Mother Tongue

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Mother Tongue

Creative Translation, Marketing & Advertising Translation, Transcreation Offices in London, Long Beach, and Singapore.
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Mother Tongue is the informed choice for anyone in advertising & marketing who needs to be sure that the foreign-language versions of their copy will be as good as the original in every way. Using a network of copywriters around the world we creatively translate in a culturally sensitive way. We have worked on every significant global brand and most of the pan-European ones. In fact, read any one

of today's main European newspapers or international websites and you'll probably see something we've worked on! We are now used on a regular basis by many of the top advertising and digital agencies around the world because they know they can trust us to produce hardworking creative copy for them. Our team of international copywriters is passionate about advertising and language. Our aim is to produce top quality advertising overseas that is as powerful and effective as the original copy.

16/10/2024

As the nights draw in and the weather grows colder (for the MT London team, at least!), we've been thinking about ways to embrace the season and turn those chilly days into cozy opportunities. If you're also feeling less than enthusiastic about the colder months, Word Wisdom Wednesday is here to help!

We’re all aware of the Scandi tradition of hygge, but have you heard of gluggaveður? This Icelandic word loosely translates to ‘window weather’ and describes the kind of weather that is beautiful to look at but not nice to be in — like snow, a big rainstorm, or a sunny but crisp autumn morning 🌧️

As more winter weather approaches, let’s all grab a mug of tea and a blanket, and curl up by the window to appreciate a bit of gluggaveður! 🍵

11/10/2024

We’re in Norway for this month’s Cultural Catch-Up! ❄️

With a long history of knitting culture and famous for its classic knitting patterns and striking designs, it’s no surprise that Norway has not one, but two festivals taking place in October to celebrate this iconic part of Norwegian culture.

Ullveka, followed by Strikkefest, are held in the Bergen area and celebrate Norway's wool, sheep breeds and rich knitting traditions dating back to the 1500s. The festivals host a range of workshops, lectures, events and exhibitions for knitting fans across Norway and beyond 🐑

In celebration of Strikkefest, check out some of Mother Tongue's Lucy and Ellis's amazing yarn creations below! 😍

09/10/2024

LocWorld52 Monterey is around the corner — see you there! 🙌

Come and stop by our booth, where Matt, Min, Jorge and Flo will be ready to chat.

We're looking forward to immersing ourselves in engaging talks, making new connections and catching up with fellow language lovers at the next edition of the all-industry gathering 🤝

With this year's theme, "AI and Beyond", we're excited to continue exploring the evolution of tech and how it relates to transcreation, strategy and our growing work in the genAI space 💡

Don't forget to pack a fleece for the cool Monterey air!

07/10/2024

Thanks for having us, Omniwomen 2024! We had a wonderful time at this year's Omniwomen summit across the way from St Paul’s, at Convene Sancroft 🎉

All the talks and breakout sessions centred around "The Shape of You” and what it means to embrace our unique strengths to build dynamic, progressive teams that serve both the collective and the individual 🌟

We heard from lots of fantastic women—some with decades of experience behind them, and some at the start of budding careers—about the power of leading with empathy and the importance of communication. Tiwalola Ogunlesi of Confident & Killing It served up tonnes of positivity and inspiration as she rallied us to embrace self-promotion and own our personal strengths 💪

Pictured: Chris, Lucy, Sophie and Zooner taking the shapes theme very literally.

26/09/2024

For this month's Employee Spotlight, we'd like to introduce you to the lovely Eloise Chen! 🌻

Eloise works as a Senior Account Manager in our Singapore office and loves languages as a way to connect with cultures around the world 🌏

Get to know her better below 👇

18/09/2024

It's Word Wisdom Wednesday, and this month we're combining three of our favourite things - interesting words, chatting with colleagues, and Spanish food!

The word sobremesa describes a key part of Spanish culture and cuisine. Translating loosely to ‘over the table’ sobremesa is the tradition of staying at the table long after a meal is finished to relax, digest and enjoy conversation with friends, family or colleagues 👪

Sobremesa means that it's normal for lunches to go on for several hours, long after all the food is gone - which is also why in Spain you won’t be offered the bill until you ask for it!

