7 common elearning translation mistakes

It's now more crucial than ever that employers get training and development right. According to studies, elearning in the workplace can boost employee productivity by 15-25%. Also, 93% of employees say they would stay at a company longer if it invested in job-specific training. Companies are now hiring a growing number of global staff. As such, they require accurate course translations to help all employees engage with elearning materials.

This is no easy task. The process of elearning translation can contain errors, such as consistency issues in documentation and ignoring cultural nuances. Factors like these can negatively impact the learner experience and learning outcomes. They can further damage a company’s retention rate, productivity, and ability to attract and hire new talent.

In this article, we'll outline common mistakes to watch out for when you translate your elearning course. We'll also show you how to avoid these mistakes and ensure your learning and development (L&D) translations are top-notch. You can keep them in mind to make your translation project management a success.

A common mistake made by L&D teams during elearning translation is to neglect consistency across tone and style. Lack of consistency makes learning materials appear disjointed, reducing the material’s credibility. It also seriously impacts the learning experience, causing frustration and confusion to learners.

When the tone of the writing shifts between, say, formal and informal, it disrupts focus, making it harder for learners to follow. When the writing style changes, learners need to put in extra effort to understand the material. Inconsistent terminology distracts learners and makes it harder for them to understand.

To avoid these negative learning experiences, L&D teams need to write guidelines for tone, style, and terminology. When the translation is complete, L&D teams should work with language and subject matter experts who can then review the final piece of content.

Smartcat has a range of elearning translation tools to support L&D teams in this. These tools, which work well with a learning management system, keep tone, style, and terminology consistent in learning content. L&D teams can then turn to Smartcat’s Marketplace of editors, proofreaders, translators, and linguists for final sign off of the content.

From expressions, customs, beliefs, symbols, and social norms, cultural differences impact how well learners engage with their learning materials. Localizing these elements significantly enhances the effectiveness of the content.

Ignoring cultural nuances negatively affects the learner's experience in many ways. Course materials can become confusing, and in the worst cases, offensive to learners. A joke in one language may be meaningless or unsuitable in another. The rule also applies to images, symbols, and even color choices as different cultures attach different meanings to each.

To address this challenge, L&D teams need to perform extensive research into their target audiences’ cultures and beliefs. This enables them to create content that is both appropriate and enhances the learner’s experience and learning outcomes.

Using relevant examples from a learner’s region is one way to boost learner engagement and comprehension. This also makes the content more accessible.

Another common mistake in elearning translation is not taking the time to conduct proper quality assurance (QA) and testing. When teams neglect this step in the translation process, errors can easily creep in. These include poor translation, grammatical errors, incorrect terminology, and irrelevant cultural references.

These errors are distracting to learners and can lead to them absorbing false information, eroding their trust in a course. When learners don’t feel confident in their learning materials, they can become disengaged which damages learning outcomes.

To ensure that mistakes and errors do not get through, L&D teams need to implement robust quality assurance processes. These include automatic checks, user testing, proofreading, and peer reviews from linguists. Working with local experts from target regions helps to ensure that all content is appropriate for the audience.

Smartcat is your go-to platform for elearning translation QA testing. With its automatic quality assurance feature, L&D teams can identify errors, spelling mistakes, incorrect terminology, flawed formatting, and text inconsistencies.

For a QA review from a specialist linguist, take a look at the Smartcat Marketplace. The platform uses AI technology to match your specific elearning translation needs with an expert in the field.

We’ve all read content that has been translated word for word without context or nuance. Literal translation often fails to capture the intended meaning, while the lack of context can lead to misinterpretation. This impedes a learner’s comprehension of a text and hinders their understanding of the topic at large.

Irrespective of the topic, context plays a key role in enabling learners to understand their training materials. Literal translations frequently leave phrases sounding unnatural or hard to understand. Within certain industries, such as medicine or childcare, this can have very real and potentially disastrous consequences.

