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Cultural Adaptation: An Essential Step in Translation

“As a parent, what’s my role in helping the school educate my child? Will I need to buy my children’s school books this year?” “What does this report card mean?” “What is a parent-teacher conference, and why should I attend? Does that mean my child did something wrong at school?”

For most American students and families familiar with schools in the United States, the answers to these questions seem obvious. However, as an educator, you should be prepared to address these concerns and others when communicating with families of English Language Learners and the ethnic community at large. It’s possible that these concepts may be unfamiliar or strange to some immigrants. You have to ensure that your message is understood based on the target language and country of origin. This is when professional cultural adaptation of your communications and materials is especially useful.

A good translation agency takes cultural adaptation seriously. It’s not only good protection against potentially embarrassing or inconvenient situations, but it also shows you care about the needs of each member of your school’s community. When your communication to families really shows an understanding of the nuances and concerns of the target culture, it improves the overall education of your students and involvement in the educational process from families and the community.

First Things First
Cultural adaptation is one of the most important issues in localizing content, and it should be considered an essential – and separate – step for any materials destined for a distinct ethnic target market. Experts determine how elements such as idioms, humor, values, and symbols and should be adapted according to each target audience. It’s important to have this step performed early in the process, since it saves you from having to rework material later. It could be costly and time-consuming to get all the way to the actual translation before potential adaptation issues are identified and addressed.

Cultural Adaptation Done Right
In addition to the use of U.S.-based translators who are native speakers of the target language, cultural adaptation specialists within the translation agency can easily provide you with the feedback and research you need to evaluate and adapt your material for immigrant target audiences.

For example, perhaps a stronger emphasis on parent involvement with education is needed when writing your material. In many cases, you might be writing to parents who are not accustomed to participating in parent-teacher conferences or who have been actively discouraged from questioning authority figures (like teachers and principals) in their home countries. In Laos, for example, teachers dictate education and parents don’t have much say in how their children are taught; questioning a professional authority figure is seen as disrespectful.

Additionally, sometimes the literacy level of school communications should be lowered based on your target population: Using simple vocabulary, active voice, and short sentences works best. Cultural adaptation will make the explanation of the grading system, school routine, social customs, how to use school facilities, and how to get help, much easier, since your communications aren’t just translated, they’re tuned to the cultural attributes that affect comprehension related to their concept of school, education, and parent involvement.

Paying Attention to Nuances
Multicultural communication is more than just translating a report card or a student manual. To help students and families stay involved in educational goals, translation agencies must actually embrace the nuance of a culture. When introducing new concepts or situations to families, the most successful districts demonstrate a deep understanding of – and respect for – different cultures throughout all of their initiatives.


	viaLanguage Translation Articles Cultural Adaptation: An Essential Step in Translation “As a parent, what’s my role in helping the school educate my child? Will I need to buy my children’s school books this year?” “What does this report card mean?” “What is a parent-teacher conference, and why should I attend? Does that mean my child did something wrong at school?” For most American students and families familiar with schools in the United States, the answers to these questions seem obvious. However, as an educator, you should be prepared to address these concerns and others when communicating with families of English Language Learners and the ethnic community at large. It’s possible that these concepts may be unfamiliar or strange to some immigrants. You have to ensure that your message is understood based on the target language and country of origin. This is when professional cultural adaptation of your communications and materials is especially useful. A good translation agency takes cultural adaptation seriously. It’s not only good protection against potentially embarrassing or inconvenient situations, but it also shows you care about the needs of each member of your school’s community. When your communication to families really shows an understanding of the nuances and concerns of the target culture, it improves the overall education of your students and involvement in the educational process from families and the community. First Things First Cultural adaptation is one of the most important issues in localizing content, and it should be considered an essential – and separate – step for any materials destined for a distinct ethnic target market. Experts determine how elements such as idioms, humor, values, and symbols and should be adapted according to each target audience. It’s important to have this step performed early in the process, since it saves you from having to rework material later. It could be costly and time-consuming to get all the way to the actual translation before potential adaptation issues are identified and addressed. Cultural Adaptation Done Right In addition to the use of U.S.-based translators who are native speakers of the target language, cultural adaptation specialists within the translation agency can easily provide you with the feedback and research you need to evaluate and adapt your material for immigrant target audiences. For example, perhaps a stronger emphasis on parent involvement with education is needed when writing your material. In many cases, you might be writing to parents who are not accustomed to participating in parent-teacher conferences or who have been actively discouraged from questioning authority figures (like teachers and principals) in their home countries. In Laos, for example, teachers dictate education and parents don’t have much say in how their children are taught; questioning a professional authority figure is seen as disrespectful. Additionally, sometimes the literacy level of school communications should be lowered based on your target population: Using simple vocabulary, active voice, and short sentences works best. Cultural adaptation will make the explanation of the grading system, school routine, social customs, how to use school facilities, and how to get help, much easier, since your communications aren’t just translated, they’re tuned to the cultural attributes that affect comprehension related to their concept of school, education, and parent involvement. Paying Attention to Nuances Multicultural communication is more than just translating a report card or a student manual. To help students and families stay involved in educational goals, translation agencies must actually embrace the nuance of a culture. When introducing new concepts or situations to families, the most successful districts demonstrate a deep understanding of – and respect for – different cultures throughout all of their initiatives.