How to Use Formal / Informal Language Variants in Knowledgeworker Create

In this article, you will learn about the various ways you can vary your learning content in terms of formal and informal address.

Understanding informal language variants in Knowledgeworker Create

In many languages, a distinction is made between formal and informal address in everyday life. The corporate culture can also be set to a specific form. To enable a learning experience as close to everyday life as possible, Knowledgeworker Create supports both formal and informal language variants – depending on what you need.

On the one hand, you formulate your learning content accordingly. But automatic texts, which you cannot directly influence, must also match. These automatic texts are embedded in the CI-compliant course layout and affect all learning content.

Starting with informal languages in Knowledgeworker Create

Do you wish for a different form of address than what is currently available to you as standard? Feel free to contact us!

Of course, it is also possible to address the users differently depending on the learning content. For this purpose, we provide you with two layouts with identical appearance (logo, colors) and different levels of formality upon request. You then choose the appropriate layout for your learning content as needed. Note: A formal/informal address always affects all languages of a learning content.

Request formal / informal address now

Creating a course with informal address

When creating a course, select the desired language, e.g., German (Germany). In the course, write your learning content using informal address. To ensure that the automatic texts match, choose a layout theme for the course that includes the informal address:

1. Find your course in the course search.
2. Open the Settings for the course.
3. Select the Advanced tab.
4. In the Theme dropdown, select the appropriate layout theme.

Translations into formal and informal language variants

For languages that distinguish between formal and informal address, you can specify which variant you want to use for the target language when using the automatic translation. This allows your content, for example, to be translated from “English (USA)” to “German (Germany) – Informal,” so that the texts automatically appear using the informal form.

Please note the following:

• Each course can only use one language variant. For example, if a course has already been translated using informal address, retranslating it using the formal variant will overwrite the informal version. If you want to offer both variants for a course simultaneously, you can copy the course and translate each version as desired.
• Localizations and country-specific variants of a language, e.g., German (Germany), German (Austria), and German (Switzerland), are not considered language variants but are treated as separate languages.
• If the way you address learners in a course changes later on, select the appropriate layout theme to ensure that the automatic system texts match the address style. For the learning content within the course, you can use the AI assistant KAI. It allows you to quickly switch between formal and informal phrasing (and vice versa) without rewriting the content. To do this, use the “Formality” option in the KAI menu at the text field.