We love this word and its meaning and can't wait to try this tradition out - not least because it's an excuse to tuck into some tapas! 🥘😋

10/09/2024

Ciao! We’re sailing through beautiful Venice for September's Cultural Catch-Up!

Since the 13th century, Venice's Regata Storica has taken place on the first Sunday of September and is one of the city's most popular events, for tourists and Venetians alike 🚣

Gondoliers parade along the Grand Canal in traditional costumes and masks before engaging in fierce competition, racing through the canals for cash prizes and traditional regatta pennants 🚩

Planning to visit Venice to catch a glimpse of the action next year? Remember to pack your traditional Venetian costume! 🎭

Fun fact: the word "regatta" comes from Venetian dialect and was first used in the 17th century to describe gondoliers racing along the Grand Canal 💡

05/09/2024

Last week, Mother Tongue's London crew took a well-earned break to enjoy the last of the summer sun in style! ☀️

The team dressed to the nines in their finest white-themed outfits to celebrate their hard work over the busy summer period 🕊️

A special night filled with sunshine, smiles and stunning views over the river, it was a truly fitting way to see out the season ☁️

28/08/2024

It's Employee Spotlight time and this month, meet Hadis! 🤝

Hadis works in our London office as part of the Talent Team, where she helps connect top linguists with exciting brands 🚀

A native Farsi speaker, Hadis is a lifelong language enthusiast— and we love having her on the team!

Get to know her better below 👇

21/08/2024

Hey early birds, this month’s Word Wisdom Wednesday is for you!

Gökotta is a Swedish word which loosely translates to getting up early to enjoy the stillness, birdsong and other sounds of nature which are unique to the small hours of the morning 🌅🕊️

The word originates from a combination of the Swedish words gök - (the sound of a cuckoo) and otta - (early morning). No longer just a word, gökotta now symbolises the whole concept of hopping out of bed in the small hours and appreciating nature's symphony 🌿

In fact, there are several studies that show that this appreciation for nature and tranquillity reduces stress levels and improves happiness over time.

Let us know in the comments if you’re an early bird who wants to give it a go, or a night owl who’s going to stay tucked up in bed instead! 🤪

20/08/2024

Earlier this month, Mother Tongue welcomed Women in Localization to our London office's rooftop space for their summer networking event. This is the third time we've had the pleasure of hosting this fabulous event and as ever, it didn’t disappoint! 🌇

After warm welcomes from WIL's Anikó Pető-Mordovski and our very own Chris Hodgson Castillo, everyone enjoyed an evening of new connections, lively conversations and laughter, accompanied by some delicious drinks and snacks 🥂

It’s always a delight to meet other women in the localization industry— a big thank you to Women in Localization who make this possible. We had a ball and hope you did too!

It was great to see familiar faces and lots of new ones too, thanks for coming everyone 🙌

15/08/2024

Summer fun at Mother Tongue 😎

Our teams around the world have been making the most of the summertime with some spectacular socials. The Long Beach crew had a blast cheering on the LA Dodgers and singing their hearts out at a baseball game, while over in Singapore the team got creative building their own terrariums 🧢🌱

In London, the team enjoyed a guided stroll around Bankside, learning about the LGBTQIA+ history of the area (spot the classic British summer weather!☂️)

Check out all the fun we had!

13/08/2024

This month's cultural catch up is pretty juicy! We're diving head first into the messiest festival there is - La Tomatina!

This unique festival is happening on the last Wednesday of August in Buñol, Spain, and 20,000 people from around the world will gather in the main square to take part in the world’s biggest tomato fight. It really is as crazy as it sounds! 🤯

The festival dates back to 1945 when a small tussle next to a market stall of vegetables in the square turned into a food fight, which snowballed into a huge annual celebration that thousands now attend.

At around 1pm, a firework is the signal for hundreds of tons of overripe tomatoes to be poured from trucks into the square for people to engage in an hour long, frenzied but cheerful tomato battle 🍅

What do you make of the fruity madness— have you ever been to La Tomatina or think you'd like to?

