3 Key Partnerships for E-Learning Localization Success

If your learners are spread out across the globe, you’ll likely need to offer training content in multiple languages to ensure everyone fully understands it. But unless you speak all the other languages yourself—which is pretty unlikely—you’ll need to partner with people you trust to deliver high-quality localized courses. 

In this article we’ll take a look at 3 key roles and how they contribute to your project, and then point you to resources that’ll help you select the right people to fill them.

1. Translators

It’s easy to understand why translators are an important part of ensuring high-quality localized courses. After all, if they don’t do a good job translating your content, your key messages could be misconstrued or even lost, making it impossible for your learners to achieve the desired learning outcomes. Not only that, but it’s hard to grab and keep learner attention if the translation is stiff, dry, or awkward.

When it comes to hiring translators, you can either:

• Work with an agency that will manage the translation of your course in all languages.
• Find a freelancer for every target language and work with them directly.

So how do you know which option is right for your project? Good question! There are a lot of factors to consider, including the number of languages you’re translating your course into, the budget, your workload, and the quality bar you’ve set. Here are some pros and cons to help you make the call:

	Pros	Cons
Translation Agencies	Usually less time consuming to manage. Might include additional services like voice-over and work in e-learning apps.	Quality is often lower. Cost is often higher.
Freelance Translators	Quality is often higher. Cost is often lower.	Can be time consuming to manage.

 

For more detailed explanations about the above pros and cons, check out this article: Choosing a Translation Parter for Your E-Learning Project.

2. Voice-Over Professionals

If you’ve ever created a course with professional narration, you likely know how hard it can be to find the right voice actor. Selecting someone with the right tone of voice, intonation, accent, and tempo is crucial because it can literally make your learners want to tune in—or out. And this is true no matter what language the course is in! 

But how do you choose a voice-over professional in a language you don’t speak? Typically you have two options:

• Go through a translation or voice-over agency that works with voice-over professionals across the globe. 

• Work with freelance voice-over professionals in all the target languages directly. 

Not sure which option makes the most sense for your situation? Here’s a handy pros and cons list:

	Pros	Cons
Translation or Voice-Over Agency	Less work on your end since they manage the whole process for all the languages, from selection to recording.	Could be more expensive since you’re paying for their project management services on top of the voice-over fees.
Freelancer Voice-Over Professionals	Might be cheaper since you don’t have to pay for project management services.	Likely more time consuming because you have to manage each voice actor individually.

 

No matter which option you go with, it’s best to enlist someone you trust—like a coworker—who speaks the target language to help you in the selection process. The person you choose should be proficient enough in the language to recognize regional differences in accent and speech patterns. Otherwise you could end up choosing a Parisian voice-over professional for your French-Canadian audience, which might not go over too well with your learners.

3. Quality Assurance (QA) Testers

Testing your localized courses is an extremely important—but often overlooked—part of creating courses in multiple languages. Translators are human. They make mistakes. And since they’re likely not experts on your course topic, it’s also possible for them to misunderstand—and therefore mistranslate—certain things. E-learning developers also sometimes introduce errors or bugs when they’re importing the translation into the authoring app. 

That’s why having QA testers with an eagle eye is key. This could be people on the project team, other coworkers, or, in some cases, professional QA testers. I recommend finding a person for each language version who is:

• A first-language speaker of the target language or someone with a high level of fluency, so they can pick up on things like register (i.e., the level of formality), tone, style, and nuances.
• A good writer and speller in the target language, so they can catch spelling mistakes, typos, and grammar errors. Just because someone speaks a language doesn’t mean they’re an ideal QA tester.
• Fluent in the source language (the language your master course was designed in), so they can compare the localized course to the master course.
• From or has lived in the target region for an extended period of time, so they understand the ins and outs of the culture.
• Detail-oriented, so they’ll catch any mistakes.
• Committed to your project, so they’ll make time to review your course when you need them to.

To learn how to QA test your localized courses, check out this article: QA Test Your Localized E-Learning Courses in 4 Easy Steps.

The Bottom Line

Finding translators, voice-over professionals, and QA testers you can trust is crucial if you want to ensure your localized course is top-notch. But building this team doesn’t have to be stressful or hard. The tips and resources in this article will help you find the people you need to get the result you want.

And if you’re looking for more localization best practices, head over to these articles:

• Planning Your Localized E-Learning Projects
• Top 10 Writing Tips for E-Learning Localization
• Designing Your E-Learning Course Graphics With Localization in Mind
• QA Test Your Localized E-Learning Courses in 4 Easy Steps

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