Sérgio Costa is a professional Portuguese linguist based in Lisbon. Sérgio studied engineering before moving on to translation and technical writing, and he has been in the language industry for 20 years now. With a love of writing always present, Sérgio compromised on his career by combining technical language, writing, and languages. Around 208 million people across the world currently speak Portuguese, making it the sixth most spoken language in the world. Sérgio joins us to explore the language Portuguese, how to improve source text to help achieve higher quality translation, what to know when localizing for the Portuguese-speaking audience, and more.
Jump into the Episode
[01:06] Sérgio’s story as a translator.
[02:14] What is Sérgio’s translation specialty?
[02:39] Industries that are increasing their demand for Portuguese translation.
[03:35] About Portugal and the city of Lisbon.
[05:44] A brief introduction to the Portuguese language.
[07:01] Similarities and differences between Spanish and Portuguese.
[09:17] European vs. Brazilian Portuguese.
[11:25] Cultural differences to be aware of when localizing Portuguese for different audiences.
[14:12] Challenges in translating English to Portuguese.
[16:00] The importance of writing for a global experience.
[17:20] How to overcome the problems of writing for localization.
[21:25] Specific challenges to Portuguese translation in technical writing.
[24:00] The problem with translating the formality and tone of Portuguese.
[26:05] What kind of translation tools does Sérgio utilize to make his process more efficient?
[27:20] What can source writers do to make a translators’ life easier?
[28:30] Inclusivity in Portuguese translation.
[30:00] About gender neutrality in Portuguese.
[31:16] Sérgio’s favorite aspect of translating.
[32:29] Final thoughts from Sérgio.
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