Gain expert advice and insights on how to take your brand all over the world.

Our Guide to Going Global

We hear you’ve got plans for international expansion? 

Whether you’re a start-up looking to scale up, or a blue-chip company launching a new product line – adapting your messaging for multilingual markets calls for a considered approach to localization. And we happen to know a thing or two about that. 

Simply complete the form fields below to receive our exclusive Going Global brochure, full of actionable insights and expert guidance on taking your brand all over the world.

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Yellow

Mother Tongue talks you through the role of a language manager (LM), and when to consider hiring an LM. Language managers are local experts who act as brand guardians to help build consistency in tone of voice and brand messaging. Find out more about language ambassadors.

What Is A Language Manager? Mother Tongue

Language managers, language ambassadors, brand guardians – there are a few different terms out there to describe the native gatekeepers for localized content. For the sake of simplicity, we’ll refer to them as language managers (LMs) throughout this piece. Broadly speaking, the role of an LM is to own all content in a particular language for a particular brand. They are market-based, eagle-eyed, linguistic gurus who are fully embedded in the brand’s identity, and are there to ensure consistency across comms, bolster brand voice, and bring local market expertise.

So, what exactly does an LM do? Well, depending on the brand they’re supporting, responsibilities can vary, but the bread and butter of an LM’s duties include: reviewing, editing, and translating content, creating and maintaining brand glossaries and style guides, making decisions about approved terminology, managing a network of linguists, offering up cultural counsel, advising on brand strategy, and providing language supervision for voiceover. Phew! In essence, LMs are the last line of defense against any off-brand content that might be trying to make its way to consumers. 

If you don’t currently have LMs within your organization, you may be wondering if there is an ideal time to introduce this function to your business. And although you could argue that LMs bring value all year round, below are a handful of key touchpoints to consider:

When your brand is in its infancy, it’s a great time to lay down a solid foundation for localization. LMs not only bring local market expertise, but a ton of experience when it comes to translation management systems (TMS) and best practices for localization. Adding more structure to your localization set-up can be particularly helpful when you’re operating a global business with teams spread out all over the world. LMs act as unifiers – not only helping to harmonize your brand voice, but to build bridges between teams when it comes to internal comms too.

Another prime time to check in on your localization efforts is when big growth is taking place. Perhaps you’re expanding your product range or looking to launch in a new market. At times like these, you’re likely to be introducing new faces and new ways of working. And this can cause chaos for consistency. Having LMs on board will help safeguard your tone of voice (TOV) and ensure brand identity doesn’t become diluted during times of turbulent change. 

Perhaps your localization team is currently made up of lots of different local parties, and you’re experiencing some speed bumps when it comes to communication and consistency. At this point, many brands decide it’s time to tie up the loose ends and centralize their localization efforts instead. But with teams all over the globe, this can feel like a daunting task. Enter: LMs. LMs can act as brilliant mediators between local marketing teams and your central organization – helping to ensure local entities still have a voice in the conversation, whilst keeping localization processes streamlined.

You’re having a bit of a re-brand. You’re revamping your brand image and with it your style and TOV. Now is a great time to consider bringing an LM into the mix. LMs know exactly what will fly and what will fall flat, and can provide invaluable on-the-ground insight into what resonates most with the audience you’re aiming at. So, before investing in a one-size-fits-all approach, consult a local expert to better understand the nuances of your target market(s), so you can be sure your messaging is on the money.

There’s a whole world of information out there, and it can be tricky to know where to begin your quest for an LM and how to be sure you’ve found the right fit for your brand. After all, LMs should be thought of as an extension of your branding team, and will be representing your brand all over the globe, so it’s key that they’re fully on board with your brand vision and its mission.

Here at Mother Tongue, we have a wonderful team of diverse talent with a wide range of linguistic and cultural expertise. Get in touch for a no-strings-attached chat about how we can help bring your brand voice to life in local markets.

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Language Managers: Your Local Guides & Brand Guardians

Mother Tongue shares some top tips on creating subtitles in foreign languages. Learn more about the importance of reading speeds and on-screen text as well as subtlting for the hard of hearing or closed captions.

Media Localization - Subtitling - Mother Tongue

Taking your creative concept from one medium to another, aka media adaptation, can seem a daunting task. Add to the mix a need for media localization, and it can all start to feel a little … foreign. But creating multilingual versions of your media assets need not be a puzzling process.

