Politics has the power to impact everything… literally everything. With every new political event or change, people start to panic about issues like their lifestyle, savings, expenses, etc. Different industries are definitely affected, but who would have thought that the translation industry would be one of the most affected industries by political events. Translation industry is even expected to be affected by political decisions that are not effective yet, such as Brexit, about which translators are quite worried.
Since the British people voted in favor of the departure of their country from the European Union, debates have started. One side argue that English is not only the language of the United Kingdom, it is almost the official language of the whole world; the usage of English language is not only subject to the presence of the United Kingdom. The other side strongly argue that EU citizens will be no more be able in live in the UK in their sole capacity as EU citizens. Danuta Hübner, the head of the European Parliament, sided by the latter party, stressing that, “If we don’t have the U.K., we don’t have English”. Accordingly, the prestigious position of the English language is threatened; a thing that has consequences over the translation industry.
Can you imagine the count of the EU-related documents, conferences, decrees, conventions, agreements that need to be translated from English to other European languages and vice versa. Do you imagine the number of English translators and linguists who may turn to other language pairs, believing that they have fewer chances with the language they master. Some people even argue that EU countries no more have to teach English in schools. While English’s fame is threatened within its own continent, translation entities and individuals are concerned about the future of the industry.