THE CONTEXT
For many years, Version internationale has been translating Blackboard software – the long-standing market leader for e-learning software – for one of its clients. Until now, the linguistic specifications provided by our clients were very strict and required very serious and standardised language, when it came to both terminology and style guides.
However, the tendency to “gamify” the e-learning sector has shaken things up, increasing competition and imposing new practices. Our client felt that it had to adapt its supply to demand in order to keep hold of its customers and its brand image. We have therefore been given completely reworked linguistic specifications, which require us to make a complete U-turn and replace the corporate tone of the long-standing leading brand with a style that is younger and more fun.
THE CHALLENGE
This complete change in register and terminology means we have had to start this account from scratch, change our practices and be very creative. We had to define and adopt the appropriate style so as to suggest translations that were more in keeping with the company’s marketing aims, while still avoiding anything that could be deemed unprofessional.
IN PRACTICE
We brought our in-house team of translators, editors and proofreaders together and set out new linguistic specifications. Our linguists who specialise in this account discussed this in great detail in order to find a happy medium. We could not risk falling into the trap of using language that was too informal, as this could harm our client’s brand image. Teamwork, inventiveness and respect for language each helped us to overcome this challenge with great success.
THE RESULTS
The feedback from our client speaks for itself:
Please pass on our appreciation to your team. Thank you very much for the superb work you provide us with every single time, we are really happy with it! We have received an email from one of our representatives in Europe today and this is what they had to say: “Our customers in France think the interface has been perfectly translated, they love it”. A big “well done” to your team and thank you for providing us with an interface that perfectly suits both our internal team and the end users.
