![]() If you aren’t familiar with the language, making this distinction may seem insignificant, but any Brazilian Portuguese translator will tell you that translating and localizing for their country is very different than doing so in European Portuguese. Let’s take a look at some of the key differences and how they’ll affect your translation: Formal vs informal speech So which culture do you localize for if you want to translate to Portuguese? Brazil not only has the most Portuguese speakers of any country, but it is also the 2nd largest economy in the Americas and the 10th largest eCommerce market in the world. That’s why most companies who translate to Portuguese choose Brazilian Portuguese and localize for the Brazilian market. So, where to start? As you probably know, a language is more than just words – it’s a culture. Brazilian vs European Portuguese Translation This makes it an obvious language to start with if you want to translate your business materials for global audiences. Portuguese is actually the fastest-growing European language besides English, and many people across other countries throughout Europe, the Americas, Africa, and even Asia speak it. Angola comes in second place with about 18 million people who speak the language, and other African countries, including Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau, also make the list. Judging by the name, you may associate Portuguese with Portugal, but only about 10 million people – just 5% of the world’s Portuguese speakers – live in the country today. So where are the rest? With about 211.2 million Portuguese speakers, Brazil is now home to the largest number of Portuguese speakers in the world by far. Their language mixed with those of the native people, African slaves, and neighboring Europeans, distinguishing Brazilian Portuguese in many ways from its European predecessor. The language also spread to other countries that the Portuguese colonized in Africa and Asia. In the 15 th century, when European explorers arrived in the Americas, Spain and Portugal signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, which divided South America, giving the Portuguese claim to the area that is now Brazil. However, Portuguese is also influenced heavily by Germanic languages, which arrived with the collapse of the Roman Empire between 409 to 711 CE, as well as Arabic, which was spoken by the Moors who invaded the peninsula in 711 CE. Modern Portuguese actually has hundreds of words of Arabic origin. In 1290, after Portugal gained its independence, Portuguese was declared the kingdom’s official language. Portuguese as we know it today evolved from Galician-Portuguese in the Iberian Peninsula, and is actually almost identical to Galician, which is still spoken in Northwestern Spain. This Romance language was developed over 2,000 years ago when Roman soldiers arrived on the peninsula in 216 BCE speaking colloquial Latin, and as with all Romance languages, it evolved from there. But because of the variations spoken, it can be hard to know how to get the best results when translating for different Portuguese-speaking audiences. Let’s take a look at what you should pay attention to with Portuguese localization, and get some tips from the experts themselves – Portuguese translators. ![]() Portuguese is one of the most widely spoken and fastest-growing languages in the world.
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