Whether you’re producing closed captions, recording a voiceover (VO), or timecoding a transcription, there are a few things to keep in mind. And this time round, let’s talk subtitling:



Subtitling is a rather generic term used to describe many different audio-visual techniques. So, before diving into your dialogue, it’s worth taking a moment to consider what you’re really after. Do you simply require a written transcription of your audio content? Do you need the transcription to be timecoded? Would you prefer subtitle file exports, or do you need the subtitles to be burnt-in? Having a clear understanding of the target usage for your subtitled content will help guide you in making these decisions. And providing your LSP with details of the desired outcome for your project will ensure they are best placed to advise you on which subtitling approach to take.



Now you’ve identified which subtitling service is the best fit for your project, there are a few rules and restrictions to be mindful of.  Firstly, subtitles should not exceed 40 characters per line (including spaces), or 20 characters per second. And for Asian languages, this equates to 20 characters per line (again, including spaces), or 6 characters per second. These guidelines around character counts are in place for a very good reason – to help moderate reading speeds. After all, what use is a subtitle if the viewer doesn’t have time to read it. As such, industry guidelines state that, for an average viewer, a full two-line subtitle should be on screen for at least six seconds. So, if your source video is very dialogue heavy, bear in mind that some adjustments may need to be made to the translated captions, depending on the language, to ensure adherence to industry standards.  



Another thing to mention is on-screen text (OST). By default, OST will not be included in your subtitles unless it is significant or if specifically requested — so if you do wish to include this copy for your foreign audience, then let your LSP know in advance. It’s also worth noting that when OST and dialogue appear at the same time in your video, the audio will be prioritized. And if being translated, OST should be formatted in block capitals to distinguish it from the central audio. Subtitles should always aim to complement and enhance the user’s audio-visual experience, not distract from it.



Subtitling for the hard of hearing (SDH), also known as closed captions (CC), aims to describe additional non-dialogue sound alongside the main audio, such as sighs, door creaks, or song lyrics. They also include character identification. These extra descriptors can be woven into the subtitled content to create a more inclusive experience for those who are D/deaf or hard of hearing. Closed captions come with their own unique set of rules around reading speeds, formatting, and punctuation — so speak to your LSP if you’d like to produce an alternate version of your subtitles for your whole audience to connect with the message.

Did you know, Mother Tongue offers a wide range of subtitling services, from on-screen text and caption localization through to closed captions and burnt-in videos? What’s more, our delivery is adapted to your needs, from ready-to-publish videos to subtitle file exports to use in your own video editing software. You can customize the style, size, font, colour and positioning of the copy to fully execute your vision.

Mastering Media Localization: Spotlight on Subtitling

Learn more about the difference between functional and linguistic testing and why they are an important part of the localization process when translating an app or a website.

User Interface Testing - Functional And Linguistic

When it comes to localizing content for a dynamic environment, such as an app or a website, evaluating the user experience (UX) should be part and parcel of your localization pipeline. After all, what use is a cleverly transcreated CTA if the copy is too long for the button, and it directs you to the wrong page?

To ensure your final product showcases your localized content in all its glory, there are two types of tests to consider adding to your pre-launch checklist:

As the name suggests, functional testing focuses on the functionality of your product. It puts your app through its paces, trialling all user routes to ensure there are no glitches or slip-ups during the user’s journey. It’s a robust troubleshooting exercise that leaves no CTAs unclicked and no forms unfilled.

Meanwhile, linguistic testing hones in on the language displayed in your environment. It makes sure there are no awkward typos detracting from the integrity of your product, and no confusing line breaks competing with the visual element of your design. It’s an in-depth proofreading process that critiques your copy from the point of view of the consumer.

For both functional and linguistic testing, you’ll want to engage a market-based, native speaker to carry out the work. For the functional aspect, choose someone with a critical eye who is tech-savvy too. The job of the functional tester is to report bugs and glitches to be fixed by the developers – so whilst it’s not necessary for your functional tester to know how to mend these issues themselves, it is necessary for them to flag them all.

Since your copy is already signed off at this stage, you can opt for an editor rather than a copywriter to carry out your linguistic testing. You’re after someone with solid proofreading and QA experience, who has excellent attention to detail and can spot a typo a mile off. And ideally the person performing the linguistic testing will not have been exposed to the copy previously – i.e. they weren’t involved in the localization process. The reason being, when copy is familiar to you it’s much easier to skim over omissions and grammatical issues, so it’s best to bring in a fresh pair of eyes to help provide a neutral assessment.