Mistranslation can occur at any point in the translation of elearning materials. However, the following language components are particularly likely to fall foul of it:

• Idioms and expressions

• Slangs and informal language

• Culturally-specific references

Example:

The phrase “To take the biscuit” would not make sense to a non-British learner as the expression does not exist in other languages.

To solve this common mistake, teams should focus on the meaning of the material and understanding the target audience.  From here, they can provide alternatives to the original words or phrases that assist the learning experience.

At Smartcat, our AI translation lets enterprises translate their learning courses and materials in minutes. The Smartcat Editor provides language and content reviewers with an easy platform to seamlessly review and edit translations. The platform helps companies to ensure the correct terms, phrasing, and style used for each targeted region.

When translating a large document, it can be easy to overlook the text on UI elements and images. However, neglecting these elements can significantly impact learner comprehension and engagement. Images, icons, illustrations, graphs, and other visual learning aids frequently contain important instructional and navigational information.

When teams do not translate these elements, non-native speakers can struggle to understand the meaning behind the image. This oversight also creates inconsistent and disruptive experiences for learners. While this is detrimental to the learning experience, it also makes the course creator appear unprofessional.

Here are some simple steps to fully translate UI elements, icons, and images:

1. Including a comprehensive localization strategy that sees all images with embedded text undergo thorough localization by language tools and experts.

2. Using translation-friendly formats that allow easy text changes.

3. Working closely with linguists, local experts, and proofreaders who can check translated documentation, including UI elements.

4. Conducting usability testing with each global audience who can pinpoint any untranslated elements.

Failing to invest time and resources into understanding the cultural, linguistic, and educational backgrounds of target audiences is another common elearning localization mistake. The materials might not resonate with target audiences and which do not communicate the intended message.

This can lead to confusion and disengagement, making the materials seem inappropriate or irrelevant. Without proper research, an elearning program may not help learners achieve their training goals.

To avoid this mistake with your translated elearning content, you should perform extensive research into your target learners. Consider using surveys, questionnaires, interviews, and usability testing. This research should cover:

• Demographics

• Language preferences

• Learning styles

• Cultural nuances

• Technical proficiency

• Regional differences

Use your data to make your content more accessible and easy to understand for your audience. Regularly collect feedback and update your materials to keep them aligned with user needs and preferences.

With better translation technology, L&D teams now rely on translation tools to create elearning materials.

While these technological strides are welcome, there is still a need for human expertise in translation. This is because digital tools still miss details that are only apparent to humans.

For contextual accuracy, quality assurance, cultural relevance, and interactive feedback, L&D teams should invest in human translation expertise, from local experts to professional linguists. This works best when AI translates the content first and then human experts check it for accuracy and quality.

1. Broader Reach: Allows content to be accessible to a global audience.

2. Improved Engagement: Learners are more likely to engage with material in their native language.

3. Enhanced Learning: Facilitates better understanding and retention of information.

4. Inclusivity: Supports diverse learners by considering different linguistic needs.

5. Compliance: Meets legal and educational standards in different regions.

1. Professional Translators: Use experienced translators specialized in eLearning.

2. Translation Management Systems (TMS): Tools to streamline and manage the translation process.

3. Localization: Adapt content culturally and contextually for the target audience.

4. Multilingual Reviewers: Employ native speakers to review and ensure quality.

5. Use of Translation Memory: Store and reuse previously translated content to maintain consistency.

Smartcat is a leading online translation tool and enterprise Language AI platform. It provides an easy-to-use tool for global companies to manage translations themselves. Smartcat ensures top language quality through efficient editing workflows, insourcing options, and continuous AI improvements. It also provides unbeatable cost savings with adaptive AI and embedded human workflows, significantly reducing traditional outsourcing costs.

• Translate over 80 file types, including XLIFF, audio, and video files, to help L&D teams globalize their online training.

In this article, we’ve covered common translation mistakes for L&D teams. Follow our tips to avoid these errors and create high-quality translations that resonate with global learners. In return, you will be able to help improve retention rates, employee satisfaction, and productivity.