Translating your content with specialized translation files

Translating your course with translation files is the most appropriate method to use if you‘re employing the services of a vendor or if you‘re using dedicated translation tools in-house.

Your Project‘s text content can be exported in XLIFF 1.2 format—a standard format familiar to translators. Once the text within has been translated by your vendor, it can be re-uploaded back into the Project to create translated Variations. Because there's no limit to the number of Variations you can create at one time, this method allows you to quickly add your translated content all at once. This can also be repeated if you need to add more Variations in the future.

You can also export the content as a CSV (comma separated value) if you need to use a more flexible format. Typically, this option is best for teams where translation is happening in-house but specialist translation tools are not being used. This file type can be opened and edited in many ways including in a spreadsheet.

For more information about using the two file formats, see CSV translation files and XLIFF 1.2 translation files for more information.

Once you've created your translated Variations, you can then make a release from the Parent to create a Multi-Language course that you can distribute to your learners.

Before you begin

• You must convert the Project you’d like to translate into a Parent. A Parent is the source from which all of your translated versions (or Variations) are created. The Parent controls the Variations, allowing you to make changes to multiple Variations at once, simply by editing the Parent. For instructions on how to convert your Project, see Converting a Project into a Parent to prepare it for translation.
• To learn more about Parent and Variation Projects and how they work, see Understanding Parents and Variations.

Creating a Multi-Language course using translation files

For the best results, we suggest following our recommended workflow. It can be broken down broadly into four steps:

1. Export the translation file from the Parent
2. Send the file to your vendor or translator
3. Import the file back into the Parent
4. Create a Variation in the source language

1. Export the translation file from the Parent

1. Open the Parent you‘d like to translate
2. Go to Variations Manager
   
   
3. Click Export Translation 
   
   
4. Choose your preferred file format: XLIFF 1.2 or CSV
5. Ensure the following options are selected to ensure all text from your course is included in the export:
   • Everything in course body
   • Include Page titles
   • Include interactive elements (such as Next & Previous buttons)
6. Click Download

Your file will begin downloading to your computer.

2. Send the file to your vendor or in-house translator

If you have exported the file in XLIFF 1.2 format, it should only be edited with a specialized translation tool like Trados. You should send the file as is to your vendor so they can translate it.

If you have exported the file in CSV format, it can be opened and edited in various programs. The most frequently used is a spreadsheet like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets. For more guidance on editing this file, see Understanding CSV translation files.

3. Import the file back into the Parent

1. Open the same Parent the file was originally exported from
2. Go to Variations Manager and click Make new Variations
   
   
3. Choose Upload translation files
4. Click Select files to browse your computer's file explorer and add your translated file. You can select more than one file at this point if you’d like to create multiple Variations at once.
5. Click Create Variations to upload the file(s) and translate your Parent

The upload may take a moment depending on the number of files being imported at once. Once the upload has completed, your Variations will appear in Variations Manager.

4. Create a Variation in the source language

Because the Parent isn‘t accessible to learners in a Multi-Language course, you‘ll need to create a Variation in the original language.

For example, if your Parent is English, you‘ll need to create an English Variation for learners to be able to take the English version of the course. To find out how to do this, see Creating a Variation in the same language as your Parent Course.