To simulate the user experience, functional and linguistic testing should be completed in the native device or browser environments. Preferably, tests should be carried out in staging platforms, so that any errors or glitches can be fixed behind the scenes before you go live. It’s also recommended that tests are done on multiple devices to account for different screen sizes, for example – the layout of your design will compress when viewing on a mobile vs. on a laptop, so it’s key to account for different user preferences and experiences. 

When it comes to reporting any errors or adjustments, you can call upon tools and platforms to help make workflows more efficient. For functional testing, introducing a project tracking tool is a great way to log everything under one roof. These tools are particularly useful when working with multiple teams, as they allow for quick and easy collaboration. For linguistic testing, it may be easiest for the tester to make the tweaks directly in the content management system (CMS). Particularly if they are simply amending typos or grammatical errors, where no additional client sign-off is required.

For functional testing, although you want to vet all applications and systems, it’s important to approach this in a way that puts your target user first. Do you know how consumers in your target market will interact with your product’s user interface (UI)? Is it accurate to assume they would head straight to the main menu and use the navigation drop-downs, or would they scan the homepage for a CTA to take them to where they want to go? This is where local market expertise provided by your market-based tester can provide valuable insight. Being a representative of your target audience themselves, they’re able to replicate a realistic user journey based on authentic behaviours attributed to your target users. 

Linguistically speaking, it’s best to follow a more streamlined approach here, proofreading page by page, to ensure you don’t miss any content. Reviewing content in this way will also help you keep an eye out for inconsistencies. Is your spacing the same between sections? Are there any jarring line breaks that impact readability? Here, your market-based tester can also add plenty of value. For example, now seeing your CTA in context, does the phrasing connect with the visual that runs alongside it? Is the font suitable for your target audience? It’s important to appreciate that what works well for one group of target users, may not be as effective for another.

Ready to put us to the test? If you’re in the process of localizing your app or website, and want to ensure a flawless user experience, get in touch to discuss how we can help you better connect with your users, wherever in the world they may be.

Testing, Testing: 
Functional vs. Linguistic

Mother Tongue shares some top tips on preparing your creative concepts for media localization. Find out what to expect when recording a foreign language voiceover and get help with voice artist selection and studio hire.

Media Localization - Voiceover - Mother Tongue

Whether you’re producing subtitles, closed captions, or recording a voiceover (VO), there are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to media localization. Let’s start with VO:

Languages naturally differ in length. For example, when English copy is translated into French or Spanish, the length will expand by roughly 20-25%. By contrast, if the same English text were to be translated into Finnish, you can expect your foreign copy to do the opposite, and contract by roughly 30%. Identifying your target markets early on in the process, and gaining an understanding of how your source copy will behave once adapted for those markets, will buy you some buffer at the writing stage – so you can avoid last-minute alterations when it comes to recording.

 A consistent and effective tone of voice is essential to any brand’s success. So, when it comes to selecting the voiceover artist(s) to record your campaign, the same diligence is due. The artist you select to record your ad will represent your brand image and values, so it’s well worth setting aside enough time to ensure you find the right fit. Partner with a language service provider (LSP) who can provide a wide range of talents to choose from, and who can offer advice and recommendations of the artists most suited to your messaging and market. And don’t be afraid to ask for demos or samples. 

Arranging for language supervision (LSV) just might be the most valuable thing you can do for your voiceover project. No matter their level of experience, if this is the first time a VO artist is recording for a particular brand, they will benefit from some guidance on the desired output. Having someone present to advise on pronunciation, style, acronyms, tone and pace, will ensure the recording doesn’t fall short of your expectations. Speak to your LSP to arrange for a native expert to dial into the session and provide an extra pair of well-trained ears. And even if you yourself are not a native speaker of the target language, an in-depth knowledge of the brand’s identity will always prove beneficial – so we strongly recommend that a client representative attends the session whenever possible.

Your studio environment is central to the quality of your voiceover recording. So, if your recording is taking place via a remote set-up, it’s wise to carry out a quick test-run between the artist and the studio ahead of the big day to ensure the connection is good to go. You’ll also want to agree the deliverables with the studio engineer in advance – are you happy with raw takes, or do you require polishing? What file format(s) are you after for your audio files? And to be on the safe side, make sure you’re aware of the studio rules around overruns – just in case your voiceover recording takes a little longer than planned.



Did you know, Mother Tongue offers an end-to-end voiceover service, including LSV and studio hire? Get in touch with us to hear how we can help make your brand voice heard. And to read more about media localization, check out our piece on subtitling.

