Education translation covers a wide range of documents. Important documents. These are the steps to people’s future and their passports into careers. They’re certificates justifying the experience they’ve just dedicated weeks, months, or years of their lives toward obtaining.
Or, on the other hand, they may be an educational institution’s rules and procedures; guidelines for creating a safe and successful environment for all students and faculty.
As a Language Services Provider (LSP), we work with a lot of different educational clients. At LinguaLinx, we’ve developed an understanding of what makes for good translations, particularly as it relates to schools, school districts, colleges, universities, and other post-secondary education.
If you’re looking to partner with an LSP, here’s a little bit of insight into the common requirements a potential partner should be bringing to the table.
1. Linguists With Industry Experience
You don’t just want translators. You want translators that have worked in education.
They need to understand what the industry is like. The nuances, the pitfalls, the easy wins.
They need to understand how documentation is presented and what is expected of translations beyond just turning words from Portuguese into English.
2. LEP and Language Access Regulations
In the U.S., there are regulations to make sure that people who are Limited English Proficient (LEP) still have the same right to proper education as native English speakers.
LEP actually goes further than just language, it can also include people who have significant impairment to their senses of hearing or vision too.
Translators working within the education space need to be aware of these regulations and what the requirements are to satisfy them. This isn’t just about ticking boxes, this is about providing everyone with the education they deserve.
3. Localization and Native Speakers
If you need something translated into French, the question is "which French?" There are 29 countries that officially speak French, and your translation needs to take this into account.
Haiti, Madagascar, Canada, and Switzerland are all very different markets. Their versions of French are all different. Not paying attention to these differences can demonstrate a lack of care to your customers.
For the most accurate translation, the linguists working with you should not just know the language but know the region too. Your LSP should focus on looking at the localization of the translation.
This includes taking into account not just the language or country you’re going into but also the subtleties of the culture that need to be reflected in translations.
3. It's Not Just About the Words
Education is no longer confined to dull and monotonous text. Nowadays, learning is interactive and engaging, with visual aids and multimedia elements making it more enjoyable for students.
In today's education, visual aids and interactive elements have made learning more engaging and enjoyable. But translating these elements, such as charts, graphs, and animations, requires a level of Desktop Publishing (DTP) expertise. It's important to consider how these elements will be translated and localized to ensure they are just as engaging in the target language.
And do you have to consider changing imagery? If you’re heading into a traditionally Muslim marketplace, are all the people in your images appropriately dressed?
If you’re going into Thailand, are there any images of people touching someone’s head? Here, the head is considered the most sacred part of the body and shouldn’t be touched by anyone else.
4. Security and Confidentiality
Educational translations often go beyond product advertising, marketing and other forms of communication that are open to the general public. They can be confidential documents that need to be treated with a level of care and security. Anyone involved in their translation should be able to demonstrate their process for keeping these documents secure and confidential.
A good LSP will have these elements as part of the backbone of what they do. These values will go across the business as a whole. They’ll understand that, when dealing with people’s personal information, there is no higher consideration.
Why Partner With An LSP for Education Translations?
If you’re going to build a house, do you want the responsibility of getting everything right on your shoulders? Do you want to choose sub-contractors and deal with legal regulations and guidelines?
Or do you want to partner with a builder you can trust, who’s seen it all before and can manage your project from start to finish?
This is what an LSP does. They’ll see things through from end-to-end, and you’ll have a dedicated team to work with. They’ll provide you with certified translators who have experience in various fields all over the world. They’ll fit the best people to your project and take on all the Quality Assurance (QA) which is vital to any translation.
Getting Translations Right
Getting translations right is important. In education, you’re dealing with people’s lives, sometimes their safety, and contributing to the framework that should be a fundamental right to every child or young adult.
When you partner with a LSP who can provide native speaking translators with experience working in education, you’re setting yourself up to succeed.
Get a Quote for Your Education Translation Project
If you’re thinking about a translation project, we’d love to sit down and talk with you about it.
Consultations are free and there’s no obligation.
With LinguaLinx, you won't ever have to worry about your message getting lost as it’s translated. You know you're in good hands with our ISO 17100 compliance, twenty years of professional translation experience, and the organizations whose trust we've earned.
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