If you are curious about what is involved in subtitle translation, read on to learn more about how beneficial they are, how translating them can help your business, and how to ensure the job is done right.

What are subtitles?

You very likely come across subtitles at some point in your day-to-day life. You may even be among the growing group of people who watch everything with subtitles turned on. Subtitles are the on-screen text that displays the dialogue, voice-over, or audio commentary of a video. This text-based supplement is a cost-effective solution that helps people around the world understand and process on-screen content.

Uses for subtitles

Subtitles aren’t just for foreign language television shows and movies. They can be placed on just about any type of video, including:

• Video ads on social media
• eLearning content
• Organizational training videos
• Instructional and how-to videos
• Music videos

If it’s a moving image with audio, it can likely be enhanced by including subtitles.

Advantages of adding subtitles

Why go through the effort of including subtitles with your video? Let’s explore some of the most important benefits.

Reach More People

According to the World Health Organization, around 466 million people worldwide have disabling hearing loss. Subtitles make your content accessible to those who may not be able to clearly hear the audio.

Subtitles aren’t just about making videos accessible to those with hearing disabilities: they make the medium more accessible to everyone. In fact, a 2019 study by Verizon Media and Publicis Media reported that 80% of people who use captions aren’t deaf or hard of hearing.

That’s because in today’s multitasking and mobile society, not everyone watches videos with the audio turned on. The Verizon Media study showed that 69% of people view videos without sound when in public places, and 25% view video without sound in private. A staggering 80% said that they are more likely to watch an entire video when captions are available.

By subtitling your video, you tap into an entire audience of viewers who prefer watching over listening when online.

Improve retention and engagement

Subtitles are an excellent way to make video content more engaging and informative, especially in the eLearning space. Having another medium to convey the information at hand can lead to higher retention rates over a longer period of time.

The same theory applies to video marketing. In the Verizon Media study, experts found that there was an 8% improvement in ad recall, a 10% increase in ad memory quality, and a 13% boost in brand linkage when captioning was utilized.

SEO: Search Engine Optimization

If you want your website to rank higher on Google’s search engine result pages, subtitling can help you do that too, directly and indirectly. Since Google’s algorithm can’t yet process audio or video, the transcript of subtitles allows search engines to crawl and index your video content. A higher ranking on Google leads to more website traffic, which results in increased conversions and sales.

Google also takes note of how long visitors stay on a webpage, rewarding those who keep the attention of their audience for a longer period of time. Because subtitles can increase the time a person watches a video, it indirectly impacts SEO.

However, adding subtitles isn’t enough to connect with your audiences if they can’t understand the language the subtitles are written in. This is where subtitle translation becomes important.

Subtitle translation

Subtitle translation is the process of translating a video’s audio script to another language. Videos can be subtitled in any language, giving audiences the opportunity to watch and understand, even if the spoken audio is in a different language.

Take all the benefits of source language-to-source language subtitles, and add to that the ability to connect with a multilingual audience. This is how subtitle translation significantly enhances the reach of your video content. Translated subtitles allow your video content to be understood by anyone, regardless of the language spoken in the video.

Voice-over recording is another effective video translation option, but isn’t always feasible. Sometimes, organizations opt not to use voice-over because of the increased costs as compared to subtitles. Other times, it simply doesn’t make sense depending on the type of video, such as music videos. Subtitle translation is the perfect solution in these situations.

How subtitle translation works

Although subtitles are text-based, the process isn’t as simple as replacing existing words with their translation. To get a better understanding of how subtitle translation works, it’s important to know something about subtitle formats.

Subtitle formats

Subtitles can be open or closed captioned. Open captions are integrated within the video itself, and cannot be removed or changed without modifying the source video. These are often called “burned” captions, because it is like they are burned onto the moving image.

Closed captions on the other hand, give the viewer the option to turn them on or off. Closed captions can be created with different file formats, including SRT and WebVTT.

SRT translation

This text file format stands for SubRip Subtitle. SRT is the most common subtitle file format, and consists of four components:

• an order number
• the time that the subtitle appears
• the caption and
• a blank line indicating the end of a subtitle.

Using SRT is advantageous, because it is supported on a wide variety of platforms. However, it lacks control over certain features included with the WebVTT format.

WebVTT translation

VTT or WebVTT stands for Web Video Text Tracks. This format was modeled after – and is similar to – SRT. Although they share many of the same features, WebVTT is a more robust solution, giving developers options when it comes to subtitle placement, font, color, and format. WebVTT also contains metadata that isn’t displayed on-screen, but contains information about authors, dates, instructions, and more.

