Having a YouTube Channel in a Different Language
Some of you may know that i’m not a native english speaker. Actually i speak German, Hungarian and English and i can switch between all of them fluently. A lot of people nowadays speak more than one language and that begs the question: Which Language should you use to build your YouTube empire. There are pros and cons for every possible situation but let me walk you through my decision making so you know why i choose english.
Just think about how many people you could reach with your native language. Right now we have about 7,5 Billion People across the globe. But how many of those actually speak your language are actually using YouTube and could they be interested in your content. So sometimes you even have to think about cultural differences in this occasion.
For me the whole equation was quite easy. My mother tongue is Hungarian. This is one of the rarest languages world wide. Only about 15 Million People speak Hungarian so for me that’s no viable option as a focus group.
Next up German. This looks more promising. About 250 Million People Worldwide Speak German. But since my target audience is the Western Civilization that narrows down the number to about 120 Million People. So this one should definitely be considered.
Now let’s take a look at English. The Statistics about languages differ a lot. But most sources agree when it comes to English. It’s one of the most spoken languages worldwide. Approximately 1,5 Billion People speak English. So that’s what i call a viable Target Audience.
So at the first look it would make sense to go with English. But what if you are not comfortable with your second language? Fortunately there are a lot of things you could. I for example love English TV Shows. While i’m watching them i automatically learn a bunch of vocabularies and sayings. Mostly those are things that you wouldn’t learn in school. And to become a native level speaker those are the things you are looking for.
For me writing articles like this one is also very helpful. It helps you to work on your grammar and spelling. And over time it makes me more fluent when it comes to natural speaking.
The biggest advice i can give you is to go outside and try to meet up with native speakers. Try to engage them with deep conversations so that you are challenging your language skills and your vocabulary. There is nothing better than good hands on experience.
But what should you do with the other languages you mastered? Well this is your biggest benefit to all the native speakers. You can reach even more people then they can. And sometimes this can help your content to rank even better. For Example my first ever video i did on youtube was in german. After a while i added Closed Captions to them and out of nothing i got a bunch of english speaking traffic on my video even though it only had captions. And the funny thing is People who read captions tend to watch longer. We all know more watch time is always favored in youtube.
What can we learn from this? Use Closed Captions all the time to help YouTube understand your Videos better, but also translate your videos in all the languages you know. You’ll notice in your Analytics that over time this will generate a bigger audience.
You should always focus on what you can do and what tools you have at your disposal instead of focusing on things you don’t have or can’t do. And sometimes speaking a language that others can’t can be your biggest strength.