E-LearningMultiple Language Training
Minnesota, and especially Minneapolis and St. Paul is one of the most culturally-diverse areas of our nation. Consider:
- Our Hispanics population has doubled from 1990 to 2000 and Minneapolis/St. Paul is now home to 150,000 immigrants from Latin America. Over 20% of this population does not speak English.
- Our first Hmong family arrived in the Twin Cities in 1975. Today we are home to over 85,000 Hmong which is the largest population in the United States. Over 40% of these Minnesotans do not speak English.
- We are home to over 75,000 Somali immigrants, again the largest population in the U.S. While the children tend to be bi-lingual, anyone older is likely to speak only Somali. As the Somali written language is only about 30 years old, many of the older Somali do not read. Training directed at this group should be narrated (in Somali).
- Minnesota is also home to significant populations of Asian-Indian, Liberian, Ethiopian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Russian, and Korean people, with lesser populations of another 65 ethnic groups.
When developing training, we often need to include alternate languages and make sure that the supporting content is culturally relevant. Rivertown Communications can do this using our network of bilingual professionals. We can provide both written translations and audio narrations using native speakers. Additionally, we are able to design the training we develop to allow for additional languages to be added in minimal time.
This is a module from a series we developed for Land O’Lakes on food production. Because much of this training will be used in developing nations, we programmed the modules to allow us to quickly add additional languages. This module contains about 90 minutes of content. We are able to add additional languages (working from existing translations and narrations) in about 6 hours. This feature saves our customer a tremendous amount of money and allows them to quickly release training in new languages. This example shows the English and Indonesian versions.
Example:
We developed this DVD (video) for the Minnesota Department of Health for use in educating Somali parents. Because most of the intended audience does not speak English, we produced it in Somali, and included Somali and English subtitles.
But developing training that is culturally relevant to other cultures involves more than translations. Rivertown Communications is able to develop content with culturally appropriate examples and images. As part of our needs analysis, we can research a learner group and develop the appropriate training.
