Why you should use translation for e-learning?
Companies that employ e-learning tools or strategies can boost productivity by as much as 50%. That’saccording to a recent report by IBM and the eLearning industry. IBM found that for every dollar spent by corporations on e-learning, employees delivered $30 worth in productivity.
Many companies use e-learning as a way to keep employees trained. This makes it easier to keep costs down and have minimal operational disruption, according to Bersin & Associates.
The advantages to providing online learning resources are clear. Still, there is a noticeable roadblock for companies that work and operate abroad – language.
Top benefits of translating training and e-learning materials
It’s overwhelming to think about the work it will take to translate all of your e-learning materials. The videos, reports, and written lessons are already created in English. Why should you go through the hassle of translating these items to other languages?
Many companies are surprised by the answer to that question.
There are many benefits to translating your e-learning materials, even when the people consuming your e-learning materials have a working knowledge of the English language. Better yet, with the right preparation, translating these pieces might be easier than you think.
Here are a few reasons why you won’t want to keep your e-learning materials in one language.
- Your overall message could get lost in translation, making your efforts overseas less effective.
- The time and effort it takes non-English speakers to comprehend your lessons could disrupt their workflow and productivity.
- Non-verbal cues could cause important lessons to get lost in translation and may even be offensive to your overseas workforce or customers.
- Your team and customers might feel disconnected from your brand, which could have an impact on your company’s image overseas.
As you prepare your e-learning materials for translation, there are a few things you can do to make the project easier and more cost effective.
1. Start with your imagery.
Chances are, you use images in your lessons and in your videos. In these images, do you use metaphorical images, such as currency symbols or hand gestures? What colors do you use in your images or videos? Is there any text within your images?
A picture tells a story. The non-verbal story you intend to tell might get lost in translation. Cultural meanings can alter the way a person views your images and interprets your lesson. For example, a person giving the “perfect” or “A-okay” sign with their hand could actually be interpreted as cussing someone out in another country.
The text used in your images or videos will also need to be translated. For example, screenshots lose their meaning when the verbiage in the screenshot is not in the right language.
As you prepare your translation project, look first at what images might need to be replaced or updated. This will help you gauge how much work the translation company will need to do to make your project a success.
2. Beware of text length.
Expressions are much longer in certain languages. If your lesson requires you to fit within certain size constraints, such as on a video or in a printable document, you might need to make some revisions. This is especially true for projects from English to Spanish, German, or French where text tends to get longer during translation.
3. Read through your text for any cultural identifiers.
Certain discussions might make political references. Others might identify with certain geographic regions. Sometimes, you might bring up local or national stories as examples in your lessons.
Each of these cultural identifiers is impossible to translate.
More subtle cultural identifiers are numbers and colors. What might be a seemingly innocent reference to numbers or colors gets lost in translation. They could symbolize death and destruction, which would distract from the lesson at hand.
4. Look for abbreviations, idioms, or metaphors.
Chances are, when you wrote your lesson, you were writing for someone within your office, city, or country. Doing so, you might have used abbreviations, idioms, or metaphors. These will quickly get lost on other audiences. They’ll also be difficult (if not impossible) for your translator to translate correctly.
Read through your text carefully. If you notice any colorful language, revise it to meet global standards.
5. Simplify, simplify, simplify.
When writing for a global audience the key is to simplify as much as possible. Keep all text easy to understand, easy to translate, and easy to relate to across all cultures and countries. The more you can do this, the easier and faster it is to translate your e-learning materials.
