With Swell Word, you can expect high-quality services provided by language experts. All your requests will be handled by native speakers of European Portuguese with a strong academic background in linguistic and cultural studies, as well as experience living and working in English-speaking countries for several years.

To ensure the quality of the work we produce, we are currently focusing on translations from English to European Portuguese and vice-versa.

However, we are always looking to expand our pool of talented professional translators, so we may be able to assist you with special requests.

Just drop us a message!

Key aspects of our cultural consultancy services include:

1. Cross-Cultural Understanding: We have a strong command of Lusophone and Anglophone cultures, including their histories, traditions, languages, social structures and belief systems. We’ll help you interpret and navigate cultural differences (and similarities).
2. Advice on Cultural Sensitivity: We advise on cultural sensitivity and etiquette, helping clients avoid misunderstandings, cultural faux pas or unintentional offense.
3. Business and Communication Strategies: We’ll assist you in developing culturally appropriate business strategies and marketing campaigns tailored to specific target markets.
4. Market Research and Localization: On request, we conduct cultural market research to help you understand consumer preferences, behaviors and purchasing habits in different cultural contexts. We provide insights for product localization, branding strategies and market-entry decisions.

Our professional translations have many strong suits. Let’s go through a handful of them.

1. Accuracy: We pride ourselves on high-quality work. Whenever needed, we research specific terminology and ensure that complex content is accurately translated.
2. Natural Flow and Style: We create translations that read naturally and maintain the intended style and tone of the original text. This is particularly important for marketing materials and other creative content.
3. Quality Assurance: We perform quality checks and revisions to ensure the final translation meets high standards. We can address ambiguities, inconsistencies and errors that may arise during the translation process.
4. Customization and Adaptation: We tailor our translations to fit the target audience, taking into account regional linguistic variations and cultural sensitivities. This customization allows the translated content to be of greater relevance and meet a wider acceptance.
5. Handling of Ethics and Privacy: We handle sensitive or confidential information with discretion, following strict ethical standards.

To put it short and sweet (and swell), you can expect quite a lot. Keep reading for the longer answer below.

1. Creative Adaptation: We go beyond literal translation to capture the essence, tone and emotional resonance of your original message. We creatively adapt slogans, taglines and any other kind of marketing content to maintain the impact and appeal intended by your original text. In translations for marketing or artistic purposes, we can creatively interpret metaphors, imagery and cultural references.
2. Cultural Sensitivity: We consider your target audience’s cultural profile, values, sense of humor and preferences when adapting content. We ensure that your message is culturally appropriate and resonates with your target audience without causing misunderstandings or offense.
3. Adherence to Brand Voice: We preserve your brand’s image while adapting your content for different markets. We ensure consistency in brand messaging and positioning across languages and cultures.
4. Linguistic and Creative Expertise: We have expertise in both English and European Portuguese and a deep understanding of cultural nuances. We combine linguistic proficiency with creative skills to craft compelling and culturally relevant content.

That depends entirely on the kind of text you want to translate. Technical texts don’t require transcreation; “creative” texts, however, do.

Check our transcreation and localization page for more details.

You can expect plenty!

1. Language Translation: We translate text and multimedia content from English into European Portuguese and vice-versa. This ensures that information is accessible and understandable to local users.
2. Cultural Adaptation: We address cultural differences in values, beliefs, norms and preferences. It may involve adjusting imagery, colors, symbols and references to align with local customs and cultural sensitivities.
3. Technical Adaptation: When required, we adapt currencies, units of measurement and even formats and layouts to comply with local standards and user expectations. This ensures usability and functionality in your target market.
4. User Experience (UX): Depending on your requirements, we may enhance user experience by ensuring that navigation and user interfaces (UI) elements are intuitive and culturally appropriate. To do this, we often collaborate with a design team.

Yes, that’s right! HSBC, one of the largest wealth managers ­in the world, learned it the hard way. “Assume nothing”, their seemingly simple slogan, was literally translated (we could say “mistranslated”) in some languages to something closer to “do nothing”. The message was exactly the opposite of the one HSBC wanted to convey.

After all, “assume nothing” was a call for clients to rely on the bank’s wealth management advice, which was dispensed at a fee. The message was: “things are volatile and tomorrow can look radically different from today; secure your future by using our services while you still can”. The failed translations, despite accurate in a superficial sense, missed the mark entirely: indeed, “do nothing” inadvertently encouraged HSBC’s clients to sit on their portfolio, which meant no fee for the company to collect.

This infamous blunder eventually motivated, the Financial Times suggests, a rebranding effort that cost around $10 million.

It may not be much for a company whose assets are evaluated in the trillions of dollars, but the cheaper – and less embarrassing – option would have been getting it right straightaway with transcreation.

You don’t need to make the same mistakes. Our transcreation and localization team is here to help you.

Good copyediting is no easy task, but our copyeditors are up to the challenge. Here are a few things they’ll zero in on.

