E-Learning Localization: One Course That Teaches All Languages?

Let’s say you’ve built a brilliant online course to cater to excited learners worldwide. But are you sure that your global audience would understand it?

You have put in hours of hard work and curated knowledgeable content by adding videos, modules, notes, and quizzes, but when it reaches a learner in Tokyo or Paris, something seems off. Your online course seems partly understandable, but the viewers cannot engage with it. It is not the complexity of the course that makes learning difficult, but the language diversity within the audience. This is exactly where e-learning localization becomes essential, which adapts your content to resonate with learners across regions, cultures, and different languages.

In this blog, we will explore how e-learning localization unlocks the content’s potential and makes it resonate with linguistically diverse learners.

What is E-Learning Localization?

E-learning localization is the process of adapting or tweaking digital learning content to meet the linguistic, cultural, and contextual expectations of different regions. It is a bit different from professional translation because it considers:

• Specific cultural references and idioms.
  
• The platform’s visual elements, like colors, designs, and graphics.
  
• Dialects and audio used in e-learning videos.
• Region-specific formats, like date, currency, and time.
• Compatibility with design, as some translated languages tend to expand the text size.

By doing so, e-learning companies can ensure a better learning experience, improved engagement, better content comprehension, and a seamless global reach—all while preserving the platform’s original intent.

Why Does a Business Need E-Learning Localization?

For a business, ed-tech company, or training platform, expanding internationally is vital to grow and diversify their user base. In such cases, investing in e-learning localization services becomes an effective strategy.

Here’s why:

• Enhanced Global Reach: According to Common Sense Advisory (CAS), online platforms that localize their content are likely to report 2.5 times higher learning satisfaction in global markets.
  
  
• Increased Course Completion Rate: It is likely that a non-native learner leaves a course in the middle due to a lack of understanding. However, if the content is in their preferred language, they are 75% more likely to complete the course.
  
  
• Optimized Learning and Retention: A native learning experience efficiently engages the learner and results in higher knowledge retention.
  
  
• Global Inclusivity and Accessibility: Localization paves an innovative way for global learners from different backgrounds.

How Oxfam Did It Right

Oxfam, a leading global non-profit present in 77 countries, faced a linguistic challenge while diversifying its multicultural workforce. To ensure that their training module was accurate, relevant, and accessible, they turned towards professional e-learning localization services.

• They adopted website localization to convert their online platforms into Arabic, French, Spanish, and Burmese.
  
  
• They hired local subject-matter experts to tailor content regionally to ensure smooth and quick delivery.
  
  
• The company extensively used digital tools via Elucidat to scale localization workflows.
  
  
• They went beyond translation of the language and adapted visuals, tone, and examples to fit the region’s cultural taste.

The Result?

Oxfam significantly improved its online volunteer training platform, encouraged global participation, and improved workflow across regions.

Like Oxfam, even Netflix adopted professional localization services to make multiculturally resonant content and establish a global presence. Want to know how? Check out this blog: Localization Services: Netflix’s Strategy for Global Success.

How to Ensure Effective E-Learning Localization?

Follow these steps to localize your e-learning platform in the right way.

• Start with Market Research: Explore the cultural and linguistic preferences of your target region. This includes dialects, visual preferences, and education styles.
  
  
• Design Your App or Website Appropriately: Plan the layout of your platform with room for flexibility. In some app localization cases, the translated text expands, resulting in a cluttered design.
  
  
• Partner with Experts: Work with professional translation companies that have extensive experience in the localization industry.
  
  
• Use Native Voiceover Artists and Linguists: This is essential to maintain an authentic tone and delivery in your educational course.
  
  
• Test and Iterate: Create prototypes and pilots, gather relevant feedback, and fine-tune the platform to derive the best results.

Finding the Right Experts

Are you an e-learning company struggling with loss of engagement, poor comprehension, and stagnant growth? Or are you seeking to expand your learning content into global markets? In either case, Somya Translators, a leading translation company in India, can efficiently guide your localization journey.

As an ISO 17100:2015 certified linguistic agency, we bring 16+ years of unmatched experience and skilled native linguists to offer specialized e-learning localization services in more than 170 languages.

So why wait? Partner with us, and let’s make your e-learning platform truly global!

Contact us today to grab a free quote!