Multiple Languages & Translation

Overview

SurveyToGo supports multilingual surveys, allowing you to run the same survey in multiple languages.

You can add as many languages as required and designate one of them as the default language. Once multiple languages have been added, interviewers can switch between languages during the interview in real time.

Implementing multilingual support typically involves the following steps:

1. Adding one or more languages to the survey.

2. Translating the survey content, either within SurveyToGo Studio or using a third-party translation tool.

3. Reviewing and testing the translated survey.

There are two methods available for adding languages and managing translations:

1. Within the Survey Script
   1. This method is intended for users who have access to edit the survey script.
2. Survey Main Menu
   1. This method is intended for users who do not have access to the survey script.

Method 1: Within the Survey Script

There are two ways to manage languages and translations within the survey script:

Option 1: Languages Menu

Use the Languages menu to add new languages, set the default language, and manage survey translations.

Option 2: Translations Tab

The survey's Translations tab provides a centralized location for managing translations.

The functionality is similar to the Languages menu, but it offers a dedicated interface for importing and exporting translation files, making it easier to manage large translation projects and coordinate with external translators.

From the Translations tab, you can:

• • Add and manage survey languages.

  • Export survey text for translation.

  • Import completed translations.

  • Review and maintain existing translations from a single location.

Creating New Languages

1. 1. Click on 'Add Language' to create a new language for the survey
      
   2. Once added you can use the different settings to set for the language (Active, RTL, Custom fonts).
      
   3. Remove - will remove the new language

Managing the Translations

• • Import Organization Translations - Since the survey texts are similar and remain consistent across all surveys and organizations, translations can be managed at the organization level.
    • This would provide a single, unified translation for each language, eliminating the need to maintain separate translations for individual surveys.
  • Import Translations - Click this option once the translation file is ready to be imported. 
  • Export All Languages - will create a file with all the languages and their translations
  • Export Language - will export the specific language that you chose with it's translation
  • Missing translations - Use this option to verify that there are no missing translations will provide the list of missing translations for a specific language once clicked.
    

Method 2: Using the Main menu called 'Language'

Step 1: Add a New Language to the Survey

1. 1. click on the “Add new language” option from the languages drop down list:
      
   2. Give the new language a name and select it from the list of languages.
      1. If the language you add does not appear on the list of languages you can select a different one. It will have no impact. 
         
      2. If the language you are adding is a “Right-To-Left” language, check the “Is RTL” box. 
      3. This will make the SurveyToGo texts and buttons right aligned when that language is chosen. 
   3. Click the OK button.

NOTE:  You can add multiple languages to the survey. The number is unlimited. 

IMPORTANT NOTE: 

When the non-default language is selected from the language box, you will not be able to

• add questions or answers
• change question types

You can only translate the survey.

To regain control of the survey design, switch back to the default language:

Step 2: Translate the survey

 This can be done 2 ways: 

1. 1. From within the SurveyToGo: Studio
      1. This requires translating the texts one at a time.
      2. This may be time consuming. 
   2. Via external Translation
      1. This requires exporting the texts to an Excel document, sending it to a translation tool and importing the Translated Excel document back into SurveyToGo. 
      2. This is a more robust method and will save time.

The objects that can be translated are:

• • Question texts
  • Answer texts
  • Answer Scales
  • Validation rule messages
  • Survey messages (error message, general notification messages etc)

Translation Option 1: Translating from within the SurveyToGo: Studio

Translation Steps

1. 1. 1. Switch to the new language from the language selection box:
         

      2. By default, question text is displayed in the survey's original language. To provide translations, enter the translated text for each language.

         1. When a respondent or interviewer switches languages, SurveyToGo will display the corresponding translated text instead of the original version: 

            
            And after overriding the text:
            
            
      3. Follow these steps for each of the questions and answers.
      4. To translate the various survey messages and texts, switch to the “Survey Texts” tab of the survey:
         Override the relevant message you wish to translate.

