there will be more demand for new languages. Outside of that, there will be more translation opportunities for Mandarin Chinese, which is one of the world’s most spoken languages, due to the sheer number of Chinese speakers, despite not being as widespread as English.
- China will continue to become an economic power, which will make Chinese languages a dominant language in the translation industry.
- Demand for speech-to-speech translation will become prominent as the tourism industry in Asia, especially in China, India, Thailand, Singapore, and Indonesia, continues to grow. The development of new technologies will respond to the demand for speech-to-speech translation.
- Voice search will be an alternative form to manual typing in search boxes. Technologies will ensure that voice search will help people searching for information using their devices, whether it is a computer, tablet, laptop, or smartphones. There is a prediction that about 35 percent of the U.S. population will be using voice search in 2020.
- 2020 and beyond will see an increase in the demand for video translation, because of the market for better subtitles of short and long-form videos on YouTube, Hulu, Netflix and other video streaming services. Businesses can maximize the use of their expensive advertising materials with video translation.
- Trends show that globalization will continue to have a positive effect on the translation industry, with an increase in localization projects.
Call Us for Your Translation Needs – We are the Experts!
We are part of the future of the translation industry, and we want to remind you to trust the experts of eTranslation Services for all your translation requirements. Please call us at (800) 882-6058 or send us an email at [email protected].
Image Copyright: Andreas Weith [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons