Heading To Portugal? Check Your Documents. Again

By Author: Shreya Gupta
Total Articles: 50
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Portugal is about lavish sea-resorts and swish retreats for those who know it that way. But the real Portugal also throbs in its fascinating Flea markets, Fishing villages, and versatile coastline wonders.

How can one be in Portugal without getting a whiff of Piri piri pepper, Salt, Filho, Bacalhau, custard pastry and dried figs? How can one get to know its real soul by idling away with a tan on a beach and without getting up and wandering around on the cobbled sidewalks?

Can the place be really understood without making oneself acquainted with Spices, Port Wine, Cactus fruit, pomegranates, etc.?

Yet, businesses are ready to just brush through this land without actually getting inside it. The real passport that makes one travel this land easily is its language and the cultural grip if one can get that.

Without getting to know of the place at a deeper, hands-on, close-up level is as good as visiting the place through a glossy brochure instead of visiting it first-hand. Then why do brands take the brochure approach? Why they let go of the real deal? Why don’t they stand up and walk across the cobbled ...
... but interesting alleys of language that define this place?

They need a good guide, a translator service, to do that. But translating English to Portuguese is a half-hearted effort if a brand does not attempt it with enough interest.
Language Translation can be done sitting in a helicopter too. Any agency that offers you a rough coverage of the area through translation is like this helicopter. But if a brand is ready to get down to the real streets, to the real flea markets where people actually flock and buy and have conversations and coffee-breaks – that’s about a translation expert who can bring experience whipped in passion.

One would, of course, need to translate English to Portuguese in a manner that is first-time sharp, instant and offers format versatility for the wide range of translation needs. At the same time, the importance of a rich network of native translators and a firm grip on the place’s cultural alleys can’t be sidelined.

Language Translation would work as the right pair of shoes to walk around this new place with confidence, allowing enough room to wander but without the risk of getting lost somewhere. A service that can handle the rigor and soul of original communication in English; but with the agility and expertise to convert it in a way that really appeals to the Portuguese – is what good brands go for.

They know that translation can’t be executed in a retreat vacation-format. It has to be handled in a way that gets closer to the real people on the streets, what drives them, what triggers them, what engages the, what motivates them, what disappoints them, and what delights them. This taste can be had in a far-off luxurious resort too but the ‘filho’ just won’t taste as authentic as it would do in a kitchen right inside a real village.

So do go ahead for new markets waiting to be wooed in Portugal but make sure that you have taken care of the documentation well – by having the right translation expertise on hand and by your side as you walk some streets and speak to people like a true traveler.
Visit this place like a tourist if you are on a vacation. But if you are here for business, be the traveler – not the tourist.