Branching 2 languages - Variables remain in 1 language

Dear Articulate community,

I'm looking for some help on the following issue. 

We develop e-learnings from an English master version, which we then translate to our 2 local languages. I usually finish both languages individually and then I merge the 2 files (importing storylines into a new file) to create a branch in each language so that I have 1 multilanguage version. This time however, the chapter titles etc. are set-up as variables, which, in itself, is great. I only had to correct each title once. And the whole project was updated. However, this time, storyline did not spot the "duplicate" variables when importing the 2 languages. Making my titles all in 1 language, throughout the entire project. I sometimes get a pop up asking me what I want to do with the variables: merge them or copy them. I did not get that message this time. I have already renamed the variabels in 1 languages and imported the project again. No luck. All titles are still in the first imported langues. I've tried copy pasting. No luck either.

The titles is one thing, but there are also sliders etc, which I'm guessing will not work either. 

How do I get storyline to "spot" the variables and give me the option to copy them? 

What am I missing? Any ideas?

I cannot share my file publicly, due to confidentiality, but I'm hoping someone can help. 

I'll share it with the back-office though. 

 

Thanks in advance!