Subtitle translation process

No matter which type of text file is used, the subtitle translation process can be broken down into seven general steps.

1. Script transcription: If there is no script available, the audio will first need to be transcribed.
2. Subtitling: The transcribed script is time-coded and formatted for VTT or SRT.
3. Translation, editing, and proofreading: Once the transcribed text is available, translation can begin. This process includes the editing, proofreading, and quality assurance of the transcribed content.
4. Translated script approval: Once the translation process is completed, the deliverable is sent to the client for final approval.
5. Sync text with audio: Translated text is synced with the source audio so that dialogue and on-screen visuals are harmonized.
6. Translated video validation: The final product will be reviewed by a native speaker for clarity, accuracy, formatting, and functionality.
7. Deliver target language video: The subtitled video and/or subtitle files are delivered to the client ready for use.

Ensuring High-Quality Translations

If you’re considering adding subtitles to your video, hiring a professional translation company is the best way to ensure a high-quality translated product. Not only do language professionals accurately translate the material, but they also take special care to localize the content. This means that all text will be culturally appropriate and formatted correctly, making it easily read and understood at a normal speed without detracting from the visuals on the screen.

Professional translation services go through a multi-step process that includes quality control checks by native speakers throughout the workflow. They are aware of the challenges and obstacles commonly encountered with subtitle translations, such as text display issues, and know-how to resolve them.

Conclusion

Subtitles are a helpful tool that allows your videos to effectively reach a larger audience. Subtitle translation takes that a step further, expanding your reach to those who speak other languages. When done by a professional translation company, high-quality subtitle translations can help make your video content accessible to all.

The post Subtitle Translation: How to Boost Video Content Reach and Engagement appeared first on Interpro Translation Solutions.

Workers – who make up most modern learners – can enhance their skills and increase their knowledge without ever seeing the four walls of a classroom.

Besides training staffers, creative organizations have found ways to use eLearning as a medium to achieve awareness, retention, loyalty, and of course, revenue from customers and affiliates.

As demand for eLearning solutions soars, the global economy is making eLearning translation more relevant than ever.

What is eLearning?

eLearning is derived from “electronic learning” and refers to delivering education via the Internet. While millions of Internet users turn informally to the web to learn new information, eLearning is a method of delivering formalized education online.

eLearning is as old as the Internet, dating back to the 1980s, and even earlier. However, it wasn’t until the late 1990s that people began to realize eLearning’s true potential. Elliott Maisie, a provocative, engaging, and entertaining researcher, educator, analyst, and speaker, coined the term “eLearning” in 1999, validating the concept with an official name.

The flexibility of online learning means students can learn from anywhere in the world, as long as they have a reliable Internet connection. Some eLearning resources can be delivered asynchronously, allowing users to access the lessons at a time most convenient to them. Digital resources can be revisited again and again, allowing users to learn at their own pace.

Delivering eLearning in the Student’s Native Language

In the Information Age, a company’s chances of success skyrockets when it has a well-trained workforce. eLearning provides a path to keep employee training up to date without the expense of running in-person seminars. Employers can also offer access to eLearning platforms as an employee benefit, giving workers a way to expand their skills and climb the corporate ladder.

When your workforce is spread across the globe, eLearning becomes more challenging. By offering training in a single language, you limit the ability of non-native speakers of that language to take advantage of the educational opportunity. Translating eLearning materials into multiple languages levels the playing field for monolingual employees.

Even employees who speak English in addition to their native tongue benefit from eLearning translation. Bilingual people grasp information presented in their mother tongue more quickly, and are more likely to retain it. The cost savings your company realizes by implementing eLearning evaporates if your workforce struggles to understand and apply what you’re trying to teach them.

That said, when it comes to education, a poor translation can be worse than having no translation at all. Free AI-based translation solutions have little or no understanding of cultural nuance, and comedians like Jimmy Fallon have made a game from making fun of the most outrageous translation bloopers. But what’s funny on “The Tonight Show” is frustrating in an online class.

Quality eLearning translation delivers lessons in a way that helps the audience learn the material. It takes into account cultural references, idiomatic expressions, and metaphors, and translates them so they make sense to the learner. Video and audio translations include high-quality voiceover recording as well as text, making the lesson accessible to more people.

eLearning Translation Makes Education Accessible

The COVID-19 pandemic forced all levels of learners, from kindergarteners through Ph.D. candidates, to embrace online education. If anyone still doubted that learning could be delivered 100 percent online, 2020 put those doubts to rest.

Fears that a quality education cannot be delivered online proved groundless. In fact, 2020’s global experiment in eLearning demonstrated that the medium has a variety of benefits. Students can learn at an office during standard working hours or at home in their pyjamas after the kids have gone to bed. Recorded lessons can be viewed as many times as needed to make the lessons stick.

