Local Language Integration on the Rise - Organizations Taking its Full Advantage
Several reports and analysis corroborates the fact that the adoption and use of local language content is the key for internet penetration in the country. The reason for this is that the literacy rate in India is 76 percent, of which a meager 10 percent speaks and writes in English, and the remaining 66 percent are only literate in their local languages.The recent foray by Oxford in launching local dictionaries in Tamil and Gujarati shows how much the use of local content is rising. Google is also focusing on building local language content. It added voice search feature in 8 more Indian languages recently.
Many opine that social media platforms have played a decisive role in the growth of local language content. In the initial days, telecom operators enabled our access to content but now, that is no more the situation. Furthermore, local language consumption is seen more on mobile platforms these days. As per a report by Mind shift, regional language websites are growing at a 56 percent year-on-year compared to English sites that have been growing at a rate of 11 percent year-on-year. These moves has led to a new debate of going back to the roots of India Inc. compared to 90s where we wanted our children to converse in globally accepted language only,ie English. Now, again phones are being made, enabled with local languages support.
As a country, India is only 2nd to U.S. in terms of its English speaking population. India has over 125 million English speakers. It is estimated that more than 1.3 billon of its people can turn into netizens only if local language is encouraged on the internet. A joint study by KPMG and Google revealed that, about 70 percent of Indians consider local language digital content more reliable than English content. Thus, local language apps and websites are essential to bring the next billion onto the internet bandwagon.
The study also revealed that certain apps and websites that have low penetration in India now- these can see huge growth if local-language integration picks up. The report states that, payments, government services, news, classifieds all these can
experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 26 percent and 34 percent between 2016 and 2021 if there is local-language foray. What’s more, Indians who usually shop offline, 50 percent are ready to move online if provided with an end to end Indian language experience.
More over, 60 percent of rural internet users cite language as an obstacle for them, for accessing government services online. Local languages will be a boon for them. It will also make dissemination of regional news better as 60 percent internet users prefer to read news in local languages. 90 percent users are more likely to respond to a local language ad on the internet, than any English language ad. Several mobile companies are integrating regional languages reading support, post the Government’s decision to put such requirements on all phones sold after July 2017.
There is no doubt about the fact that the number of Indian language internet users far exceed the number of English language internet users. India has a remarkable linguistic landscape with a richness and history that is found in few other places on the planet. Yet with only 35 percent of the Indian population using the Internet, Startups like Way2Online is emphasizing the need to build content in local language gauging the vast opportunity in this untapped segment.
Leading tech behemoths are majorly pushing regional language computing in India. Microsoft’s Project Bhasa is a well-entrenched program, designed to localize Microsoft’s flagship projects, Windows and Office to offer local language input tools and interface packs in 12 Indian Language. Similarly, Android’s Jelly Bean already supports Hindi. Facebook and Pinterest also have Hindi translated versions of their English websites.
Infact, Google was the first to offer Hindi translation to its users. Facebook and Twitter followed suit. It is now that people are increasingly using Hindi. Experts claim that this is due to the fact that mobile penetration has increased and more and more people are now on the internet. More over, the use of social media and apps have also increased. Micromax is another company which was early to realize that the next market is for local language enabled handsets.
Many marketers feel that integrating local languages is about creating experiences. Customers can make decisions more effectively if they are given an opportunity to use a language that they are comfortable with. It is true that vernacular languages have been available for long but there were not many search engines to make this content available to users. Also, there were no protocols or procedure for effective monetization.
With 3G and 4G penetration increasing and 2G rates coming down, more and more people are taking to mobile. And once these people are on mobile site, they are quick to look for the same kind of experience on websites. Whats app and Twitter has seen an increase in the quantity of content written in regional languages. Marketers also feel that there is a dire need to standardize processes for local language and also ensure that the last mile services are also available in local language.
There is a dire need to standardize processes for local language and also ensure that the last mile services are also available in local language
More over, 60 percent of rural internet users cite language as an obstacle for them, for accessing government services online. Local languages will be a boon for them. It will also make dissemination of regional news better as 60 percent internet users prefer to read news in local languages. 90 percent users are more likely to respond to a local language ad on the internet, than any English language ad. Several mobile companies are integrating regional languages reading support, post the Government’s decision to put such requirements on all phones sold after July 2017.
There is no doubt about the fact that the number of Indian language internet users far exceed the number of English language internet users. India has a remarkable linguistic landscape with a richness and history that is found in few other places on the planet. Yet with only 35 percent of the Indian population using the Internet, Startups like Way2Online is emphasizing the need to build content in local language gauging the vast opportunity in this untapped segment.
Leading tech behemoths are majorly pushing regional language computing in India. Microsoft’s Project Bhasa is a well-entrenched program, designed to localize Microsoft’s flagship projects, Windows and Office to offer local language input tools and interface packs in 12 Indian Language. Similarly, Android’s Jelly Bean already supports Hindi. Facebook and Pinterest also have Hindi translated versions of their English websites.
Infact, Google was the first to offer Hindi translation to its users. Facebook and Twitter followed suit. It is now that people are increasingly using Hindi. Experts claim that this is due to the fact that mobile penetration has increased and more and more people are now on the internet. More over, the use of social media and apps have also increased. Micromax is another company which was early to realize that the next market is for local language enabled handsets.
Many marketers feel that integrating local languages is about creating experiences. Customers can make decisions more effectively if they are given an opportunity to use a language that they are comfortable with. It is true that vernacular languages have been available for long but there were not many search engines to make this content available to users. Also, there were no protocols or procedure for effective monetization.
With 3G and 4G penetration increasing and 2G rates coming down, more and more people are taking to mobile. And once these people are on mobile site, they are quick to look for the same kind of experience on websites. Whats app and Twitter has seen an increase in the quantity of content written in regional languages. Marketers also feel that there is a dire need to standardize processes for local language and also ensure that the last mile services are also available in local language.
