BTC translation project background
With many requests for a Brooks Trading Course translation, a survey posted last year assessed traders’ needs. As the first stage of any translation is an English transcript, the survey included demand for English subtitles.
Below you will find the four original survey questions and their responses. The number of survey responses was not high enough for statistical significance. So a ‘subtitles only’ pilot project has been implemented with a brand new Best Trades mini-course product. The original survey included an early sample of this mini-course, and you can watch a final video sample below.
What translation language most wanted
Despite the low overall response, Portuguese (Brazil) was a clear standout from all other languages. Also, we have received many independent queries from Brazil for a Portuguese translation of Al’s books and course. So decided to use Portuguese subtitles for the pilot project.
It was interesting to see the Japanese and Simplified Chinese votes. These languages will be considered for future translation of both the Best Trades and Brooks Trading Course. We have been working with traders for Spanish, French, and German translations, so these languages can also be considered if the pilot project justifies the time and expense. A repeat survey sometime after the Best Trades mini-course launch will review these findings.
What options do non-English traders most want?
An understandable demand for a complete translated product. And an important result for English subtitles only, being a necessary first step as noted. Production of a synchronized, translated audio soundtrack is an enormous, costly task. So at the Brooks Trading Course price point, is difficult to justify. Initial translation of the Brooks Trading Course would thus have to be subtitles only. Again, the survey response shows a healthy demand for subtitles only, so a potential win-win for all.
Would traders pay in advance for translation work?
Encouraging to see that a fair majority of traders are Ok with paying in advance. Good news but not practical to do for the main Brooks Trading Course due to its established members base. Raising the course price may not be acceptable to potential buyers, as they would then be subsidizing existing members. A solution could be to introduce a small annual subscription payment for all members to cover both translation work and the growing videos hosting charges. We can tackle this question in a follow up survey after the Best Trades pilot has run for a while.
Value of English videos with English subtitles only
A good result supporting English only subtitles, which is going to be the initial move whatever happens in future. If the Best Trades pilot confirms demand for foreign language translation work, the Brooks Trading Course plan is to either (1) complete English language subtitles for whole course first. Or (2) Complete English plus Portuguese (Brazil) translations one section at a time. We can get back to this question in the future survey.
Survey conclusions
Despite the survey’s low response we have managed to gather useful information for the translation project. A follow up survey can firm up on preliminary conclusions that are:
- There is significant demand for foreign language translations.
- A pilot mini-course with English and Portuguese subtitles can help assess this demand.
- Many traders value subtitles only, supporting Al’s narrative, whether English or non-native English speakers.
- If demand is proven through pilot and follow-up survey, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, French and German subtitles could follow for Best Trades and Brooks Trading Course.
- Options to subsidize the substantial effort and cost of adding subtitles will need review.
Sample video: Best Trades Unit 16 — Trading Range Reversals
Below is a complete, sample video from the upcoming Brooks Price Action Best Trades pilot course. The course, approved and narrated by Al, will be available from two separate websites: one English one Portuguese, later this month (June 2018). Priced low, and the course will also be available on Udemy.com but only at full price (ie. no Udemy heavy discounting).
More details will be available soon. For now, you can enjoy the following sample. Your comments on the survey results and sample video are welcome below.
Video duration 12:40 minutes — 1 of 5 videos for Trading Range Reversals
Subtitles can be selected, turned off/on, through the standard CC icon on player bar.
Further to comments below on single line subtitles, the English subtitles have been modified to give single line for first half of video (6 minutes). Excuse a few minor sync issues, as editing original file and moving a few words around.
Would appreciate any feedback on single-line vs 2-line subtitles. The issue as I see it with single-line is that you do not get to see whole sentence, so possibly difficult to read? Or not? Look forward to any feedback.
