Additional languages

I’m thinking of adding additional languages such as Japanese and Korean to draw in those tourists with significant language barriers. Hiring someone to translate the description is going to cost, I’m not going to do it unless it provides a tangible difference in terms of bookings or demographic of guests. Thoughts appreciated!

It’s possible having the listing in other languages helps anyway - mine has a very old, bad Chinese translation and I get a few Chinese guests per year. My check in document is translated into both Spanish and Chinese so I know guests have what they need to check in and navigate. My picture is in front of a Beijing landmark which actually might be the biggest draw for Chinese visitors!

That said, I get maybe 3-4 bookings from Chinese guests per year. It’s not a huge number, but they do appreciate the translations. I don’t speak Chinese (my kids study it).

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You act like it’s going to cost a fortune to get someone to translate for you!

Foreign exchange students should be happy to make a few bucks, or dinner or something similar. Other students in linguistics departments at a university would, likewise, be amenable to similar exchanges.

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They will assume you speak their language and you will need a translator with you when they arrive and you give them a tour of the home when they check in.

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Valid point! I’ll probably just stick to the languages I know - english and mandarin.

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Not a fortune, but profit margins are really thin (5-10% at best) and I’ll have to watch my costs carefully.

Yes @Ritz3, I speak five languages and I can communicate very well on the platform, but my co-host only speaks two ,and then the guests, when they arrive feel frustrated, since the majority who decide not to communicate in English on the platform is because they have real difficulty with the language.

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I only communicate in English but let them know the check in info is available in the other languages and ask them if they want it. They always seem to appreciate it. Mine is a whole apartment so nobody expects me to speak. If you already get Korean and Japanese speakers why not?

And I don’t pay for my translations. I ask people I trust. If you pay, you don’t know if they are communicating what you want.

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I’m envious of those of you who speak more than one language. I can’t even speak American :slight_smile:

(Therefore I’d love to have guests from Europe - especially the UK, all the time).

But i have a decent (and free) translation app on my phone and along with guests over the years, we’ve had great fun with it. Its translations are pretty good although once in a while it makes a mistake which the guests and I tend to laugh about after a bit of miming and sign language.

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You can always translate and then point out that the host does not speak (Mandarin, Spanish etc ) and that Google translator can help.

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I’m Norwegian hosting in London, and I don’t get any Norwegian guests despite my listing being translated, go figure…