Creating Heritage Press

What first started as a desire to create bilingual books evolved into something greater –a desire to create books that better reflected children’s heritage and culture. Jennifer and Sandra spent many nights meeting over Zoom and going over ideas for their first book. They wanted to create a book that was in English and a second language but how fun would it be to include Korean food and traditions in the books? In the end, they decided to put together a collection of the most basic words in a child’s life customized with elements from Korean culture. One of Jennifer’s favorite pages in her book collection is the one with a chocolate chip cookie (a classic Western dessert) and Korean seaweed soup side by side.

Together they chose to name their company Heritage Press with a vision of providing young children with books and resources that celebrate a love of diverse languages, cultures, and stories of each child.

In April 2021, they published their first Korean-English book series and hope to create more.

Mission Statement

Heritage Press was created with a vision of providing young children with books and resources that celebrate the love of languages, cultures, and stories of each child.

Values

  • We believe that every child should have books available to them that reflect their world, as well as books that show them new ones
  • We value education and design. We strive to create high-quality, durable, and beautiful products that foster cultural connection
  • We believe in the importance of family, immediate and multigenerational. Relationships with loved ones nurture a child’s body, mind, and soul. Reading together is one of the many beautiful ways to build lasting memories with a little one.

Our Team

  • Jennifer Hong (Founder)

    Jennifer is the founder of Heritage Press, mother of two, and former educator for over ten years in Los Angeles. After graduating college, Jennifer earned a Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) certificate and a Masters in Teaching. When Jennifer became a mother, she looked for bilingual books for her kids but found them incredibly difficult to find. It was important to her that her two kids learn their heritage language so they can communicate with their grandparents. Creating Heritage Press was a way for Jennifer to meet the needs of families like hers and share her passion for children’s education. She hopes that more families can share their heritage language, stories, and culture with their young readers.

  • 🇫🇷 Nathalie Chaudun (Lead French Linguist)

    Nathalie has been a professional English into French Translator since 2012. She has always loved traveling, discovering different cultures and learning languages. Actually, she has been lucky enough to turn her passion into a lifestyle! Serial expat, she spent 15 years abroad and lived in China, the United States and Canada. Born in France, she is passionate as well about her native language. She communicated her interest to her son, who was born and raised in another country, especially through books she translated for him. When she is not traveling, Nathalie enjoys reading, cooking and practicing
    yoga.

  • 🇷🇺 Anna Cherentsova (Lead Russian Linguist)

    Passionate about languages and a mom of three, Anna has made traveling and living in foreign countries her family's lifestyle. Born in Russia and now settled in Estonia, her family enjoys traveling around Europe. Her children pursue their studies in English while vividly integrating into new cultures when we are away in a new land. They are constantly reading books and looking for creative ways to maintain their proficiency in Russian.

  • Sandra Lee (Operations)

    Sandra has worked as a professional translator for over a decade and her love of children led her to majoring in Child Development. When she had an opportunity to spend several years living abroad, she became immersed with the culture and language, leading her to fall in love with learning about new places and cultures. Co-founding Heritage Press was an avenue that combined her love of languages and children’s education.

  • Cibeli da Rocha Hirsch (Lead Brazilian Portuguese Linguist)

    Cibeli lives in Brazil and works as a professional translator 2010. She is a mother of one girl. Currently living in Brazil, she has studied and worked in China, Spain, the US and Germany. She has been an avid reader since she was a child, and it's a pleasure for her to use her profession to make books understood in other languages and countries. 

  • Soyeon Jeon (Lead Korean Linguist)

    Soyeon is a mother of two little twin boys who adore vehicles. As a translator, she buys many children's books to destress after giving birth. However, something interesting happened along the way: she became captivated by these books as they beautifully depict life's raw realities through simple yet heartfelt sentences. Interestingly, it wasn't her sons, but she herself who grew through these readings. She hopes that young readers of Heritage Press's books discover a fertile ground upon which they can step and flourish in their own growth.

  • Yunjie Xiong (Lead Simplified Chinese Linguist)

    Yunjie has worked as a technical writer and translator for 6 years. She has always had a deep passion for reading and language since she was young, and her love for them has grown stronger through her international experiences studying and working in China, Germany, and the United States. She enjoys sharing a wide variety of children's books with her own children, believing that reading brings them the joy of exploration, the power of imagination, and the value of lifelong learning.

  • Sheila Ong (Lead Tagalog Linguist)

    Sheila has always been fascinated by languages and cultures. She loves going on solo travel adventures to experience the way locals go about their daily routines, taking in the beautiful differences and looking into common grounds. Her passion for languages and cultures, her very own Tagalog (Filipino) at the forefront, is one of the tools that support her craft as a translator.

  • Eldes Tran (Book Editor)

    EldesTran is a freelance book editor, indexer and sensitivity reader, working with independent authors, small presses and large publishers. A child of Chinese immigrants, she grew up in New Zealand and has lived in the United States, Hong Kong and Singapore. She is currently based in Manila.