As e-learning gains popularity (McCue, TJ. “E Learning Climbing To $325 Billion By 2025 UF Canvas Absorb Schoology Moodle.” Forbes, 2018) globally, course designers are looking to maximize the impact of their product and reach, tailoring educational content for various language and cultural learner groups. At the same time, international companies also need to educate employees located in different countries, to enable the production of multilingual courses.
The translation or localization process needs to ensure that courses are not only translated correctly, but also culturally adapted, enhancing comprehension and engagement of the course audience. With the growing demand for accessible education and the need to address regional standards, localization becomes not an extra but a necessity. In this article we’ll show you examples of e-learning translation mistakes, and offer practical ways of how to avoid them.
Summary
- Literal translations
- Cultural insensitivity
- Not understanding local regulations
- Neglecting roles
- No collaboration process in place
- Overlooking the power of visuals and audio
- Choosing unsuitable translators
The importance of translation in e-learning
When talking about the production of e-learning content on our blog, we often emphasize the importance of its effectiveness; the content must be effective in order to produce the expected results. If you’re creating a course for multiple regions or language groups, the course must remain effective across all these different global audiences. This is where the importance of quality translation becomes evident.
The translation process goes beyond mere language conversion; it involves cultural adaptation, which includes not only linguistic accuracy but also an understanding of cultural aspects and regional educational policies. By accurately translating and culturally adapting courses, translation bridges the gaps between language, knowledge and understanding.
A quality translation helps to ensure consistency in learning outcomes for students from different cultural backgrounds, which is especially critical for global companies or educational institutions creating e-learning courses.
7 Common e-learning translation mistakes
Localizing e-learning content is a complex process that involves adapting the material to fit a multitude of nuances. Without proper localization, there’s a risk of creating misunderstandings, setting additional language barriers, and even misrepresenting the course subject. In this article we will take a look at seven of the most common e-learning translation mistakes to avoid.
1. Literal translations
One of the most common mistakes in e-learning translation is literal script translations. This can become a major problem because the translation may fail to capture regional details, idiomatic phrases, or the cultural context of the original language. So, in the target language, literal translations can lead to misunderstandings, as certain phrases or concepts may not have the same meaning or relevance in another language.
Literal translations can result in awkward or unnatural language, making the content difficult to understand or difficult for learners to relate to. Moreover, they may inadvertently include culturally inappropriate references or examples, which can offend learners.
Another aspect of literal translations is that many e-learning courses focus on delivering specialized knowledge or skills, as with engineering, the healthcare industry, FinTech, heavy machinery, law, and other specialized industries.
If a translator fails to understand the terminology, it can compromise the technical aspect of the course, making the entire product appear unprofessional. That is why Blue Carrot collaborates with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) at every step to ensure that all terminology is proofread and localized, and remains relevant to the target learner group.
2. Cultural insensitivity
When the translation of an e-learning course does not consider the cultural norms, nuances, and local preferences, it can lead to misunderstandings and a lack of engagement. The use of culturally inappropriate examples, imagery, or references can diminish the relevance of the content, and make it off-putting for learners. Moreover, cultural insensitivity may also inadvertently convey stereotypes or biases, which can cause irreparable damage to a business’s or organization’s reputation.
For the localization of e-learning content to be effective, it must demonstrate a deep understanding of the cultural context to ensure that it resonates with the audience and respects their cultural values. Therefore, it is crucial to hire professionals who can adapt examples, idioms, and case studies to make the content culturally appropriate while maintaining the learner’s connection to the educational material itself.
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3. Not understanding local regulations and terminology
It’s important to understand local regulations and legal requirements when localizing an e-learning course to ensure that the content follows the laws and standards of the target region. Different countries may have specific rules and specific terminology about how certain topics should be presented, like medical, financial, or safety information. By following local regulations, course designers can not only ensure that the information stays accurate but also avoid potential legal issues that could arise from non-compliance.
4. Neglecting roles
🎯 As mentioned, the goal of translation is not simply to convert text from one language to another, but also to adapt the content, both culturally and linguistically.
While text conversion alone can generally be managed by one specialist, localization quality requires broader expertise in order to be done properly.
In other words, you need a team of specialists with specific skill sets and defined roles in this process. Typically, this team includes translators, instructional designers, subject matter, and localization experts.
- Translators accurately translate and adapt the content of the e-learning course. Their work is essential for making the content comprehensible to prospective learners.
