We recreated and adapted global e-learning content so a multinational business could deliver the same high-quality training in 18 languages.
An international fast-food restaurant chain wanted to optimize their online training resources. So, they partnered with a global e-learning content creation company. Their expertise was in creating content for maximum impact in one language.
However, the training was to be rolled out across many languages and cultures. As a result, the content creation company came to Summa Linguae Technologies (SLT) for help.
At SLT, we knew how to break the mass of e-learning content down into manageable chunks and deploy our extensive resources to overcome the multilingual training problems one step at a time.
The Challenge
Delivering great global e-learning content requires clear, engaging, and convenient training resources. Get it right, and you can transform employee performance.
However, creating effective e-learning content can be difficult when it involves adapting it to many different languages and cultures.
The global restaurant chain’s intention was for their range of Instructor-Led Training (ILT) content to be relevant in 18 languages. This included:
- a training guide to help instructors teach the various topics in a coherent and well-structured manner
- a PowerPoint presentation to take trainees through the entire training program
- a trainee workbook where learners can collate their course notes and complete exercises
The content creation company knew that to deliver the best learning outcomes, all training resources had to be tailored to each of their target audiences, which meant dealing with linguistic and cultural differences.
Multilingual content cannot simply be translated word for word. Instead, it must be looked at holistically, so that every detail and nuance of the source material is captured accurately in the target language.
Varying content length was also a challenge. Depending on the target language, source content can expand by as much as 50 percent following localization, which may mean the content no longer fits in the space provided (which could be particularly important on a PowerPoint slide, for example).
With these difficulties in mind, the company realized they needed the help of a multilingual communication specialist. So, they contacted SLT.
The Solution: Global E-learning Content
Amol Agarwal, SLT’s APAC Production Head, explains why SLT were the perfect choice for the task:
“Our range of end-to-end services and our ability to integrate with a variety of technologies ensures all aspects of the ILT can be localized in one place. In particular, we leveraged translation memories—databases containing previously-translated sentences, paragraphs, and phrases—to speed up the process while maintaining the original context of the target translation.”
Localizing the three core elements of the project—the training guide, PowerPoint, and trainee workbook—took place in three phases.
Phase 1: Localization
To start, our team prepared the content in each of the 18 languages in three steps:
- Transcreate headlines and slogans: Transcreation ensures that any subtleties, idioms, and figures of speech are recreated appropriately in the target language. This avoids errors caused by direct translation (such as when Braniff Airlines’ motto to encourage passengers to choose their upmarket seating, “Fly in Leather”, was translated as “Fly Naked” in Mexico).
- Pre-process the text files: This involved recreating the main body of the writing in each language using a team of specialist translators, translation memories, and the latest technology.
- Extract images for localization: In addition to the need to recreate images containing written content, images often need to be changed to suite different cultural contexts—the appearance of the people, the food they eat, and the side of the road they drive on, for example.
Phase 2: Quality Assurance
It was then time to put the finishing touches to each translation. This involved:
- Cross-checking for any inconsistencies between documents
- Assess against Quality Assurance standards, to identify any possible improvements
- Client review to gather feedback for further fine-tuning
Phase 3: Delivery
The final stage involved assembling the resources in each of the 18 languages. This included:
- Replacing the localized images in the PowerPoint files
- Reviewing all text for any font, formatting or alignment issues
- Delivering the resources to the client in a secure and useable format
The Outcome
Our recreation of a global restaurant chain’s entire e-learning resources in 18 languages, with expert attention given to all linguistic and cultural considerations, was a complete success.
- Trainers around the world learn the appropriate skills, thanks to clear ILT materials
- Trainees receive well-structured, optimized instruction, wherever they are in the world and whatever language they speak
To learn how Summa Linguae Technologies can improve the effectiveness of your global content e-learning programs, check out our e-learning localization services.
