To make Access Agriculture videos widely available in local languages for optimal social inclusion, a local language video translation workshop was held in Tamale, Ghana, 18-22 November 2024, under the Accelerating change through innovation in agricultural TVET (ACTIVATE) project.
The ACTIVATE project in Ghana is led by the World University Service of Canada (WUSC) and funded by the Mastercard Foundation. Its main aim is to improve the well-being and resilience of young women and men by strengthening the Agriculture Technical and Vocational Education and Training (ATVET) system in Ghana.
The training workshop helped to enhance the capacity of 25 participants – including local language translators and sound engineers – in video script translation and audio recording in line with Access Agriculture standards. The participants were carefully selected from various local radio and television stations, as well as experts from the Bureau of Ghana Languages and the University of Education, Winneba (Ajumako Campus).
The workshop focused on the translation of videos into seven local languages spoken in Ghana: Ga, Ewe, Hausa, Dagbani, Dagaare, Gonja, and Twi. The project will engage and supervise the trained participants to translate 120 Access Agriculture videos into these seven local languages over three years.
During the workshop, the participants were introduced to some of the fundamental principles of video translation, such as ● Keeping in mind cultural nuances in translation ● Writing for the spoken word ● Importance of timing in translation ● Importance of checking with farmers ● Efficient teamwork ● Best practices for reviewing translated scripts ● Lifting the words from the page ● Enhancing fluency and delivery through practice.
The practical sessions helped the participants gain first-hand experience in finalising scripts for recording sessions as well as in recording audio using Zoom equipment and in professional recording studios. As part of their group work, they also learnt how to place audio recordings on timeline and export audio files.
Appreciating the hands-on training, Lilian Walters, one of the participants, said, “This experience has significantly enhanced our skills and understanding related to effective recording practices using Zoom technology and in recording studios.”
The 5-day video translation workshop in Ghana was supported by three facilitators: Phil Malone, Olivier Gbetin and Raymond Vuol.
