Breaking Down the Language Barrier with Content Localization

Today’s global businesses want to make sure their messages are heard far and wide. But sometimes, that means crossing a language barrier. Whether it’s marketing content or training content, getting your message across quickly and effectively is critical.

Poorly translated materials could put a spanner in the works of what you’re trying to achieve. But even if the translation is word-for-word perfect, without intentional efforts to localize that content, it’s easy for your message to get lost in translation.

In this episode, we sit down with Roberto Aiello, the Senior Learning Experience Designer at Personio, about realities, challenges, and his tips for localizing content effectively. He explains why localization is about much more than just translation. For the message of your content to be translated and absorbed by your audience, it needs to feel native to that person.

Roberto talks about the common difficulties that can come up while localizing content including cultural references and phrases that don’t translate well into other languages. He shares some examples he’s come across as a native Italian speaker now living in Dublin. Roberto has some great advice for anyone involved in localizing content, and explores what to watch out for and why you need to know your audience well.

Learning points from the episode include:

• 00:00 - 01:56 Introduction
• 01:56 - 02:55 Roberto’s tip for using images and video
• 02:55 - 04:30 Roberto’s background as a non-native English speaker
• 04:30 - 08:36 What it means to localize content and why it’s more than just translation
• 08:36 - 11:29 How you can begin translating and localizing content
• 11:29 - 13:19 Common issues that cause translation difficulties
• 13:19 - 17:20 How to find balance in a localization project
• 17:20 - 19:39 Things to be aware of when localizing
• 19:39 - 23:26 Why you need to understand your audience well
• 23:26 - 27:28 Speed round questions
• 27:28 - 28:00 Roberto’s final take
• 28:00 - 29:08 Outro

Important links and mentions:

• Connect with Roberto on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertoaiello/