With the revolution in digital learning, many of the organization are localizing their E-learning courses to enhance the effectiveness and reaching out to whole new global audiences. Translating or localizing, however, is a very special service that requires specific SME and high technical skills from all of the parties involved. In this article, we will be discussing  how to effectively translate your E-learning course.

1.The first step of the translation and localization process is using a storyboard. Take the content from the original English course as your starting point.Ensure it contains all the necessary elements of an e-learning course – content, images, multimedia elements, videos, audio files, learning objects, etc. Be very careful to follow the right order of the elements as they are in the original course.

2.  The next step is sammple testing. Always start your translation project with a small test project. Get a  small part of your course content translated from minimum 2-3 of vendors( freelancer or translation companies) with whom you wish to work it. The translated text samples must be sent to the client for their consideration. On receiving client feedback the translator should be finalized.

3. The translation of the complete course content should be done based on the comments and suggestions received from the client for the sample content.

4. On receiving the complete translated content, send it to the client for sign off before starting the next phase i.e. Voice over recording.

5. Even for  Audio, send samples of professional voice artist to the client for their approval. Record all the audio bits step by step, taking the feedback from the client as a guide at all times.

6. Integrate all the elements of the course using source files. Make sure that audio and videos are in the right places and play when they are supposed to.

7.  Once the integration is done, the next step is to cross check with the quality of the course to ensure that everything is in place. Regional language should be reviewed only under the supervision of the language expert so that nothing goes wrong.

The text should be checked thoroughly since the translated version may be shorter or longer than the original and they may be blank or overstuffed spaces. If there were any animated words or phrases it is important that the animation conveys the same message and emphasis in the target language without looking inappropriate.

8.Once all elements of the translated e-learning course are checked, you are ready to deliver it.

Effective eLearning course translation is a time-consuming process.Have a standardized process so that your translation goals and timelines are met easily.

This simple approach will help you to deliver a  successfully localized e-learning course.