When you work in an international company, documents and paperwork can come in many shapes and forms, as can the reasons why business documents need to be translated into another language. For every document with an external use, such as marketing materials, proposals, and websites, there are tons of internal documents that need to be available in multiple languages too, such as company policies, financial statements, and reports.
I have translated hundreds of business documents, and lots of them are meant for internal use only. This sometimes includes training materials, which are either designed to be delivered to new employees or to help develop the skills of existing employees.
But, just because they are not going to be seen by the public, doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be translated well or given less thought – after all, your employees’ opinions matter too! I have already covered why getting a colleague to do your translations is not a good idea, but it could also be a mistake to run your text through an AI program such as ChatGPT. Here are some of the challenges that I come across when I translate internal documents such as training materials.
Company-specific jargon
Does your company have oddly-named departments or roles, such as WordPress’s ‘Happiness Engineers’, Nando’s ‘Patrãos’ and Apple’s ‘Geniuses’? These quirky job titles are becoming increasingly popular, and if you aren’t familiar with the company, you might think twice if you came across them while reading. There might even be terms that you don’t want translated, and an automatic translation program could easily mistranslate these terms without understanding what they are.
Be sure to let your translator know about any terms that are specific to your company that you want included – or perhaps you could work together to create a new name in the new language. If you can provide a glossary, even better!
Your texts are missing context
When you read a PowerPoint presentation, it’s often full of bullet points that might not make sense until it’s coupled with the spoken part. Many training materials include visual aids – which are hard to translate, as there’s an element missing from the overall presentation that the translator doesn’t always get to see. Translators do well when they have as much context and background information as possible. That way, they can make your training materials consistent and clear, which is sure to benefit your employees, too.
Different industries mean different terminology
As with all translations, we need to consider the end result of the document, along with the target audience – the people who are going to be using the translated materials. Is the training about soft skills, HR, or a more technical subject? Is it part of an orientation day for new employees? Or is it for a specific department, such as IT or finance?
What’s more, many words can be translated differently depending on the context: for example, the French word “opération” can be translated as “procedure” in a medical context, “transaction” in a financial text, or simply as “operation” in other contexts. Presentations and training materials are best translated by translators who understand the subject matter best, so some materials may need a translator who is specialised in the field for optimum results.
Getting a human to translate your training materials means that they can ensure that the translation aligns with your company message and branding, that it flows well without any odd phrasing or choice of words, and that it considers the perception of the end user. Work with a qualified translator, and they will take care of your needs and create high-quality documents in whatever language you need.
Bellingua Translations 