Portuguese is one of the 10th most spoken languages in the world, with only 5% of speakers living in Portugal. Whilst the most prevalent language across Latin America is Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese is spoken by a large number. In fact, 209 million Brazilians speak Brazilian Portuguese. So, it’s a pretty great market to tap into and add to your localization strategy. It’s also particularly effective and authentic to consider Portuguese voiceovers as your translation method.

What is a voiceover?

Often you will hear people give examples of voiceovers instead of a definition. The definition of a voiceover can be easily summed up like this:

Voiceover is a production method that takes a recorded voice and adds it to a piece of content. A voice talent will record off-screen, and when used for translation purposes, will record in the target language, which is then added.

Voiceovers can be used for corporate content, marketing videos, entertainment, video games, and more. Audio dubbing is also a form of voiceover translation and is a more precise technique that synchronizes the lip movements of the actors on-screen.

Why should I add Portuguese voiceovers to my content?

Brazilian Portuguese is a beautiful language that is spoken by a large audience. By localizing your content accurately, your brand will become more likeable, as well as translating your messages more sincerely and professionally. In order to properly localize your content and speak to a global audience, it’s of great importance to work with the best translators and a company that understands your global strategy.

There are many techniques you can use for localization, such as subtitling, video graphic localization, dubbing and voiceovers. It all comes down to your content and your industry. Voiceovers and dubbing are widely used techniques in Latin America and are preferred methods for certain types of video content. This is specifically reserved for entertainment, video games, corporate content, marketing videos, e-learning and audiobooks.

Whilst Brazilian Portuguese subtitles are also fairly common, they aren’t used in many videos that have a storytelling element. The reason being is that audiovisual translation gives your content a voice, and allows an audience to listen to the Portuguese translation rather than reading it. Many opt for Portuguese voiceovers as there are many types to choose from, for different budgets and industries.

If we are looking at localization the other way around, translation from Portuguese to English is an important localization service as well. More and more, we are starting to see content localized into the English language. It opens our eyes to different cultures and creations from around the world.

What are the differences between European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese?

When taking your content to a Portuguese speaking market, it’s important to identify which market you want to target, which will determine the type of Portuguese translation you will need. If you go through a localization provider, make sure that they use native speakers of the Portuguese you are looking for.

European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese are very different, and the difference is extremely noticeable to the differing markets. So, let’s find out why!

Pronunciation

Brazilians pronounce every vowel in a word, making those words sound longer. Whereas the Portuguese tend to cut vowels short.
In Brazil, the letter “t” is pronounced “tch” and the letter “s” at the end of the word is read as “ss”.

Spelling and Grammar

Certain words have different spelling. For example, the word “reception” in Brazilian Portuguese is spelt “recepção.”, and in European Portuguese, it’s spelt “receção”.
“Tu” and “você” are both words for “you” in Portuguese. In Brazil, they use “voce” no matter the formality of the situation whereas in Portugal they use “tu” in informal situations and “você” in formal situations. However, there are parts of Northern Brazil that do adopt the European Portuguese version.

Accents

The Brazilian accent has a lift to it due to the open vowels. The European Portuguese accent is considered slightly harsher on the ears as a result of the closed mouth vowels.

Whilst I have only listed a couple of differences between both forms of Portuguese, it’s apparent that they are very different from one another. Therefore, getting the best translation for the target market is key.

Portuguese voiceovers: Why you should translate your content to the Brazilian market