eLearning Translations By Internal Employees: Is It The Right Choice?

eLearning Translations By Internal Employees: Is It The Right Choice?—Infographic

Should you assign your eLearning translations to your internal employees?

1. Access The Complexity

"We need to roll out product training on medical devices for our sales teams in Chinese and we need this now! Li Na from the Accounting department can do this for us, as she is a native speaker of the language."

"I do not understand the technicalities of this content. A lot of idioms are used in the English course and I am not sure if this will translate well into Chinese."

Access the complexity of the content before you begin the eLearning translations. The source content that is to be translated needs to be:

• Clear and concise
• Devoid of idioms and expressions

2. Define The Translation Process

"Do I begin with translating the onscreen text or the text in the audio narration? The captions of the images need to be translated as well. I am afraid I will miss out on translating the entire content."

In the absence of a well-defined eLearning translation process:

• Your internal employee wouldn't know where to begin.
• Chances of errors are higher and that affects the quality of the translation.

3. Prepare A Style Guide

"Should I follow a formal or informal tone of language? There are acronyms and abbreviations that I do not understand. Help!"

A style guide can help by taking care of requirements such as the tone of voice, style, tone of language, and date and time formats. Preferred translations for keywords can be included in the style guide. This ensures consistency in translation.

4. Consider Localization

"In the English version of the course, the salesperson is shown addressing the customer by their first name and the tone is quite informal. But I know that sales conversations in China are usually formal. Do I change the content?"

Have you taken care of localization while translating your eLearning courses? The examples, GUI colors, and visual elements need to be culturally appropriate.

5. Plan Well Ahead

I have been juggling this translation project with my routine work and I haven't been able to complete the translation on time."

If you have to use internal employees for translation, plan well ahead. When you have strict timelines to complete an eLearning translation, it is better to outsource to an experienced eLearning vendor.