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How to improve my big eLearning localization project?
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Ultimate professional project management is not to wonder what you would do if you had $100k to plan and execute a training project; it is about doing the best with what you can have now, organizing and potentializing the assets, and creating solutions here and now, so you can bring the project to a higher level and be in a more favorable situation next time. Next time you might have $100k, but you'll make better use of it only if you start being strategic now.
It's the elevate your game saying, or that other one: over-deliver. And it extends to localization and transcreation projects management too.
For me, there's nothing more exciting than people that value their project and want to excel, no matter how big or small the project is. No matter how relevant or humble. No matter the company's country. And it's not about budget too. Money is a commodity and it's everywhere.
On the other hand, commitment and quality driving are not everywhere - they are precious.
#1 Important comment: Needless to say that all projects, big or small, with a narrow or a wide audience, have better appearance and acceptation if translated/proofread by a human, with attention to language's possibilities, nuances, uniqueness, advantages and disadvantages.
However, budget, resources, work volume, and time do not always allow that level of caring for the details and locale accuracy.
#2 Important comment: I've put eLearning in the informational projects category and Games in the bespoke multimedia projects category, but it doesn't mean that all eLearning projects are only informational and for this are simpler and can lack attention to details of translation.
Or even that all Game projects are conducted with a huge effort to locale accuracy and language comfort.
Fortunately, I've seen eLearning projects beautifully and organically translated by smart translators.
On the other hand, I already saw games and apps in which the Brazilian version had prompts and buttons that didn't make any sense in Portuguese.
Informational Projects
In general, those projects have a big volume of words, ranging from 3k to... 20k, 50k, even 100k or more words, and must be localized to not 1, but several languages.
Check if your project fall into the "Informational Projects" category and follow the following steps to improve your localization processes immediately.
+ Rough Translation Mistakes
It's comprehensible that translation with AI is used to create a draft. Even human translators use CAT tools, openly or hiddenly.
Depending on the company size and allocated budget, translator and proofreaders might be hired, but most of the time the client will rely on the voice-over professional to find a mistake, if the mistake happens to be found before recording...
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Hire a proofreader: If you can hire at least a proofreader, do it.
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Ask if the voice talent offers proofreading: If there was no translator or proofreader and the only native speaker that is going to be in touch with the content is the voice talent, you must tell him or her about it. That's what my client did for our Discovery Education project.
The quality of your project is at risk. Don't consider that the voice-over professional will guess what you have in mind. Be kind, ask, and it won't be a problem. The voice talent will save you from many re-recordings and revision requests.
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Recognize proofreading has its price: Pay for the translator's or voice talent's proofreading service, after all, it is beyond their activities. Delivering your content full of errors will cost you an even higher price.
+ Solution within reach
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Let the voice talent know: Notify the voice artist that he/she may find mistakes and inconsistencies along the script; if the script went through proofreading, the mistakes may be few and subtle. If so, it is easy to correct and usually cost-free - the voice talent will do it as an act of kindness.
However, having the surprise of finding mistake after mistake during the recording is even more counterproductive, so let the voice actor know if the script was not proofread.
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Permit the voice talent to give feedback: If the script was already proofread and if you trust the voice talent, give him/her permission to adjust small grammatical mistakes if it happens to be noted in real-time, and without disturbing or delaying the recording, without having to ask for your approval. It will diminish the annoyance and weirdness of some auto-generated translations or poorly proofread transcripts.
If the voice-over talent is truly professional, you can trust him and it will speed up the process for both of you, instead of needing to wait hours or a day to exchange emails regarding a mistake in a single word.
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Specify rules and give instructions: Also give specific or general guidelines for reading acronyms, foreign words, and hermetic terminology, whenever possible.
They might seem ordinary steps, but more often than not they are overlooked by looking so simple. If you don't ask or don't give permission, the voice talent may follow the rules (or the absence of rules) and record what's on the page.
It becomes far more complicated to fix a mistake or some inadequacy after it is recorded, or worse, after it was delivered to the client.
That's why planning, anticipating, and moving on the project one safe step at a time is more productive, more satisfying, and less stressful.
Invisible problems
There are some invisible problems. I call them invisible because it is way beyond the list of worries of a localization project manager. The bad news is that these problems can take much time and effort to be fixed. Those problems are not mistakes in essence.
They are not mistakes and they alone can't block a project. But they are problems because the client may ask for revisions and modifications.
Unless a translator or proofreader be in charge of the localization process, problems like lengthy phrases, bad choice of words, and unusual vocabulary will take place, and, likely, the voice talent won't correct or improve it in the middle of the recording, especially if the script is lengthy.
However, someone native in the final client end might spot it, feel uncomfortable and request for modifications. And if the client doesn't have anybody on their end that speaks the targeted language and that can review the delivery, we are at risk of having a problem being passed forward.
It's your client, your client's customers and your reputation that is at stake. A mistake or problems shall not pass the stages without being noted and corrected.
Show your project some love
Localization projects can be stressful, lengthy, slow and full of misunderstandings, so let's work in a way that guarantees its accuracy and fluidity. Let's give one safe step at a time along with a group of excelent professionals.
Now let's broaden our horizon because not all projects are like eLearning and Corporate Training.
If that's your case, what do you have in mind for your next project?
Projects with high perception of value
- Corporate videos
- Long product presentation videos
- Webinars
- Documentaries
If your project has a touch of perceived value, gets the user, consumer, customer, or prospect amid another activity, or seeds an idea more intentionally, check the troubleshooting checklist for value-driven projects.
Immersive, bespoke projects
- Games & Apps
- Animation & Cartoons
- Advertising & Commercials
- VR
An immersive project can be a 15-sec advert or a video game that take dozens of hours to zero in. It's not about lenght. It's about intensity.
If your project is immersed in it's own reality, carries a sophisticated idea or serves a specific niche, every aspect of it must be magnetic. See this list of elements that make your project be immersive, intentional, enticing, inviting, original and native.