Example: to change the “no answer” message that comes up when you try to continue without answering a question:

Translation Option 2: Exporting all the texts to an Excel document

1. 1. Select the “Language > Export Texts”
      
      
   2. Select the language you wish to translate from the available languages:
      
      
      
   3. Choose a file name to export the texts to
   4. Select The Text Preferences that you wish to export as well
      • Survey Content Texts - these are the survey Questions, Answers, Scales, Quota Names and any other survey related fields
      • Survey Interface Texts - These are the Survey Texts such as the Buttons, Error Messages, Notifications etc.)
   5. Select the File Structure Preferences
      • Include 'Client Text' - enable the option if you would like to include the Survey Texts in the exported file
      • Include Extra Identifiers columns - enable this option to add the variable names, short ID & Coding columns. 
   6. Click the 'Export' button, which will create the Excel file.
      

The Excel file generated includes the following:

• •  5 columns
  • the original texts of the questions and answers are shown in column D
  • The translated texts need to be written in column E.
    • Here is a schematic display of the file:

Important Translation Guidelines

When translating the exported translation file, follow these rules carefully:

• • Enter all translated text in Column E only.

  • Do not modify the file structure, formatting, columns, or rows. Only add the translated text.

  • If a text contains placeholders such as {0}, {1}, {2}, and so on, these placeholders must remain unchanged in the translated version. They are used for dynamic text piping during the interview.

  • If a text contains the token @_@ITERNAME@_@, leave it exactly as it appears in the translation.

  • If a text contains HTML tags such as <b>, </b>, <u>, </u>, <br>, or similar formatting tags, preserve the exact tags in the translated text.

After completing the translation, import the translated Excel file back into SurveyToGo. The translated texts will be applied automatically to the survey.

Steps to Import:

1. 1. Select the “Language > Import Texts”:
      
   2. Select the correct file name that contains the translated excel and click the “Load button”:
   3. Verify that the correct language is indicated and then click the “Import” button:
      The correct language should be selected automatically.
      1. If it is not, switch to the correct language.
   4. If the import was successfully completed you will see an output that indicates the success and you can click the “Close” button:
      

Please Note: You can setup any language to be the default startup language - Click on Languages -> Edit Languages 

in the following screen choose the Language you would like to be the startup Language and enable the option 'Is Startup Language'

 

Method 2 - Main Survey Menu

Add a new language to the survey

1. Right click the survey to select Manage translations:
   1. Click on Create Language
   2. Choose the Language you would like to add 
      

Translate the survey by exporting to Excel

1. 1. Right click the survey to select Manage translations:
       
   2. Click on the Export Language option
      
   3. Select the Language file to export
      
   4. Specify the file name and press Export

Import the Language file

1. 1. Right click the survey to select Manage translations
      
   2. Click the Import Language option
   3. Specify the file to load and click Load. It will automatically load the language name to the dialogue
      
   4. Click on the Import Button
      
      IMPORTANT:  DO NOT press the Import as Default button you see on the bottom left.  This will override the default scripted texts (set to English by default).
   5. Once imported press Close, then press OK. It will tell you that the language was updated and the script saved  properly.

Please Note: You can setup any of the languages to be the default startup language - Click on Edit Languages 

in the following screen choose the Language you would like to be the startup Language and enable the option 'Is Startup Language'
 

Step 3: View the survey in different languages on the device

CAWI surveys: CAWI surveys do not have a language button so you should add a question to choose the language and (based on the answer) display the appropriate one. 

View the survey in different languages on an android device:

After syncing the translated survey to the device, you will now have the ability to switch between languages on the device itself when ever needed. To switch the language from the device:

Open the “options" menu and click on 'languages' then choose the preferred language:

After changing the language, you will see the translated text:

 

View the survey in different languages on PC Surveyor:

Press the Language button and select choose the preferred language:

After changing the language, you will see the translated text:

How to view collected results in multiple languages:

Once multiple languages are defined in a survey, you can select the language you want to view the results in, when observing though the operation console:

When opening a result in the operation console, in the Observation window you can choose the Display Language:

How to export the data in multiple languages:

Once multiple languages are defined in a survey, you can choose the language you want to export the data in:

When exporting the results through the Export Wizard, in the Options tab you can choose the language you want to export in: