Why consider Portuguese Translation?

With growing opportunities for foreign trade and investment in Brazil, the demand for Portuguese translation, particularly in the industrial/commercial sector, has increased markedly over the last several years. A robust economy and favorable business climate combined with the country’s burgeoning middle class present an interesting opportunity for corporations looking to expand their operations into South America. Although Brazil is the sole Portuguese-speaking country in the Americas, approximately one-half of South America’s inhabitants speak the language. The key to accessing Brazil’s population of roughly 190 million will be through translation to and from Portuguese.

As the citizens of Portuguese-speaking countries become increasingly connected to the Internet, companies must begin to consider the importance of having a Portuguese presence on the web. For example, Internet access is growing at breakneck speed in Brazil, even among the poor. Companies looking to break into or strengthen their position with the Portuguese-speaking market would be wise to cultivate an Internet presence em português.

As the site of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, Brazil will experience a massive tourism boost over the next few years. Although English and French are the official languages of the Olympics, translation from Portuguese to a host of other languages will be necessary to accommodate the scores of foreign athletes, tourists and journalists who will travel to Brazil for these events.

While Brazil is eager to attract visitors from abroad, the nation’s growing middle and upper classes enjoy traveling as well. According to BuyUSA.gov, with Brazil’s “economic growth prompting more middle-class travelers, growth [in travel to the U.S.] seems likely to continue for many years.” In addition, “Brazilian travelers are among the biggest spenders when traveling to the U.S., averaging $3,557 per traveler.” Business owners looking to attract Brazilian visitors should consider translating marketing materials into Portuguese.

It is also worth noting that UNESCO has recognized Portuguese as one of the fastest growing European languages. Additionally, the language’s expanding influence in South America and southern Africa mean that Portuguese demonstrates significant potential as a language of international communication. The language is also experiencing a resurgence in popularity in certain parts of Asia including East Timor and Macau. Businesses looking to capitalize on opportunities in these emerging markets are wise to consider Portuguese translation.

More information on the Brazilian Economy and Portuguese Language.

Are you looking for a Portuguese Translator? Visit TransPortuguese.

Number of Living Languages

Did you know that there are 6909 living languages in the world?

Distribution of languages by area of origin

AreaLiving languagesNumber of speakers
CountPercentCountPercentMeanMedian
Africa2,11030.5726,453,40312.2344,29125,200
Americas99314.450,496,3210.850,8522,300
Asia2,32233.63,622,771,26460.81,560,19411,100
Europe2343.41,553,360,94126.16,638,295201,500
Pacific1,25018.16,429,7880.15,144980
Totals6,909100.05,959,511,717100.0862,5727,560

Source: Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 2009.

Also read: Will 90% of the languages cease to exist? and Endangered languages open database is launched online

Transpanish Blog’s Newest Feature: “Did You Know?”

As American author and scholar William Lyon Phelps noted, “One of the secrets of life is to keep our intellectual curiosity acute.” So, in the interest of uncovering some engaging linguistic facts and promoting intellectual curiosity among our readership, here at the Transpanish blog we have decided to add a new feature titled “Did You Know?”

This new section of the blog will highlight interesting language and translation-related facts through a series of light, brief articles. With facts such as the current number of languages spoken in the world and information about the world’s oldest surviving language, you’re sure to learn something new each time you visit the Transpanish blog. Satisfy your curiosity and keep your eyes peeled for some interesting facts and tidbits from the world of linguistics and translation.

Some Linguistic Features May Be Genetically Linked

Linguistic researchers came to a consensus some time ago that humans’ capacity for language is genetically hardwired. It would seem, however, that with over 7,000 languages currently spoken worldwide, that this hardwiring of language is rather flexible. It’s no wonder, then, that scientists recently began to explore whether some of this tremendous linguistic diversity can be attributed to genetics.

Linguists at the University of Edinburgh investigated whether there exists a genetic difference among speakers of non-tonal and tonal languages (i.e. languages that use pitch in addition to consonants and vowels to impart meaning). The researchers discovered a correlation between genes and tonality, and based on their findings, they further hypothesized that linguistic tone is influenced by a pair of genes that influence brain growth and development. Further scientific study has shown that certain linguistic features such as tone and the presence of front rounded vowels may indeed be “genetically anchored,” and as such, these features are much more likely to persist over time.

For more information on this topic, visit The Economist.

Cutting Translation Costs

Everybody who has ever needed to translate a document knows that translation costs can be expensive. There are several ways in which you can make your translation cheaper. In this article, we discuss tactics that can help you lower your quote by a good margin. All translation buyers can adhere to the following tips, and cut costs.

cutting translation costs

Format: The cheapest format is a plain text. If you have resources for formatting your document, email a Word document as formatting will need DTP and costs more. By doing so, you can now get the translation done for cheap and then format it the way you want.

Target audience: Instead of opting to translate your document for a specific audience, you can choose to translate it to reach a broader audience, by translating it to Neutral Spanish. By doing so, you can even pay less for your translation as it takes longer to search for a translators for a specific audience. Care has to be taken to make sure that when translating to Neutral Spanish terms that are easily understood by any Spanish speaker are used

Certified Translation: It is highly recommended that you only request for a certified and/or notarized translation only if you have to present the translation to an institution or organization that requires a certified translation as the translation will be more expensive. We do provide a Certificate of Accuracy without an extra fee applied to Certified Translations but this service is available only by fax.

Read more about Cutting Translation Costs.

Take advantage of our Translation Discounts!