The new Translations module allows districts to automatically translate phrases used in Focus, such as course titles, report card comments, student fields, and system preferences, using Microsoft Azure Translator API. Custom translations can also be added. Translations are available throughout Focus according to the user's language set in Focus.
For a quick guide on using the Translations functionality, see the Translations Checklist.
For help using the previous version of the Translations screen, see Translations.
When the district begins using the Translations module, it may be useful to have some translations completed before they are needed by users. The district can select which language and source phrases to add to the Translations screen for automatic or custom translating.
Then, if a parent or student with a language other than English selected in Preferences encounters items in Focus that do not have a translation, Focus will automatically add those items as blank entries needing translation on the Translations screen.
For example, if the district adds a new student field to the system which does not yet have a Spanish translation, and a parent with their language set to Spanish views that student field in Focus, the student field will be added as a blank entry on the Translations screen.
The district can then use the Auto Translate function to translate the item, or the scheduled job "Update Automated Translations" will add the translation when it runs. The translation will be added for the needed language, as well as French, Haitian-Creole, Japanese, Mandarin, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish, Vietnamese, and English.
With the new Translations module, the "Language" field on the Application Editor is removed. Only the original version of the application/form will remain in the Application Editor. When a parent or student with a language other than English accesses an online application or student re-enrollment form, and there are items that do not have translations, the items will be added as blank entries on the Translations screen and can be translated using the Auto Translate function or the "Update Automated Translations" scheduled job.
The "Google Translate" system preference has been removed.
The language field that is used to determine the user's primary language for translations in report cards and other multi-lingual reports is set in the system preference "Primary Language Field" in Setup > System Preferences > Default School Preferences > Localization tab.
If your district used the previous version of the Translations screen, a migration will populate the "Primary Language Field" system preference with the field that was selected as the default language field.
1. In the Setup menu, click System Preferences.
2. Click the Default School Preferences tab.
3. Click the Localization tab.
4. Select the field used to determine the user's primary language in the Primary Language Field pull-down.
5. Click Save.
It may be useful to have some translations completed before they are needed by users. The district can select which language and source phrases to add to the Translations screen for auto or custom translating.
1. In the Setup menu, click Translations.
2. Click the blue Phrase Library button at the top of the screen.
3. In the pop-up window, select the Language for translation.
4. Select the Phrase Source.
Options include Clusters, Course Titles, Custom Report Cards, Grade Levels (used in standards), Online Application Labels, Report Card Comments, Standard Descriptions, Standard Titles, Strands, Student Field Options, Student Fields, Subject Areas (used in standards), and System Preferences.
Once you have selected the Language and Phrase Source, a table populates listing each of the source phrases. The Populate check boxes are selected for all source phrases by default.
5. Deselect the Populate check box for each phrase you do not want to translate, or click Deselect All to deselect all the check boxes in the table. You can then individually select the check boxes for the phrases you want to translate.
6. Click Save when finished.
The selected phrases are added to the table on the Translations screen. You can now auto translate the phrases, or add custom translations.
The Auto Translate function uses Microsoft Azure Translator API to automatically translate source phrases that do not have a translation into the selected language. The scheduled job "Update Automated Translations" can also be used to auto translate the source phrases that need translation when the job is run.
1. In the Setup menu, click Translations.
2. Click the orange Auto Translate button at the top of the screen.
In the pop-up window, the number of pending phrases that will be translated is displayed.
3. Click Translate to proceed with translation.
When translation is complete, the screen will refresh, and the translations will populate the Focus Translation column. The Automated column will display a Y for phrases that were auto translated. The Labels column will display hard-coded labels which describe the usage of the phrase in Focus or the part of speech, e.g. lib:course_title for course titles. See Adding Labels to a Source Phrase for more information.
The "Update Automated Translations" scheduled job can be used to automatically translate source phrases that need translation on a regular basis.
1. In the Setup menu, click Scheduled Jobs.
2. In the pull-down at the top-right corner of the screen, select Update Automated Translations and click Create Job.
3. Complete the setup fields for the job. See Creating Scheduled Jobs for more information.
4. Enter the Max number of translations per run of the scheduled job. 1000 is entered by default.
5. Click Save when finished.
Instead of auto translating phrases, the district can add custom translations. If a custom translation is added, it will display in Focus instead of the Focus Translation.
1. In the Setup menu, click Translations.
2. For the source phrase, enter the translation in the Custom Translation column.
3. Optionally, add one or multiple Labels to the phrase, which describe the usage of the phrase in Focus or the part of speech, e.g. lib:course_title for course titles. See Adding Labels to a Source Phrase for more information.
4. Click Save.
English to English translations can be added, if desired. An English translation can be added to rename a component in Focus to something more meaningful for the district's users.
The labels are used by Focus as a way of distinguishing one translation from another when the source phrase is the same. The label describes the usage of the phrase in Focus, such as course title, or indicates the part of speech, such as noun or verb.
1. In the Setup menu, click Translations.
2. For the source phrase, click the green plus icon in the Labels column.
3. In the pop-up window, enter your search text in the Search labels text box.
For example, enter "course" to find the lib:course_title label.
The available labels are listed on the right side of the pop-up window.
4. Click the label to add it to the Label column for the source phrase.
5. Click Save.
6. To remove a label from a source phrase, click the X.
7. Click Save.
See Additional Features for more information on Expanding, Exporting, Importing, Filtering, and more.
Languages Setup
Users with the View profile permission for the Languages screen have access to the Languages Setup button. Click Languages Setup to navigate to the Languages screen. The Languages screen allows the district to configure and enable the languages used in the Translations module.