Mastering Media Localization: Ready, Set, Record

Learn more about the importance of transcreation when it comes to localizing your brand content and what qualities a Mother Tongue linguist needs to perfect the art of transcreation.

What is Transcreation? Mother Tongue

If you work in international content, chances are you’ve heard of transcreation. Unless you’ve worked first-hand on a project, however, you may be less sure of exactly what it is, or what it involves.

Consider this your primer to the subject: Transcreation 101.   



Transcreation is a more thoughtful approach to localization. In a nutshell, it’s about ensuring the international versions of your content feel like locally produced work and are as rich, engaging, and impactful as the English. 

Rather than simply translating the words on the screen, a transcreation copywriter will consider the purpose of the content and the strategy and nuance behind it. The work will often move away from the English version in terms of phrasing, structure, and references. But it will always be consistent in the tone, messaging, and impact it seeks to create.



Much as you need a professional writer to craft good English copy, so too do you require a copywriter for good transcreation. 

Copywriters have a level of creative flair that is rarely found among translators, and it is this skill that ensures transcreated copy really comes alive. As they’re content professionals, they also have the grounding in the industry to know what works in their part of the world, and what does not. And they’re based in-market, which means they have their finger on the pulse of the latest cultural and linguistic trends.



In terms of process, transcreation is comparable to other creative work. Which means a good brief to the writer is essential. All the strategy needs to be called out, and any reference materials and guidelines shared in advance. Good transcreations rarely stick closely to the English, and the copywriter needs to be confident they’re taking it in the right direction. To do that, the more context they have, the better. 

And just as English content is rarely signed off at the first pass, so too are client amends part of the process when transcreating. Where local stakeholders want to have a voice, that should be encouraged – revisions are often the best way of nailing down the preferred tone of voice. 

Transcreation has been well established in the advertising industry for some time now. It is increasingly associated with tech and user interface (UI) content – where an immersive, engaging experience is essential. Content marketing is also a good fit, as are any communications intended to build affinity with the brand or trigger a response from the audience. 

In short, if there’s a strategic piece behind the English, that strategy needs to flow through in the localization too. And the best way of doing that is through transcreation.

Transcreation 101: Making Meaning in Global Markets

Mother Tongue unpacks the importance of strings when it comes to app localization as well as the purpose of externalizing strings and resource files. Part two in a three-part series.

What Is a String? App Localization - Mother Tongue

Following our first instalment on this topic (Behind the Screens: App Localization 101), you’re hopefully now a little more familiar with both localization and internationalization, and how they work together to create an app that’s geared up for global success? We hope that’s a resounding “yes”, as it’s time to journey on and unpack the next aspect of app localization – externalizing strings. 

Firstly, what exactly do we mean when we talk about “strings”? In computer science terms, a string is “a type of data that represents text” (source). And in the simplest of localization terms, strings are what we translate. But if you’re not a software developer and you’re looking at a text file full of code, it’s not always obvious what is considered a string. Different coding languages tend to use words that look like English text but are actually part of the code holding the app together (“initialize,” “variable,” “class,” etc.). You might be tempted to translate everything that looks like an English word, but if you translate something you shouldn’t, you could break something in the process. So, how do you know what is a translatable string and what isn’t?

The good thing is, when strings are externalized, you don’t have to worry about this. When strings are externalized, that means they are saved in a separate file, outside of the source code for the rest of the app. And because the text displayed in the app is separated from the code that forms the app, we remove the risk that a linguist will inadvertently translate something they shouldn't and by doing so, break the code. Linguists are also spared from having to parse through complicated code in order to find what they need to translate. Translations can also be updated with ease, as the entire code of the app need not be updated whenever a translation changes. 

Finally, externalizing strings reduces the risk involved in sharing content with vendors. If you are working with a language service provider (LSP) or a freelance translator, you only need to share the files that contain the content for translation. You do not need to expose your entire code base to an external user, which reduces the risk of leaking proprietary information. Separating your strings from the rest of your code is an important practice both for information security and for smooth localization.


The externalized files where all strings in an app are stored are called “resource files.” The source language and all of the translation languages each exist in their own separate resource files.

Essentially, resource files are a two-column table of keys and values. The keys uniquely identify every string, and tell the app where to display them, while the values are the strings that are actually displayed on screen to the user. When we translate a resource file, the keys stay the same, while each of the values gets translated. Once translation is complete, you receive back one resource file per language, where all of the values have been replaced by translations. 

