What Are the Most Popular Languages for Dubbing, and What Type of Content Benefits From This?

To expand your content’s reach to a wider audience, dubbing is an excellent strategy to overcome language barriers.

We’ve explored the most commonly used languages for dubbing, the types of content that benefit from this approach, and the significance of language localisation through dubbing in reaching global audiences.

Why Dubbing Matters

Dubbing is the process of creating a new audio track for audio/visual content in a foreign language that differs from the original. This can be accomplished by using the original dialogue, or by writing brand new dialogue that is tailored specifically for the dubbed version.

Dubbing makes content accessible to audiences all over the world, and ensures that any language barrier does not hinder viewers from enjoying and understanding audio/visual content. The process also allows for a deeper cultural connection between your content and its audience; ultimately creating a more immersive, and relatable viewing experience for different demographics.

Types of Content That Benefit From Dubbing

Films and TV Shows: Dubbing films and TV shows allows viewers to fully immerse themselves in the story on screen, eliminating the need to split attention between reading subtitles and following the actors.

Cartoons and Animations: Dubbing cartoons and animations is an excellent way to engage younger audiences who may have difficulty reading subtitles. By dubbing this type of content, you can ensure that children can fully enjoy and understand the story on screen, encouraging their imagination.

Educational and Training Videos: Dubbing educational and training videos into various languages allows learners from different linguistic backgrounds to access valuable knowledge. By providing localised versions, you can break down language barriers and facilitate effective learning regardless of the audience’s location.

Marketing and Advertising: Dubbing marketing and advertising content into various languages enables businesses to effectively reach international markets. By speaking the language of the target audience, companies can establish deeper connections with potential customers, creating a more personalised and engaging experience.

What Languages Are Best for Dubbing?

The answer to the above question is not one-size-fits-all, as this primarily depends on the content that is looking to be dubbed. Outlined below, are the 10 most spoken languages in the world, along with the number of speakers and percentage of the world’s population that speaks them:

• Mandarin Chinese – 1.3 billion speakers (16.3%)
• Spanish – 460 million speakers (5.8%)
• English – 379 million speakers (4.8%)
• Hindi – 341 million speakers (4.3%)
• Arabic – 315 million speakers (4%)
• Bengali – 228 million speakers (2.9%)
• Portuguese – 221 million speakers (2.8%)
• Japanese – 128 million speakers (1.6%)
• Punjabi – 92 million speakers (1.2%)

By looking at the above, it’s easy to assume that these are the best languages for dubbing content. However, despite having the most speakers, Mandarin Chinese might not be the best language to dub your content into, if the majority of your target audience is from an English-speaking nation. Before deciding on what language is best for your content dub, what needs to be considered is who the target audience of your content is, where they are based, and what language(s) they speak.

For example; if you were aiming your Spanish content at a Canadian audience, the best course of action would be to organise not just an English voice over dub, but also French. Through doing this, the 7.2 million Canadians who speak French can also enjoy and access your content, and in turn, you gain a wider audience reach.

Why not give dubbing a try and provide your content the ability to be opened up to new markets, gain further global reach, a higher viewer engagement, and audience satisfaction?

Are you in need of a dubbed voice over for your content? We’re here to help.

To find out how we can help your business with quality subtitling, translation, and voice over services, why not get in touch with us today? We provide services in over 80 languages including voice overs and subtitling.

Call us on +44 (0) 118 958 4934

Or email project@matinee.co.uk