07/08/2024

Meet this summer's Mother Tongue interns!

We've had the pleasure of working with our newest group of interns across the Singapore, Long Beach and London offices this summer ☀️

Javier - Javier recently finished his 10-week internship with us and was a real asset to his team thanks to his proactive approach and positive attitude. Best of luck with the rest of your studies at NTU, Javier! 🧑‍🎓

Sue - Sue is a first year Master's degree student at Middlebury Institute of International Studies, where she is earning her degree in Translation and Localization Management. Sue speaks Chinese, English and Japanese and loves to practise yoga whenever she gets the chance 🧘

Emily - Emily is bilingual in English and German and working towards her BA in Modern and Medieval Languages at the University of Cambridge, where she is also studying Russian as part of her degree. Her interests include singing in choirs, so she's in great company in the London office 🎵

05/08/2024

Mother Tongue's DEI Committee Launches the Pride Month 'Give a Book, Get a Book' Scheme 🙌

As part of our Pride Month celebrations, the DEI committee partnered with The Common Press Bookshop to help London's Mother Tongue team get their mitts on a huge range of fiction, non-fiction, memoirs, poetry, essays and kids books 📖

The Common Press Bookshop is London's first consciously q***r intersectional bookshop which provides a safe space for the LGBTQIA+ community to exist both during the day and at night, so we were delighted to get the chance to support them 🏳️‍🌈

In return, the team has been encouraged to donate any pre-loved books to a local charity as part of the scheme.

02/08/2024

Meet our new starters 🤝

It’s been an exciting time at Mother Tongue of late, with lots of new colleagues joining our global teams – hooray! 🌻

London – Alex Bronsdon, Danielle Kosky, Luisa Sgarbossa, Pippa Southern

Long Beach – Da Sun, Quetzal Del Real

San Francisco- Virginia Stouse

Singapore – Shu Hui Cheung

Welcome to the team all, we’re excited to have you with us! ✨

31/07/2024

Employee Spotlight 🔦

This month we're chatting to Long Beach Account Manager, Emily Hrivnak Cipriani, about all sorts of interesting topics - from German opera to Chinese folk tales, we've covered it all! 🎶

Curious? Keep reading! 👇

24/07/2024

It’s Word Wisdom Wednesday!

Feeling the pressure to reach your career goals? Or worried that time is running out to travel the world? You could be experiencing a case of Torschlusspanik! 😱

We all know that anxious feeling that if we don’t seize an opportunity now, it could soon be gone forever. Thankfully the Germans have a word that sums this up perfectly; Torschlusspanik. This compound noun is made up of three words: Tor + Schluss + Panik, literally meaning ‘gate-shut-panic’. ⏳

If you were looking for a sign to take the leap and make that change, this is it! ✨

19/07/2024

Staff Swaps ✈️

It’s that time again when intrepid Mother Tonguers cross oceans to experience life at another of our global hubs 💼

Our Staff Swaps are a chance for our colleagues around the world to finally meet in person, make cross-border connections and enjoy a week of cultural exchange and collaboration 🙌

The London team were recently treated to a visit from Singapore’s Aqilah and LA’s Nicole, while London’s Elisa and Jack headed to Singapore and LA respectively to fill their shoes. And this year, with the opening of Mother Tongue AI, saw the first-ever London-San Francisco office swap, with London’s Marta trading places with San Fran’s Mario for a week.

Check out some snaps of their adventures below ⬇️

10/07/2024

The Cultural Catch-Up is here! ☕

July's featured event, Mongolia's Naadam festival, is taking place next week across all of the nation's 21 provinces.

