Delivery of training content in foreign languages has become increasingly prevalent due to the international nature of many of today’s businesses and organisations.

Having been involved in global training roll outs and translation projects, a common observation is that the translation process is usually an afterthought. This leads to potential obstacles that, at best can slow down the process of getting everything translated, and at worst, result in a mess that is not fit for purpose.

Over the past few years I have seen both ends of the spectrum when it comes to the success or failure of training translation (sometimes called ‘adaptation’ or ‘localization’). Many of the problems stem from a lack of appreciation of the translation process by those managing the projects and/or it’s authorship.

A lot of the headache experienced in such projects can easily be avoided with some good prep. Here are some key considerations to bear in mind that will take away the pain and give more gain!

Write for a Global Audience Not Your Office

Without doubt, one of the biggest crimes committed when designing and writing training content is that people are usually thinking about their own surroundings as opposed to writing for an international audience. This alone can solve many of the issues faced in the translation process as at authorship stage the constant question being asked is, “will people from every country understand or get this?”. This helps keep things simple in terms of use of languages, layouts, imagery, etc.

Iron Out Inconsistencies Before Translations

Sometimes companies use bits and pieces of training materials from different times or sessions or topics and create a new curriculum or workshop. Sometimes the content has been authored separately by different people and glued together. Sometimes training content can be written by external providers who employ different terminology. The result in every scenario is a nightmare all translators hate –  dealing with inconsistencies. For example, people sometimes use different words for the same things – how does a translator know whether that is on purpose or an oversight? One cannot overemphasise the value of creating a terminology base that is adopted company wide. This should then feed into content and helps develop consistency in the translated results.

Simplify That English, Please

We have all made this mistake – writing with our native turns of phrase, using long sentences or vocabulary that has non-native English speakers scratching their heads and Googling meanings. The English used in any training materials needs to be simple, clear and not cluttered with complexities like idioms and phrases. If the language is deemed too simple then consider two versions – one written for the native audience and another edited for international use and translation. The simpler the English the less ambiguity for the translator to deal with.

Watch Where You Stick Your Text

It drives translators crazy and causes untold back and forth between parties, but when text is embedded in images and complex graphics it is simply not possible for text to be edited and translated. This leads to delay as options must be considered as to where and how the translated text is positioned. It can even result in extra costs due to having to use designers to work with graphics in order to get around the problem. Avoid using any text in images and if you do, ensure that the text is accessible.

Check What Language You Need

Relying on the translation agency or translator to tell you which of the official languages in Belgium or Switzerland you should be translating into, is the wrong way around. It is essential to understand where the training material is going to be used, who by and precisely in what language. A client once had some training materials translated into Russian only to later realise it was meant for Chinese speakers taking a course in Russia. It really does pay to double check and not make assumptions. I would even go one further and recommend even the tone and style of the finished translation should be known from the start.  

Be Aware of Format Incompatibility

Although most training content, courses and text is written in easily accessible formats such as Word or PDF, there are occasions where format becomes an issue. Using specific training software such as Storyline or Articulate is not common among translation agencies and translators. Working with video and audio files is a completely different ball game to written translation.  Voice-overs demand a specific skill set and a process in itself. Prior to starting any project make sure the formats for all elements of your training are understood and compatible for whoever will be sending you back your final translated documents.  

Consider Text Expansion & Contraction

If writing training content that must fit into defined spaces and the like, bear in mind that when translated, text either contracts or expands. For example, if you translate from English into German it can take up as much as 10-35% more space than the original English text. This can cause problems for the design, look and feel of training materials such as slides, handouts or forms due to misalignments and skew-whiff layouts. Although this may be hard to predict in the content design stage, stakeholders should at least build it into potential future issues they will need to resolve.

Create a Translation Team

The responsibility for the translation of training content often falls to a single person who can’t, for various reasons, deal with all the intricacies of such a project. Much of the time the author deals with the translation aspect and the authors are rarely linguists. Other times it may be HR that is handed the project, again with little experience of language localization. Building a team of people who support, advise and work together on the project helps reduce workloads, bring in diverse viewpoints, increases the time and energy given to the translations as well as engaging all stakeholders and potential users to ultimately create a much better outcome.

Test Your Potential Translators

Prior to any serious translation work taking place, test out potential translators and get feedback from end users of the training. Offering end-users three short translations and asking them to pick the one they felt most comfortable with is a simple way of identifying who is going to deliver the right tone, style and language for you. Even if you work with a translation company, make them offer differing translators for review; do not just let them pick a translator for you. Take control of quality from the start.