With the possible exclusion of Russia, the BRICS members are all developing or newly industrialised countries, but they are distinguished by their large, fast-growing economies. Brazil is having a significant influence on regional and global affairs, having established them as the world’s fifth largest economy since the UK failed on its credit rating recently.
The five BRICS countries represent almost 3 billion people, with a combined nominal GDP of US$13.7 trillion, and an estimated US$4 trillion in mutual foreign reserves. The United States has had a massive impact on the way business and translation are influenced as Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language.
With the exception of Brazil where Portuguese is the mother tongue, Spanish is the language of preference in Central and South America. This is mainly due to the fact Brazil was discovered and then later occupied by the Portuguese in the 1600s.
The Portuguese colonial masters introduced African slaves to work on the sugar cane farms and miscegenation resulted with the native Indian population, therefore Brazil can claim to be true melting pot of many diverse cultures and racial groups. Anyone who is familiar with Brazilian history will know all about the BRICS – as of 2012 this title of the alliance arises out of the inclusion of South Africa in 2010, have been experiencing a booming economy. The association’s five members are Brazil, Russia India, China and South Africa.
When it comes to translations many factors have to be taken into account, especially if a linguist is going to justify all of the regional dialects for example: North and South America are a true synthesis of languages and culture.
The English, French, Spanish and Portuguese languages are spoken alongside hundreds of native tongues, not to mention the many immigrant languages and dialects that are in frequent everyday use. I bet you did not know that the ten most common languages spoken in the United States are, in order: English, Spanish, French, Chinese, German, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Korean, Italian and Russian and all have had an impact on how business is done in Brazil. Portuguese is the most spoken language in the Southern Hemisphere and the third most spoken in the Western Hemisphere.
Business in Brazil
Brazil is an excellent country to look at expanding your business in as the cost of living is much lower than living in Europe. To do this you need to enlist the services of a high quality Portuguese translation service provider. Brazil is a beautiful country in South America with a population of over 100 million people, it is vital to find Portuguese translation services that understand the culture and provide correct and appropriate translation for your business.
Approximately 273 million people speak Portuguese making it the fifth most spoken language in the world and therefore an important language in regard to business communication, especially in Brazil. Not only is it one of the Romance languages but is an official language of the European Union. So there is considerable scope for translators and linguists to build a thriving business on this alone.
The internet has significantly changed the way we do business. The globalisation of businesses enables us to communicate with a larger percentage of people rather than just in your own local area.
Even though this has been prodigious for businesses wanting to expand, it has also increased competition not only between companies who speak English and have used translation to spread their services, but also established companies in other parts of the world who have the advantage of being able to directly communicate their business to the right market.
Brazil is one such example where there are established companies who can effectively get their message across to the target market in their own country. Businesses trying to break through to this market struggle without utilising good Portuguese translation services.
Professional Portuguese translators possess the ability and understanding necessary to translate a document accurately from one language to another. Any company that aims to break into a new market such as the Brazilian market will benefit remarkably from using a professional Portuguese translation service.
If, for example, you were an American based business and you wanted to expand your business into Brazil you would need to invest in translation services for both online and offline material.
Because numerous customers now use the internet for their purchasing and information requirements you need to ensure that your website is correctly translated. You also need to make sure other important documents regarding your marketing, invoices and other aspects are perfectly translated.
It is important to understand the business culture in Brazil before you embark on expanding your business there.
Utilising a Portuguese translation service will guarantee that your website and business essentials will be translated with a high level of precision. It will be of a quality which you cannot acquire without hiring a company that has skill and experience with the Portuguese language.
Portuguese is a complex tongue and it is vital that you have professionals that speak it fluently to ensure your business does not suffer from translations faux pas’.
Portuguese is the official and most predominantly used language in Brazil so breaking into the market is rather straightforward as long as your translations are of high quality.
However, more often than not, a translation will not break through the language barrier if the translator has not considered additional factors such as understanding the Brazilian culture.
Translation services that exercise quality will know exactly how to translate messages effectively, taking into consideration literal translations that may cause offence to the target market and difference in languages if the country being targeted holds several different dialects.