Then when you open an app on your mobile device, the app determines what language resource file to show you by reading the language your device is set to. The app then loads the corresponding resource file for that language, and for each key it finds the corresponding translated value in the resource file and displays that string of text to the user. Pretty nifty!

And just before you go, it’s also worth noting that different platforms have different requirements for naming and formatting their resource files. The most common ones you will encounter in your software localization journey are:

Still with us? Then stay tuned for our last instalment on app localization, where we’ll explore the translation pipeline right through to the final phase of publishing your app for the world to enjoy!

Behind the Screens: App Localization 2.0

Mother Tongue takes you through the basics of app localization starting with a look at internationalization vs localization alongide best practices to consider when creating a global app. Part one in a three-part series.

The Basics of App Localization - Mother Tongue

The world of app localization can seem a complex place. For starters, there’s a hefty helping of terminology to unpack and understand; what is a string? A repo? What does it mean to cut a build? And how does the content for translation travel all the way from software developer to translator? There’s a lot to tuck into here, so consider this part one in a short series that takes you behind the screens to explore the work involved in creating an app that’s truly global. In this first instalment, we’ll get a little more familiar with the two terms that sit at the centre of it all – internationalization and localization.



Localization (l10n for short) is the part of creating a multilingual product that we tend to be more familiar with in our daily lives, and refers to adapting content for specific markets or languages. This can include a wide variety of activities ranging from translation, transcreation, and copywriting, to changing images, fonts, or colours to better represent each market. Depending on the scope of the localization work, individual languages or regions might have very different versions of the same product – as each version has been custom made for success in particular markets.

Internationalization (i18n), on the other hand, is the tech infrastructure that allows an app to work well in any potential language or market. Examples of i18n practices include using Unicode encoding so that text in all major languages will display correctly, building responsive user interfaces that can dynamically resize for longer or shorter text, using internationalization libraries to help handle conversions of numbers, and externalizing strings from the rest of the app’s code (more on externalization another day).

Good internationalization is crucial to allow tech companies to scale, because it is not sustainable to customize an app for every individual language. Let’s say, for example, that we have a successful English-language rideshare app, and now we want to expand into a few new territories. Not only do we need to translate all of the words in the app and transcreate all of the catchy headlines we use to attract users, but what happens when we need to show our users how much their rides cost, or what time their driver will arrive? Do we need to ask our linguists to tell us where to put dashes, slashes, dots, commas, or colons whenever we display a number? Our app uses one sentence to tell drivers they are picking up “a passenger” and another sentence when they’re picking up “passengers” but what about when we translate into Polish, for example, and we need different sentences depending on if there is one passenger, two passengers, or five passengers? How will our app handle all of these custom scenarios, in every language and region we want to support?

It doesn’t make sense to do these customizations for every new market. Instead, if we set up our app to work with internationalization libraries that manage numbers and pluralization – computers can help us remember and implement these rules. Without internationalization to give us this framework, we would have a lot of custom work to redo every time we plan to enter a new market.

Now that we have a handle on what these terms mean, let’s take a look at some best practices that we can put into action.

●     Responsive and flexible design

A translation can often be much longer than the original source text, so any design elements in an app user interface need to accommodate both long and short text automatically. Fonts and text boxes should automatically resize when text is long, and text should wrap automatically to the next line instead of allowing long words to shoot off the edge of the screen.

Fonts need to support all characters in all languages so you don’t end up with errors in the middle of your strings – following Unicode standards helps ensure special characters won’t be corrupted.

Lastly, wherever possible, strings should not be concatenated. “Concatenation” is a technical term for making one message out of multiple short strings. It can save time when writing code, but it is not considered good internationalization practice because there’s no guarantee that the phrases you have combined in the source language can be combined in the same way in all translation languages.

String 2 and String 3 are options that can fill in the blank in String 1.

This is a problem for localization, because translators have to ensure that “You have” agrees with both string 2 and string 3, as well as anything else that could conceivably be added later on – which is not possible in many languages because the gender of a verb depends on the gender of the noun(s) in the sentence. Also, if syntax rules differ between the source and the target languages, and the linguists aren’t able to change the location in string 1 to insert string 2 or string 3, they may end up with very clunky, unnatural sentences in an attempt fit the pattern set by the source strings.

With internationalization in mind, the correct way to structure this string would be to create two separate strings, each containing its own complete message:

String 2: “You have # friend requests.”

This way, the linguists can ensure that all parts of the sentence will have the correct grammatical agreements. Remembering “one message, one string” can solve a lot of localization headaches.