This vibrant celebration of Mongolian sovereignty, history, culture and way of life takes place every summer when locals and some 100,000 tourists assemble to celebrate and spectate the various traditional sporting competitions 🏹

Horse riding, archery and wrestling are the three long-standing events in which people compete and they have been a mainstay in ensuring young Mongolians develop the skills required to adapt to the nation's historically nomadic lifestyle 🐎

03/07/2024

CSA Research have just published their mid-year CEO Insights report, including some thoughts from our very own Chris Hodgson Castillo and a host of other leading industry voices 💭

"With ever more powerful tech at our disposal, I expect that, as ever, it is human talent that will make the difference. [...] Over the past six months, we have seen greater awareness of what gen AI cannot do, and where there really is no replacement for good creative writing. The best linguists will be ever more in demand as a differentiator." 💡

Read more at the link below for Chris’ take on all things AI, evolving client relationships, and the ever-important role of skilled linguists and creatives ⬇️

https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0b1M3K0

26/06/2024

It's Word Wisdom Wednesday! 🦉

This week's word comes from French and it's a perfect way to describe your favourite colleague... 🥐

'Débrouillard', when translated literally, means 'fog-clearing'. It can be used colloquially to talk about somebody who is capable of demystifying even the most complex of challenges 🤔

Whether they’re emailing up a storm or finding new ways to navigate business blizzards, a débrouillard always finds a way through, whatever the workplace weather.

Remind you of anybody? 👀

Tag your most resourceful colleagues below 👇

21/06/2024

Time for another Cultural Catch-up - and today we're heading to China (via Los Angeles!) ✈️

This month the MT Long Beach crew learnt about Duanwu Festival, a traditional Chinese holiday known in English as Dragon Boat Festival. It occurs on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar - which this year was 10th June - and is said to honour Qu Yuan, a revered poet and leader 🐉

Legend has it that when word spread of the popular leader's demise, locals raced to save him in their boats. But when his body could not be found, they dropped balls of sticky rice into the river so that the fish would eat them instead of Qu Yuan's body. This is the origin of the tradition of Dragon Boat races and eating zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) on Duanwu 🍙

Min and Libra treated the team to a fascinating presentation about the festival and showed everyone how to prepare and wrap some delicious zongzi of their own!

19/06/2024

Today, Mother Tongue’s global offices are closed in honour of Juneteenth.

Commemorating the end of slavery in the US, Juneteenth is a day of both celebration and reflection. We celebrate the progress made towards equality, but also recognize the ongoing fight for racial justice worldwide 💪

Our team are taking time to reflect and learn. In the UK, we're teaming up with Everyday Racism for an anti-racism workshop led by award-winning activists, authors, and educators, Naomi and Natalie Evans. We’re looking forward to gaining a deeper understanding of anti-racism, including some history, practical pointers, and an outline of systemic racism 💭

Let's continue learning and working together to build a more just and equitable future for all 🤝

13/06/2024

So long, - thanks for having us! 👋

The team had a blast - it was a week full of learning, lively discussion and plenty of localization fun!

Highlights included:

- The fascinating keynote, presented by Elin Hauge, all about looking beyond the hype to harness the true potential of AI 🚀

- An evening at the Guinness Storehouse, taking in the sweeping views over the city and the mountains beyond 🌇

- Meeting everyone who stopped by our stand and sharing our brand new merch - sunflower seeds! Let us know how they grow 🌻

Address

90 Southwark Street
London
SE10SW

Telephone

+442073710686

Website

http://www.mothertongue.com/

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Videos

Our London office is feeling the love ❤️ Being the language nerds we are, we decided to pen some lovely letters of appreciation for our fellow teammates. Happy Valentine's Day! 💌

With the return of a particular baking show tonight, all we can really think about is cake. But we don't want to take the biscuit, so here's a little something we whipped up which is still loosely related to language ... feast your eyes on these delicious translations for "pie chart" from around the globe. Enjoy! 🥧🧁🍪 #GBBO #piechart

Slippergram

Mother Tongue presents The Slipper Show Distant are the days of lace-ups and loafers, as we welcome the slippers to centre stage. Have a nosey at how we’ve been keeping cosy in our MT home offices across the globe. #mothertoes

Distance yoga

#5 Namast'ay at home 🧘 Take a virtual breather with Rhianna Floresca & Guan Weishan as they show us how to downward dog at a distance. #stretchinsync #soundon