5 Takeaways on adapting a podcast into Spanish
Here’s how we produced the first-ever kids podcast translated into Spanish, during a pandemic.
I never thought that an unlikely one-time collaboration during a pandemic would result in the production of the first-ever kids podcast adapted into Spanish. We are proud to present the first season of Tumble en Español, a co-production between Tumble and my company, La Coctelera Music, produced exclusively for the Himalaya podcast platform.
Tumble en Español is a pioneering podcast effort on several fronts. Tumble was one of the first podcasts for kids when it launched in 2015 and now it’s the first science podcast for children translated into Spanish, and possibly, the first-ever Spanish translation of a children’s podcast. Here’s how we did it and what others can take from our experience:
1- Be open to collaboration. When Lindsay Patterson, creator, co-host, and producer of Tumble Science Podcast for Kids, asked for help translating a special Coronavirus episode into Spanish, my business partner Alex and I didn’t hesitate. There was no budget available and we were fine with that. This was our way of contributing helpful information for children and their families into the world during this crisis. Our one special Coronavirus episode got noticed by executives at Himalaya podcast platform, and that’s how we started the conversations for a full season.
2- Experiment. You never know where it may lead you. When Alex and I agreed to help our Tumble colleagues adapt one episode of their podcast into Spanish, we didn’t know what we were getting into. This was early March 2020, and we wanted to feel helpful. It was also our first time translating a podcast, our first time producing remotely (because of lockdown) and our first time producing children’s content (fortunately, Alex and I each have kids). But the stakes were low (we were doing this in goodwill), and there was relatively no pressure (we didn’t have a client, or a deadline) and we had the blessing of Tumble, so we took the plunge on what could’ve been a daunting project.
3- Don’t be afraid to make it your own. Our Coronavirus episode attracted the attention of a podcast company who sponsored six more episodes of Tumble en Español. For our adaptation, conceived and produced during quarantine, my Spanish husband Alvaro, a creative director at an ad agency, became my co-host. I grew up in Puerto Rico, so I brought my Caribbean-inflected Spanish. The key has been not to try to translate word for word but rather make it authentic and fun, as close as possible to our own banter. On the podcast, we speak just how we talk at our multicultural home: sometimes we find each other’s accent or choice of words funny or cute, or adapt our vocabulary to make ourselves understood for our intended audience (each other and our kids at home, or US Latinos and Latin Americans for the podcast.)
4- Ride the wave. Tumble en Español is the confluence of two trends. There’s been an explosion and awareness of kids podcasts since the COVID 19 pandemic began, but even before, Tumble and initiatives like Kids Listen in the United States have been advocating for high quality audio storytelling for children. Translation of podcasts for local audiences is also having a moment, as is the case with Spotify’s localized versions of the hit fiction podcast Sandra, or Studio Ochenta’s award winning ‘Mija’ podcast, now in its second season. There are a lot of kids podcasts in Spanish but not a lot of crossover with other languages. Makes perfect sense then for Tumble, an established podcast, which has a thriving community and proven success in English, to further its reach into Spanish, just like a book or a TV series would.
5- Know your audience. This applies to content creators, always, everywhere but it’s worth repeating. Since Himalaya’s Spanish language strategy is focused in Mexico and US Latin growth, we made sure to hire Mexican voiceover talent to adapt the voices of the different scientists who on the podcast share their stories of science discovery (there’s also Colombian and Puerto Rican talent present). We asked them, our voiceover talent, for suggestions on word choice (“mamá” versus “madre”, “batido” versus “batida”) and we incorporated their feedback to make our scripts more authentic and natural. The result is a podcast that features a variety of Latin American accents, just like the wide Latin American audiences our client wants to reach.
And this diversity of accents not only makes Tumble en Español a more richer listening experience. According to the just-released Latino Podcast Listener Report by Edison Research, 42% of U.S. Latino monthly podcast listeners feel “it’s more interesting” to listen to a Spanish-language podcast with an accent different from their own (and 42% said “it doesn’t really matter”). This report also validates the incredible potential for Spanish language content in the podcast ecosystem. Seventy percent of Spanish-language dominant listeners in the US have started listening in the last year, compared with 47% of non– Spanish-language dominant listeners. Content offerings in kids & family are only just taking off. The moment is now.
Locked down at home during the global Coronavirus pandemic with a toddler and an infant while launching my own podcast business and my husband worked from home has been intense but ultimately, gratifying. My business partner Alex and I were lucky to be in good health and able to transition to working remotely, setting up home studios and Zooming in clients. Our collaboration with Tumble made us feel useful and eventually, led us to whole new lines of business for our podcast startup in the adaptation and kids categories.
La Coctelera Music is a bilingual boutique podcast studio based in Barcelona.