- Instructional designers develop and structure educational content. They design curriculum and course materials, select appropriate instructional strategies, and use the necessary tools to deliver engaging educational content to learners.
- Subject matter experts provide deep knowledge and expertise in the subject area. They ensure the accuracy and relevance of the course material, validate information, offer insights, and may also assist in creating assessments.
- Localization experts focus on adapting content to reflect various cultural nuances, including idiomatic expressions, units of measurement, and culturally specific topics, to ensure the material feels natural to learners.
When you have a clear cooperation process established between these three parties, it is possible to effectively localize content that is 100% suitable for your target audience’s language group.
5. Not having a collaboration process in place
Before the translation process begins, a joint meeting should be held with all parties involved to discuss the target audience and other relevant aspects. This step allows the team to 1) establish a solid foundation for all subsequent activities and 2) bring everyone onto the same page regarding the project’s goals and potential adaptation challenges.
Additionally, ongoing collaboration should be maintained throughout the entire process. Translators and instructional designers should regularly consult with SMEs and facilitate QA reviews to identify any elements that may require further adaptation to maintain textual consistency and fit properly within the cultural context.
6. Overlooking the power of visuals and audio
The correlation between audio and visual elements is often overlooked during the localization of e-learning content; however, this is an equally important aspect of the process on par with the others. There are several reasons for this. For one, words carrying the same meaning can vary in length across different languages, which may require adjustments in spacing within sentences to ensure the localized content aligns adequately with the visuals and maintains the story’s tempo.
Additionally, the relevance of terms and concepts must also be considered. Visuals, along with audio elements, may carry a country-specific image, cultural connotations, and other symbols that need to be localized. To avoid delivering a disjointed experience and to ensure that the course content remains coherent across all modalities of information delivery, visuals should be adjusted to align with the audio and vice versa.
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7. Choosing unsuitable translators
Last but not least, in today’s list of pitfalls to avoid in e-learning translation is the choice of unsuitable translators. For one, there’s a risk of hiring someone who isn’t proficient enough in the source and target languages, which will lead to poor quality translations that make the material difficult to understand. However, even with a native-like translator there’s no guarantee that you’ll receive high-quality, effectively localized content. The main issue here may be the lack of subject matter expertise.
For example, let’s say you’re preparing an e-learning course that covers a lot of political theory or needs to explain to learners how the gas transmission system works. Obviously, for localization purposes you want to have a professional who is proficient in these subjects. Otherwise, you’ll get an educational course with incorrectly interpreted terms or concepts, and e-learning translation errors that will be confusing for learners and lower the value of the final product.
How Blue Carrot can help your business
For over 10 years, our agency has been helping businesses and organizations worldwide to create compelling explainer videos and e-learning content. We specialize in localizing e-learning materials in multiple languages promptly, leveraging our extensive network of linguist specialists and translators, to ensure accurate and culturally appropriate translations. If you’re looking to localize your e-learning course or other type of material, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.
White Glove
At the request of a private client from the logistics industry, our team developed an e-learning video course for future white-glove contractors. The client provided a pre-recorded voiceover text and asked us to create a flat 2D animation for their project. The goal of this course was to help new contractors quickly learn and perform new tasks.
The course included over 30 minutes of animated content, which was localized into Spanish. It was tailored for a specific audience, mainly male, who had time to study mostly in the evenings. The course features animated characters, vehicles, and goods being delivered to the company’s clients. The project took us 4 months to complete.
Innovative energy courses
In just two months, the Blue Carrot team created and localized over 70 hours of content for an e-learning course on innovative energy sources. This included 1,680 minutes of video and 1,920 interactive slides.
The course was fully localized into German, French, Spanish, and Romanian, using Articulate Storyline to deliver effective and engaging content. Each language version was meticulously refined to ensure cultural relevance and accuracy.
The bottom line
To sum it up, the translation of e-learning content must be not only high-quality in terms of language accuracy but also take into account cultural sensitivity, technical precision, and the legal standards of the specific region for which the content is being localized. Failing to address these factors can turnoff prospective learners and even harm your reputation.
Only through collaboration with skilled professionals is it possible to avoid translation mistakes in e-learning and produce material that meets up-to-date localization standards and learner expectations. If your e-learning course requires localization, reach out to our team. With years of experience in the e-learning industry, we use best practices and localization techniques to ensure that no e-learning translation mistakes or linguistic inconsistencies slip into your product.
