‘Style to be good must be clear. Clearness is secured by using words that are current and ordinary.’ Aristotle A style guide is a set of standards for writing and designing documents for a specific publication, organization, or field. It helps you write clear, consistent content for your organization across teams and channels. This way, […]
A few of my favourite things to translate
I adore my job, but I’m not going to sit here and try and pretend to you that every project that falls into my inbox fills me with glee. The actual act of translation is always a joy, which is why I’ve dedicated my professional life to it. But that doesn’t mean that the subject […]
Portuguese around the world
Portuguese is a language with a fascinating history, and an intriguing present. A surprising amount of people don’t realise just how widely spoken Portuguese is, thinking that the language begins and ends at the borders of Portugal and Brazil. They’re often amazed to learn that there are sizeable Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) populations on every continent (I […]
The new Portuguese spelling agreement
Throughout the 20th century, numerous efforts were made to establish common spelling in all Portuguese-speaking countries. The Portuguese Language Orthographic Agreement of 1990 was ratified by Brazil in 2004 and implemented in 2009. After that, the Government allowed for a 6-year transition period where both spellings could exist within Portugal and this was finally enforced […]
Brazilian Portuguese: what’s the difference after all?
One of the most common misconceptions about languages is concerning language variants. American and British English, European and Latin American Spanish are some examples. Portuguese is no exception and it is not unusual for people to believe one version is adequate to all Portuguese-speaking countries (Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, and São […]