Set up Immersion Mode
What is Immersion Mode?
Immersion Mode allows you to translate the buttons and headers on FirstVoices, giving learners the option to navigate through your site in your language. You can add translations as well audio pronunciation clips through the Immersion section of your dashboard. Then, when Immersion Mode is turned on, a lot of the English on FirstVoices will disappear – but English translations, alongside your audio pronunciation clips, can still be accessed by using the Immersion Helper button.
To enable Immersion Mode on your language site, please contact hello@firstvoices.com
How to prepare your translations for Immersion Mode
FirstVoices is currently transitioning to a new interface which will have some different labels. The following downloads and instructions apply only to the old FirstVoices site.
If your team is interested in setting up Immersion Mode, the FirstVoices team recommends waiting until the Immersion Mode feature is set up for the new FirstVoices, so that your team can do all the necessary translation work for the latest version of your site.
While some of the labels on FirstVoices may be easily translatable into your language, others might pose a challenge. As an example, you may have a direct translation for the word "Welcome", but no existing translation for "Keyboards." The FirstVoices team is here to help, and has developed an easy spreadsheet to use when working with your language speakers to translate the labels.
Download the Immersion Mode spreadsheet
Click here to download the Immersion Mode spreadsheet
Translation tips from language teams
Here are some tips for translating the Immersion Mode labels from language teams who have gone through the process:
Don't be afraid to translate the label into something that makes sense for your language or community. We don't need a direct translation if it doesn't make sense!
Example: The Halq'eméylem team translated "Language Resources" to "It's good for learning"
If you are interested in creating a new word to describe something, try using an existing word as the base for it.
Example: The Halq'eméylem team translated "Our Keyboards" by using the word that means 'something to write with' as a base
The ḥiškʷiiʔatḥ team recommended looking back through records and other language materials to find suitable translations or to get ideas.
How to set up Immersion Mode
Once you have contacted hello@firstvoices.com and the FirstVoices Development Team has enabled Immersion Mode on your language site, it is ready to set up. To set up Immersion Mode, login to FirstVoices as a Language Admin and go to your Dashboard. You will see the link for the Immersion labels.
On the Immersion labels page, there is an editable list of all of the existing Immersion Mode labels. These labels are buttons, headers, navigation links and other areas of FirstVoices that can be translated into your language.
To add a translation, click on the pencil icon next to the label. Here, you can type your translation and also attach an audio file.
If you want to save your translation without making it visible to the public, click "Save." If you want to immediately make your translation public, click "Save and Publish."
You can also add new translations and audio directly on the page where the label is located, by scrolling to the bottom of your home page and clicking on the toggle next to "Immerse in language site." Then, click on the Immersion Helper button. Now, when you click on a label that can be translated you will see the option to edit it.
How to turn on Immersion Mode as a learner
Click here to learn more about how to turn on Immersion Mode as a learner.