Languages in Brazil
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Non-verbal communication
Brazilians use a lot of gestures in informal communication, and the meaning of certain words or expressions may be influenced by them.
- The thumbs up gesture is used to mean everything's OK, yes or even thanks. Avoid using the OK hand gesture for these meanings, as it can be considered obscene.
- Wagging your extended index finger back and forth and/or clicking your tongue behind your teeth two or three times means no
- Using your index finger to pull down one of your lower eyelids means watch out.
- Stroking your two biggest fingers with your thumb is a way of saying that something is expensive.
- Snapping a few times means fast or a long time (ago).
- Stroking your lips and then snapping means delicious; pinching your earlobe means the same in some regions.
- Making a fist with your thumb between the index and middle finger, known as the figa, is a sign of good or bad luck depending on the region.
- Touching the palm with the thumb and making a circular movement with the hand means I am being robbed/ripped off/ in some regions.
- The hush gesture is considered extremely impolite, about the same as shouting "shut up!" to someone.
- An informal way to get someone's attention, similar to a whistle, is a hissing sound: "pssiu!" It is not perceived as unpolite, but gets really annoying if repeated too often.
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The official language of Brazil is Portuguese, spoken by the entire population (except for a few, very remotely located tribes). Indeed, Brazil has had immigrants from all parts of the world for centuries, whose descendants now speak Portuguese as their mothertongue.
Brazilian Portuguese has a number of pronunciation differences with that spoken in Portugal (and within, between the regions there are some quite extreme accent and slang differences), but speakers of either can understand each other. However, European Portuguese (Luso) is more difficult for Brazilians to understand than the reverse, as many Brazilian television programs are shown in Portugal. Note that a few words can have a totally different meaning in Brazil and Portugal, usually slang words. An example of this is "Rapariga" which in Portugal means young girl, and in Brazil means a prostitute.
English is not widely spoken except in some touristy areas. Don't expect bus or taxi drivers to understand English, so it may be a good idea to write down the address you are heading to before getting the cab. In most big and luxurious hotels, it is very likely that the taxi fleet will speak some English. If you are really in need of talking in English, you should look for the younger people (-30 years), because they, generally, have a higher knowledge of the language and will be eager to help you and exercise their English.
Spanish speakers are usually able to get by in Brazil, especially towards the south. While written Portuguese can be quite similar to Spanish, spoken Portuguese is much harder to understand. Compare the number 20 which is veinte (BAYN-teh) in Spanish to vinte (VEEN-chee) in Brazilian Portuguese. Even more different is gente (people), pronounced "HEN-teh" in Spanish and "ZHEN-chee" in Brazilian Portuguese. Letters CH, D, G, J, R, RR, and T are particularly difficult for Spanish speakers to understand, and that's without even considering the vowels.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Brazil