Ready for more on the ins and outs of app localization? Dive into our next piece, App Localization 2.0, to untangle the importance of strings when it comes to creating a global app.

Behind the Screens: App Localization 101

Mother Tongue takes you through the translation pipeline all the way to publishing your global app for worldwide audiences. Learn about the different cycles involved in publishing your app in other languages.

App Publishing - Mother Tongue

We’re here, we made it – welcome to the final instalment of our three-part series on app localization. In this piece, we’ll be talking translation pipelines and translation management systems (TMS), before we take the plunge and hit “publish” on our global app. Disclaimer: unfortunately, it’s not quite that simple.

If you’re wondering what on earth you’ve entered into, we’d suggest tracking back and having a read over parts one and two first.



The process of automating the flow of translatable strings from software developers to linguists, and back, is often called a “translation pipeline.”

As developers write their code, they save it into a code repository (sometimes called a “repo” for short). As new strings are saved to the repository by the developers, automated processes pull updated strings files into a translation management system (TMS). This is usually the point where client-side localization teams, language service providers (LSPs), and individual linguists get involved, because the new strings will create a new job in the TMS that needs to be translated. LSPs will pick up the translation jobs and distribute them among their linguists for translation and review. Once the linguists publish their work in the TMS, the translations of the strings are saved back into each language’s resource files, and then those files are automatically pulled back into the code repository to be included with the rest of the app. This process repeats as new strings are added and translated, reducing the manual work for everyone involved in the localization process.



If you’ve ever worked as a linguist on an app localization project, you may have encountered a scenario where you updated a translation in the TMS, but the old translation is still appearing in the app. The reason this might occur is because the translation that you updated has not yet been included in the latest release of the app – just because something is coded into an app it doesn’t always mean it’s available to the public to download.

Software developers need to periodically put their code together into a complete package called a “build.” You may hear people call this process of creating a new packaged-up version of the app “cutting a build.” To be made available to the public, the build needs to be released to the App Store (iOS) and Play Store (Android). When a new build is submitted to these app stores, they each run quality checks on the files to make sure they meet certain requirements and don’t contain any malicious code. Once an app passes the checks, it is made available as an update in the store, where users can then download the latest version.



There can be a number of steps involved in creating the new build, so to understand why translation updates are not live to the public immediately, it helps to understand how engineering teams tend to work. Engineering teams often structure their workload into short cycles called “sprints”. They are constantly iterating every sprint, adding new features over time as they receive feedback from their users and stakeholders. The cycle of releasing new builds to the app stores usually corresponds to the end of a sprint cycle. Leading up to the release, there is often a period of “code freeze” where none of the content that will be included in the newest build can be changed, to allow time for testing. Companies working on a continuous localization model will usually set their translation deadlines based on this cycle of code freezes and scheduled releases, to make sure that the latest and greatest translations are included in each release.

And there you have it – we’ve reached the end of our journey on app localization. We hope you’ve gained some tips for preparing your content for an app environment, a few new techy terms, and all in all a little more knowledge of what goes on behind the screens.

Have you got an app you’d like to take around the world? Get in touch with us to hear how we can help.

Behind the Screens: The Art of App Publishing

Mother Tongue explores how language technology has developed in recent years with the rise of neural machine translation models and machine translation post-editing workflows. Read the full article here.

The Evolution of Language Technology - Mother Tongue

Once upon a time, languages were steadfastly analogue. The art of translation was something accomplished by language experts with the power of the human brain alone. These days, things look vastly different – there are endless programs and tools that are designed specifically to make the professional linguist’s job easier. And they’re getting more and more sophisticated year on year. However, it would be wrong of us to assume that of all these concepts have sprung up in the last few years …

The most apparent everyday use of multilingual content, for most people at least, is the internet – which is perhaps the single biggest advance in communications technology in the last century. Translations are more visible, and more instantly impactful, than ever before. But it would be careless to claim that innovation in language technologies has been solely driven by the rise of the internet. In fact, software and tools designed to aid the art of translation have been around for considerably longer than we might imagine. Mention “language technology”, and the first thing that comes to mind for most people is likely to be trusty translation memory (TM). The concept of keeping translated strings in a database for repeated use was first proposed as early as the 1970s, and proprietary computer-assisted translation (CAT) software has been commercially available since the early 1990s. Terminology systems, too, have been available for many moons. Recognizing that TM and terminology go hand-in-hand, most CAT tools now provide both functions – marrying powerful terminology management with increasingly advanced translation memory recall.

