by Jorge Acuna

Created on: March 15, 2008   Last Updated: May 20, 2008

Even though we have been living in a global economy for some time now, communication across borders continues to be a problem. More so, if there is a language barrier. Yet, although training and education are just as affected by this challenge, we do not always pay as much attention to education translation as we do to translation projects for branding and marketing.

Education translation is not as simple as picking up an electronic translator and hoping the text file we throw at it will come out in another language on the other end. The translation of educational materials requires at minimum the same level of attention and care we offer to translating other materials, with one key difference: educational materials must adhere to the cultural educational nuances associated with the target language.

Take for example an organization in the USA that translated an educational manual into Spanish. The translator used proper language conventions, translating every phrase correctly. What the translator did not take into account was that the text contained multiple colloquialisms and phrases, that although translated, had no meaning in Spanish. In Spanish, you don't "butter up" somebody. There are other phrases that can convey the same idea, but the initial translation did not take this into consideration.

An additional issue came up as the translation was done using Castilian Spanish. The target audience were Hispanics living in the USA, who are used to a version of Spanish with a Latin American flavor to it. Audiences were not able to relate as easily to the educational materials.

Another more complex situation arose when translating the same manual into Japanese. This time the manual instructed the instructor to assume a subordinate position, while subordinates needed to take charge. In the USA, this is a common role play situation. However, in a similar setting in Japan, this simulation was extremely insulting and out of character for the participants. All the activity accomplished was to create frustration and anxiety among learners.

Fortunately, the organization was able to leverage its strength in diversity to its favor. By calling on select staff from each region for assistance, translators and native speakers were able to determine the best way to communicate to end users the message intended in the original educational programs.

Education translation needs to take into consideration these three elements:

1. Linguistics consider the audience's preferred lingo or a common denominators
2. Localization consider the local cultural nuances
3. Leverage Diversity consider using native speakers in your staff to help in the process

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