Accessibility features like captioning and alt-text make lessons accessible to learners with disabilities. Translating eLearning materials into multiple languages is another accessibility measure, opening the learning experience up to non-native English speakers.

Our world is now a global village. eLearning translation helps international team members, clients, and students absorb your content without relying on a translator. It bolsters corporate branding by demonstrating your company’s commitment to inclusivity.

Choosing an eLearning Translation Provider

Choosing the right partner to assist your company with eLearning translation can make the entire process of translating training materials smooth and headache free. Here are some of the qualities you should look for in an eLearning translator:

1. Localization ability. How can you make sure your eLearning content delivers value and not jokes? When you partner with a high-caliber translation provider, the quality of your materials is assured. Professional translators localize cultural references so that the finished product delivers the educational results you intended.
2. Format flexibility. You shouldn’t have to waste time reformatting your source files in order for your translator to be able to work with them. A serious, professional translation company will work with all types of source files, and will make sure the translated material works across all eLearning software platforms.
3. Publishing expertise. Your translated materials should be delivered to you ready to go. Choose a translation provider who handles the finer details such as engineering, publishing, voiceovers, and complete course validation. Localized courses should be published to match the settings of the original English course, including SCORM-compliant publishing versions.
4. Scalability. Globalization of the business community shows no signs of slowing down. Currently, you may only need your material translated into one language. Down the road, you may need to add another, and then another. Choosing a translation provider who offers services in several languages from the start will keep you from having to start over every time.

eLearning has been quietly revolutionizing education for decades. The global pandemic punched the accelerator on its growth, and there’s no indication that it will let up any time soon. Remaining competitive in the global marketplace means training a global workforce, and eLearning translation is the fastest and most effective way to meet those learners where they are.

The post eLearning Translation: Effectively Train Your Global Workforce appeared first on Interpro Translation Solutions.

As technology improves, one form of media in particular has continued to grow and develop but still remains wildly popular—videos. Whether you use them as eLearning modules or as one of the components in your marketing strategy, your multimedia content should be localized, just like your website content. To increase your global reach, a Mandarin audio translation (localization) may be crucial for your videos, and this usually includes the initial step of translating a script into Simplified Chinese and then proceeding with the actual audio recording in Mandarin.

Why is Mandarin Audio Translation Important?

While it’s important to have some knowledge about your target audiences and the languages they speak, it’s also normal for many companies to be uncertain into which languages their content needs to be localized. But Mandarin audio translation is an important aspect of localization that you simply can’t miss out on when appealing to the Chinese market. This is especially critical if your company is reaching out to Mainland China and Singapore. Mandarin is the most commonly spoken language in the world, with more than 955 million speakers across the globe, and is the native language for 14.4% of the world’s population.

How to Know Mandarin Is Right for Your Audio Translation

Still unsure if Mandarin audio translation is right for your target audience? Keep in mind that not only do languages vary from country to country, but written language can differ from spoken language. Mandarin is the spoken language unifier of mainland China, and Mandarin audio translation is usually a good value and a safe bet.

Building Confidence in Your Market with Mandarin Audio Translation

Because Mandarin is the most commonly spoken language in the world, a Mandarin audio translation can not only connect you with a larger audience, it can also build your brand’s reputation and bolster consumer confidence. It shows that not only do you appreciate other cultures and languages, but that you are taking the time to localize your content so you can successfully reach people all over the world. Your Mandarin audio translation doesn’t just reach people in China, it is beneficial to Chinese speakers worldwide. A recent United States Census Bureau study found that the third most common non-English language spoken in the U.S. was Chinese dialects. With most of the Mandarin speakers residing in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, it’s even more imperative that you consider a Mandarin audio translation / localization for your multimedia and eLearning projects so that you can reach your market on both sides of the country and around the world.

Working with a Professional Translation Company for Mandarin Audio Translation

A native speaker is vital to a successful Mandarin audio translation, especially if you’re localizing eLearning content. Can you imagine trying to learn a new skill or train for a job in a language that is choppy, hard to understand, and not your native tongue? Many marketing tactics can be implemented by your company’s employees, but a Mandarin audio translation  requires a professional in order to ensure that the information is accurate, culturally appropriate, similar in length to the original translation, and recorded professionally. When you reach out to a professional translation company for your Mandarin audio translation, you will find native speakers with subject-matter expertise and experience in your particular field, which is especially beneficial when it comes to company or product-specific terminology.

To find out more about Interpro’s Mandarin audio translation services, please contact us today.

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