In any discussion of technology and language, it’s impossible to ignore what for a long time has been the elephant in the room – neural machine translation (NMT). Whilst the seismic shift to NMT, using AI and neural networks to make the output more fluent, has largely occurred in the last few years, the study of machine translation (MT) dates back over 60 years. More surprisingly, the origins of some of the underlying concepts of modern MT have been studied for centuries. Techniques still used in MT today, such as frequency analysis and cryptanalysis, can be traced all the way back to the 9th century. So, far from being a shiny new 21st-century idea, MT is in actual fact one of the oldest devices in the language tech toolkit.

Evidently, whilst these ideas have been around for a while, the advances made in last few years have been staggering. The move from traditional statistical and rule-based MT to neural, has remodelled the way we view translation – not just from within the language industry, but from outside of it too. The immediate availability of high-quality, free, web-based NMT systems means that anyone, anywhere, can have anything translated into almost any language, at any given time. But of course, this comes with certain trade-offs. Although translations using NMT are much more fluent than the output from the older models, their reliance on neural networks means the results can be rocky. Add to this the fact that neural models still miss out parts of sentences, as did statistical and rule-based MT, and you have a potential problem on your hands. And because the output appears more fluent, it can be harder for the linguist to spot these omissions, or to identify inconsistencies.

After repeated claims over the last few years that one tech giant has “solved machine translation” or another has “achieved human parity”, you would be forgiven for thinking that the days of the professional linguist are numbered. While it’s true that most modern MT systems are able to provide a level of quality that was previously thought impossible, they are still a long way off the elusive “human parity”. Such output might be satisfactory for someone wanting a quick translation of a few paragraphs from a business letter or a blog post, but it can’t match up to the skillset required for a medical translation, nor the creative evocation of a mood or reaction essential for effective advertising. AI is clever, but there’s a mountain to climb before machines can master cultural nuance. Highly skilled linguists remain the most crucial and valuable assets in the language industry, and even more so when they are post-editing NMT rather than translating from scratch. And that is unlikely to change any time soon.

After a frenetic few years, the NMT hype cycle seems to have settled, as we’re now witnessing a plateau of productivity. While some individual language pairs may see big quality improvements in the near future, it’s difficult to envisage another paradigm shift in the NMT field. The modern linguist now sits at the centre of an almost limitless array of tools and software designed to help them reach peak performance. Arguably, the difficulty now lies with identifying which tools are the most appropriate for the job at hand. 

The next shift for language technology is already in motion, and it will go some way to addressing the bewildering choices faced by linguists and language service providers (LSPs). The move away from desktop began some time ago, but the circumstances of the pandemic, and many people working from home, has generated an acceleration in that direction. Most of the big players in the CAT sector already provide cloud-based versions of their systems at both individual and enterprise scale – and there will come a point when the desktop versions are but dinosaurs. 

The race is now on to create a one-stop shop that offers the best-in-class of everything the modern linguist needs – sophisticated TM management with fragment matching and cached lookup, dynamic terminology, adaptive NMT from multiple providers, automated QA smart tagging, the ability to handle almost any file type, easy interoperability with other systems, and full integration. Now, that’s a long and ambitious list – but there’s certainly promising progress on the skyline for linguists and LSPs alike.

Language Tech through Time: A Lookback at the Linguist’s Landscape

Orange

Mother Tongue explains the importance of tailoring your social media strategy for different target audiences and different platforms. Learn more about the importance of a multilingual social strategy here.

International Social Media Strategy - Mother Tongue

In today’s digital age, online content has morphed into a currency of its very own – a currency for communication. Its ability to engage global audiences, in real time, anywhere in the world, makes its reach unrivalled. And with such a powerful tool at our disposal, comes a responsibility to ensure the content we share makes the right kind of impact.

The digital space is ever-evolving – news is only news if it's new. Every day, hour, second there is new content published that can overshadow and overwrite what has come before it. However, the ability to share, screenshot, and retweet means brand blunders can live on much longer than they would have done previously. This can make social media a total minefield to navigate. Get it right, and you’re on the road to global glory, but get it wrong, and you risk a bruising to your brand image, along with an audience who have lost trust in your brand values.

With all this in mind, adapting your online copy for multilingual markets is no mean feat. Brands must break the mould when it comes to localizing their social campaigns – switching out traditional translation methods for a more strategic approach that hones in on the behavioural as well as the linguistic. To develop such a strategy, it’s worth taking the time to consider the building blocks that will support your foundations for localization.


