As their mother tongue, Portuguese is spoken by 240 million people throughout the globe, which makes it the sixth most popular language in the world.

Portuguese is a Romance language from the Indo-European family of languages. It belongs to the Gallo-Iberian group, which also includes such languages as Spanish, Galician, Catalan and French.

Besides Portugal and Brazil, Portuguese is also spoken in Angola, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Macau, Mozambique, and São Tomé and Príncipe. Most of Brazil speaks Portuguese. In fact, it is the language with the largest number of speakers on the continent of South America (more than 51% of South America speaks it). Portuguese is also a major spoken language in former Portugal's colonies in Africa. It is spoken in the above-quoted countries, as well as has large communities in parts of the United States (namely, New Jersey, Florida and New England) and Canada (Ontario, in particular).

First and foremost, make sure you get the translator that translates from English into the Portuguese you need. European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese do differ! Different words are used for the same notions, and same words may mean completely different things. The Differentiating Glossary will help you see exactly what we are referring to.

Secondly, after you have found a translator that can tanslate into the Portuguese you need, work your way through the following checklist:

• Is the translator a native speaker of European or Brazilian Portuguese?
• Will the translation be handled by a certified professional? Ask for proof of licences and any supporting certifications.
• With the translation (the actual Portuguese text) be proofread by a second mother tongue professional? Be prepared for an additional quote on such a job, but do not hesitate to ask for the proofreading to be included in the cost of the translation.

If you need the translation notarized (for example, for naturalization purposes), most translation agencies can handle this at a low fee of US$ 5-15, and some will do it for free. If you need a medical English - Portuguese translator, do ask them what certifications or accreditation they possess. Same applies to court interpreters.

For all your English-Portuguese-English translation needs, we recommend an established company -- Langbridge Translation Services. They have been in business for over 8 years, yet still practice a family-business type attention to every customer, accuracy, and personability.