I work at a full service professional training company. I am working with a client who has 6500 employees, 1/3 of which are international. Even if we use 2.0 methods of delivering information to these remote employees, we come up against a language barrier. Does anyone have any ideas of how we could easily translate this training. (We would maybe be using podcasts, webinars, recorded sessions, etc). Thanks in advance for any information.

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Originally posted by ucsMichelle:
I work at a full service professional training company. I am working with a client who has 6500 employees, 1/3 of which are international. Even if we use 2.0 methods of delivering information to these remote employees, we come up against a language barrier. Does anyone have any ideas of how we could easily translate this training. (We would maybe be using podcasts, webinars, recorded sessions, etc). Thanks in advance for any information.

Are they mostly in one country, or are they spread across several different regions with different cultures and languages? This will likely be a very difficult endeavor if you will have to translate these materials into several different languages.

Each language has its own set of unique barriers to overcome when it comes to translation. Meaning will most definately be lost in translation - certain phrases and directions will have to be tailored toward each specific language.

I would look into finding the best translation services available for the languages you need to translate into. Do not use a cheap do-it-yourself solution such as babelfish or you will just be shooting yourself in the foot because your audience will be completely lost watching a webinar or podcast with subpar translations..

ucsMichelle, have you asked the client how they handle their own translations for other materials? They may already have an efficient process in place which you could take advantage of. We use this method for one of our global clients and essentially partner with their existing translation process and providers.

As another option, there is a really good translation company here in Atlanta which could likely help you with your different deliverable formats. Let me know if you would like me to refer you.

Jay

I would echo Jay's advice above. I have been responsible for training throughout Asia Pacific, Europe and Latin America, often requiring materials to be translated into many languages. Frequently such organizations already use in-country tranlation companies to do business in the global arena, so they should be able to connect you.
Good luck with your assignment!

You might consider going to a nearby university to see if there are students willing to do the translations.

The potential benefits are reduced costs, and if you find a student from the specific region in question, you're likely to get a transaltion which is sensitive to local dialects.

Good luck!