TAGS - Language Solutions

Tell tour brand's story in Portuguese

Working with me

On this page, you’ll find a complete overview of what you can expect when you choose to work with me.
I hope this will help you decide whether we’re a good fit.

My favourite types of projects

I love to work on projects that require a creative approach. Rather than ‘just’ translating or writing content, I bring in my creativity, knowledge of key digital marketing concepts (including SEO) and effective copywriting techniques to craft texts that really sing. I make sure my work aligns with your brand tone of voice, speaks to your target audience and gets the messaging just right.

My Values

My personal values are deeply ingrained in my business and it’s important to me that these are upheld in any work relationship.

Respect


I’m very mindful of my clients’ time and workflows. Once we’ve agreed on all conditions, you can expect me to scrupulously meet all your requirements, including deadlines, working methods and confidentiality. On that note, I also expect that you respect my time and conditions.

Freedom


I am an independent professional. This means I’m free to change anything about my business at any time and carefully select the projects I want to be involved in. Unless stated otherwise in our contract, please don’t expect me to automatically accept any requests. I may decline to work on a project if it doesn’t align with my values, skills or availability. I also need to be able to freely showcase my work. If you would not like me to include work that I have completed for you in my portfolio, please let me know upfront.

Creativity with a sprinkle of fun


My translation work has steadily (and naturally) been steering into more creative projects over the years. And this is what really makes me happy. So I will always prioritise any work that will get my creative juices flowing, over more straightforward topics or texts.

WORKING HOURS

I’m based in Brussels so my time zone is CET. You’ll find me at my desk Monday to Thursday from 9:30am to 5pm, and on Fridays between 9:30am and 3pm. I don’t work overnight or on weekends, not even for a rush fee.

COMMUNICATION

All work-related communications should be sent by email. Please don’t use any instant messaging services for enquiries or to send important information. I’m happy to pick up the phone during business hours but I will ask you to follow up by email. I frequently receive emails in several languages, but I will ask you to keep all communications in English as it helps me make sure everything runs smoothly.

First time reaching out?

If you’re contacting me for the first time for a specific request, it would be great if you could include all of the below in your email. This way I’ll be able to let you know sooner whether I’m able to work on your project.

Average turnaround times


All requests should have at least a 24 hour turnaround time. In other words, I’m afraid I don’t accept same day delivery requests. The necessary time to complete a project varies according to several factors, including the subject complexity, research and extra work involved. Once I have all the information I need, I’ll give you a realistic deadline and stick to it.

Rates and payment

Prices can vary enormously for translation and localisation projects, so preferably we’ll agree on a price for each specific project. However, if we’re going to work together regularly over the long term, we can agree on fixed rates per word, per hour or per piece of content.
Even small jobs can be time-consuming and benefit from my skills and expertise, and for this type of work I will apply a minimum fee or charge for a full hour. I need to be able to invoice on a regular basis, usually monthly, and I’m afraid I can’t accept a minimum amount for invoicing. Lastly, I can only accept payment by bank transfer.
You’ll find more details in my terms and conditions, which I’ll send across before we start working together.

Services and subject fields

On my homepage you’ll find an overview of the services I offer and the subject areas I’m most comfortable with. In order to truly focus on my specialisations, there are some types of work I need to turn down. You’ll find a few examples in the below section. For any additional clarification, please refer to the FAQs section.

Services I don’t provide

Proofreading


Unfortunately, I don’t offer proofreading-only services. This means if you need a translation to be proofread, correcting any typos, grammar or syntax issues (but not looking at stylistic changes), I’m afraid I can’t help. 

That said, I’m happy to take on any editing work, where an in-depth review of the final text is required and I have the freedom to make any necessary changes to ensure the text is appealing, idiomatic and optimised for the reader.

And you can count on me to deliver a full translation + proofreading service, where I will work together with a trusted partner and deliver a final product that has been translated by a reliable professional and reviewed by a second pair of eyes.

Machine translation Post-editing


If you have a text that was translated using a machine translation engine and you would like to edit it to give it a “human touch”, unfortunately I can’t help. This is currently common practice in the industry but I personally don’t enjoy it and prefer to focus on other types of work.

SUBTITLING

I don’t have the necessary skills to work with subtitling software nor enough experience to offer this as a service.

TECHNICAL TRANSLATION

Creativity is an important part of my work and creative translation jobs are quite demanding. This leaves me no time or energy to take on translation projects that are more on the technical side.

INTERPRETING

Even though I have formal training in interpreting, this isn’t something I’ve pursued, so I don’t currently offer this service.

If you need help with any of the above services, please have a look at these tips to find the perfect translator for your needs.

FAQ

Personally, I translate exclusively into my mother tongue, European Portuguese. That being said, I can coordinate with a trusted Brazilian partner to offer a quality translation service into this target language.

Personally, I translate exclusively into my mother tongue, European Portuguese. That being said, I frequently manage multilingual projects with Portuguese as a source language, using a pool of trusted freelance translators. 

TAGS Language Solutions is a one-woman business. However, since I have so many great professionals helping me run my business day-to-day, it seems right to portray the image of a team to anyone who lands on my website.

Usually all Portuguese requests are handled by me. In case of larger volumes or when an additional set of eyes is required to make sure everything is perfect, I can coordinate with a trusted partner to deliver a quality service.  I will always check with the client if I intend to work with a colleague to make sure no confidentiality issues arise.

I’m afraid not.

Generally no, but if asked in advance, I can put together a system that allows your requests to be handled during my absence. I will also inform you in advance whenever I plan to be out of office.

If I consider your requirements to be fair and doable and I know an adequate colleague for the job, I’ll gladly refer you to them. Please note that in that case I will not be responsible in any way for the project or anything related to your collaboration with this referred colleague.

My experience

I don’t really have a CV anymore, but if you’d like to know more about my background and qualifications, here’s a brief description:

PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND

Since 2015 – Owner and Lead Translator at TAGS Language Solutions

2005 – 2014 – Translation Project Manager – Philos- Comunicação Global

ACADEMIC BACKGROUND

MA in Specialised Translation and Interpreting, ISCAP, Porto, Portugal

CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (most recent webinars, training courses or workshops)

2022
Content Writing, Lisbon Digital School

2020
Copywriting, EDIT Disruptive digital Education
SEO, Lisbon Digital School
Social Media Strategy, Lisbon Digital School
Writing for the Web, Elsa Fernandes, professional copywriter

TRANSLATION TOOLS

SDL Studio 2021 
MemoQ 
Memsource
Phrase
Smartling

Working with me: next steps

Does all the above sound good to you? You’d like to start working with me? Wonderful!
Then here’s what happens next.

If you followed the above guidelines, your initial communication should be clear enough for me to confirm whether I can take on your project.

If you’d like to discuss anything about your project, I offer free online discovery calls on Zoom. During this initial call, I can also answer any questions you may have, tell you about my experience and ask for any clarifications regarding our potential collaboration. 

Once we agree on all this, I’ll send you my terms and conditions, to be signed and returned before I start any work. I can also provide you with any documentation or details you require from me at this point, within reason. If for example you’d like to review and sign extensive contracts, fill out lengthy forms or go through any initial training, I will need to charge you a setup fee.

After all this, we’re in business.

I look forward to working with you.

GET IN TOUCH