1. Clarity and Readability: We clarify ambiguous sentences, rephrase awkward or confusing phrasing and improve overall readability. We ensure that your text flows smoothly and is easy for the intended audience to understand.
2. Consistency: We maintain consistency in style, terminology and formatting throughout your website, document, email, social media post, etc. This includes ensuring consistent spelling (e.g., not mixing British and American English), hyphenation, capitalization and usage of abbreviations or acronyms.
3. Structure and Organization: We evaluate the structure and organization of the text to ensure coherence. We may suggest reordering paragraphs, improving transitions between sections or restructuring sentences for better clarity and impact.
4. Style and Tone: We ensure that the writing style and tone are appropriate for the intended audience and align with your purpose. We may adjust the tone to match your desired voice (e.g., formal, conversational) and ensure it reflects your brand or personality.
5. Grammar, Spelling and Punctuation: We correct grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes to ensure that you don’t drive your audience away. This includes, for example, checking for proper use of tenses and maintaining subject-verb agreement.
6. Accuracy of Facts and References: When requested, we verify factual information, statistics, dates and references cited within the text. We cross-check sources to ensure accuracy and flag any discrepancies or potential inaccuracies for further review.
7. Formatting and Layout: While not always part of traditional copyediting, we may also, upon your request, review formatting elements such as headings, subheadings, font styles and spacing to ensure consistency and adherence to publishing or style guidelines.

Adherence to Style Guides: We follow your preferences, whether they come from specific style guides (e.g., APA or Chicago Manual of Style) or your own house style. We ensure that the text complies with your guidelines regarding citations, references, formatting and writing conventions.

While they share some common ground, copyediting and proofreading have different scopes.

On the one hand, our proofreaders focus mainly on grammar, spelling and punctuation. On the other hand, our copyeditors, despite also checking for grammar, spelling and punctuation mistakes, take on several additional tasks, including refining your text’s clarity and readability, consistency, structure and organization, style and tone, formatting and layout and even accuracy. You can think of copyediting as proofreading on steroids.

See the answer to the question above (“What does copyediting entail?”) to find out in greater detail what our copywriting services can do for you.

We keep several factors in mind when undertaking a copywriting assignment. Here are some of them:

1. Awareness of the Target Audience: We write with a clear understanding of your target audience’s demographics – including their preferences, behaviors and pain points.
2. Brand Voice and Tone: We ensure that the tone and style of the writing align with your brand’s identity. Whether your brand is playful, authoritative, empathetic or innovative, our copywriting will reflect these characteristics.
3. SEO Considerations: In digital marketing, we often incorporate SEO (Search Engine Optimization) techniques to ensure that the content ranks well in search engine results. This involves using relevant keywords strategically while maintaining readability and relevance.
4. Clear Communication: We aim to communicate the benefits and value of a product or service in a straightforward manner that is easy for your audience to understand.
5. Compelling Headlines and Hooks: The headline or hook is crucial in grabbing the reader’s attention. We craft headlines that are catchy, intriguing or provocative, drawing the reader into the rest of your content.
6. Emphasis on Benefits (vs. Features): We focus not only on describing the features of your product or service but also on highlighting the benefits – the ways in which it solves a problem or improves the customer’s life. Benefits are what ultimately persuade a customer to use a service or make a purchase.
7. Versatility and Customization: Copywriting shows up in websites, social media posts, email campaigns, posters, brochures… The list is endless. We cater to the different formats and media, to make sure we use them to their fullest potential.

In the neat list we’ve made for you below, you can find the key areas we focus on when proofreading.

1. Grammar: We meticulously check for grammatical errors such as incorrect verb tenses, subject-verb agreement issues. We also review sentence structures for clarity and coherence. They ensure that sentences are properly constructed and that there are no awkward phrasings or ambiguities.
2. Punctuation: Say goodbye to incorrect punctuation. No misplaced commas get past us.
3. Spelling: We identify and correct spelling mistakes, as well as inconsistencies in spelling (e.g., British vs. American English variations).
4. Consistency: We maintain consistency in spelling, capitalization, hyphenation and abbreviations throughout your text. We ensure that it adheres to your style guidelines or specific editorial preferences.
5. Formatting and Layout: While not always the primary focus of proofreading, we may check, upon request, basic formatting elements such as headings, subheadings, font styles, margins and line spacing to ensure consistency and readability.

That one is easy: they’re all car manufacturers. Beyond that, they’ve all made some glaring blunders involving genitalia.

When the Pinto was launched in Brazil, Ford learnt that “pinto” is slang for male genitalia in Brazilian Portuguese. (Take out the middle letter and you’ll get slang for female genitalia in European Portuguese. Languages are fun!) The name was later changed to “Corcel”.

Similarly, when the Fitta was launched in Scandinavia, Honda realized that “Fitta” is a slang word for female genitalia in Swedish, Norwegian and Danish. The name was later changed to “Jazz”.

Finally, when the Pajero was launched in South America, Mitsubishi discovered that “pajero” is slang for liar or masturbator in Spanish. The name was later changed to “Montero”.

With our cultural consultancy services, you can avoid making unfortunate gaffes of this kind. Rebranding is a costly affair and being a laughing stock gets old really fast.