You’ve identified your target markets and their specific locales – now it’s time to pick your platforms. Although the likes of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn might seem like the obvious contenders, it’s vital to tune into the channels most popular with your target markets. For example, in most of China such platforms are blocked and therefore rarely used by market-based consumers. And in South Korea, much of the social scene takes place on a platform called KaoKaoTalk. Knowing your market’s local hotspots for the highest social engagement ensures your messaging reaches the people it’s written for. Trust in in-situ specialists to show you around the social space and keep you in step with what’s trending in your target market.

Next, you should turn your attention to how you can get the most from your social copy. And this is where your strategy comes in. Successful engagement on a global scale often requires an approach that is tailored to a local level. Opting to publish multiple languages on one social account, without the use of proper targeting, will lead to a lukewarm reaction that sees your messaging scrolled past and skim-read. 

Instead, if you wish to manage a global account and combine languages, then curate foreign language profiles to target each of your specific audiences – this not only makes your content more accessible, but it gives your followers a chance to fully grasp every bit of your social copy, leading to all-round more effective engagement. Following a strategy that is guided by local trends will allow you to create a sense of relatability around your content – in turn growing a consumer base with a community feel, who are much more likely to stay loyal to your brand in the long run.



When faced with a dizzying sea of social media jargon, character restrictions, and hashtag strategy, localizing your social content calls for skills far beyond those possessed by your average translator. To win in this arena, you need to partner with on-the-ground specialists who can be your eyes and ears when it comes to keeping up with trending topics, current voices, and all the latest lingo. 

So, although consistency is key when it comes to translation, here, the localization strategy must shift from blanket to bespoke. To pull off a tailored social strategy for each of your target markets whilst still projecting one cohesive brand image, you need an air-tight tone of voice. Before beginning any localization work you should therefore spend time drilling down on your brand identity to ensure all stakeholders have a clear, collective vision of what defines your brand. That way, when you come to involve a localization partner and your in-market talent, you will all be speaking the same language.

One element that sets social media copy apart from other marketing collateral, is its prolific use of hashtags. Hashtags are essential for every social media campaign. They are the lungs that bring your social copy to life, and keep it alive – fueling the buzz and conversation around your content. So, it’s no surprise that they should form a key part of your transcreation strategy. Should you translate them? How will you integrate them into your posts? Do you want a certain hashtag to achieve global reach and viral potential? These are all discussions that should be had before you launch into any localization work. 

This is not to say your approach must be set in stone from the get-go. In fact, if you do not have the know-how in-house, then it would be wise to welcome guidance from your language partner on what works best for each market. This may involve researching international competitors in your space, and what approach they are taking to tags, learning your audience’s habits, and selecting tags that reflect the behaviour and interactions seen in your target community.

Social strategy is a two-way street. Much like fruitful conversation, it should be a dynamic, balanced interaction between parties – in this context, brand and consumer. So, although it’s important to plan out your strategy in advance, it must come with enough slack to accommodate consumer feedback along the way. Being open to and aware of the way in which your audience is perceiving your content, as it goes live, allows you to better understand the behaviours and patterns that exist in these environments. You can then use this valuable feedback to help shape and inform your strategy moving forward. 

And there are several tools and tactics you can call upon to help you tune into these all-important conversations. So, trust in technology to help you digest your data. Not only can it provide one easy-to-navigate space for all your scheduling and managing needs, its ability to track and record how your various campaigns are performing means you can take stock of the bigger picture, whilst keeping your finger on the pulse. 

Got an upcoming social campaign that you’d like to take into foreign territories? Get in touch at hello@mothertongue.com to find out how we can support your localization strategy.

Do You Speak Social? A Primer on Creating Social Copy for Multilingual Markets

Mother Tongue helps organizations in the consumer goods industry bring their brand voice to life in international markets. Learn more.

Language Services - Consumer Goods | Mother Tongue

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At Mother Tongue, we understand the pivotal role localization plays within this chain. And that’s why we strive to be more than simply a supplier.

From our multilingual account management team to our highly experienced network of linguists, we take a bespoke approach to your localization needs and aim to truly understand your business and its mission. We bring robust and reliable translation solutions that integrate with simplicity and work alongside your existing workflows.

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Our expert team has the eye for detail, native-language skills, and technical tools needed to perfectly synchronize subtitles to your video content. We follow subtitling industry guidelines and carry out a rigorous quality control process to produce ready-to-publish videos.

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Mother Tongue is the preferred choice for leading brands for high-quality transcreation and translation services. Learn how to translate at speed and scale here.

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