The importance of local language in Brazil

@Cheryl I have to say that their is an extra factor in communicating in Brazil. I am not fluent but a mix of "Palavra Vocabulary" and body language usually do the trick. I do not use grammar much.

Sometimes their is no explanation. I have a very large outdoor projector with a remote control. I went into an electronics store to get a simple pack of AAA Batteries. I used the word Baterias and he asked me if I wanted an I Phone charger etc. I said no and fortunately could get my native Brazilian wife on the phone and her Portuguese is great, but still no luck. Finally he moved to another window to look for extension cords and lo and behold he had been  standing in front of a large supply of AA and AAA batteries all this time..

it was not our pronunciation. Sometimes people just don't understand.

Roddie in Retirement

The official  language in Brazil,is Portuguese, however, including regional accents.

However.....his is entirely dependent upon location.

Indigenous Dialects..

City(State)

São Gabriel da Cachoeira (AM):Baniwa, Neengatu, Tukano e Ianomami

Tacuru (MS):Guarani

Tocantínea (TO): Akwê-Xerente

Bonfim (RR) and Cantá (RR):Macuxi and Wapichana

São Felix do Xingu (PA): Mebêngôkre/Kayapó

Barra do Corda (MA):Tenetehara/Guajajara

Santo Antônio do Içá (AM):Tikuna

Monsenhor Tabosa (CE):Língua Tupi-nheengatu

Miranda(MS): Terena

A Sample of a few Imigration Enclaves:

Pancas (ES), Laranja da Terra (ES), Santa Maria de Jetibá (ES), Vila Pavão (ES), Canguçu (RS), Domingos Martins (ES), Itarana (ES) e Pomerode (SC):Pomeranian

Língua Talian em Serafina Corrêa (RS), Flores da Cunha (RS), Nova Erechim (SC), Nova Roma do Sul (RS), Paraí (RS), Bento Gonçalves (RS), Fagundes Varela (RS), Antônio Prado (RS), Guabiju (RS), Camargo (RS), Caxias do Sul (RS), Ivorá (RS), Pinto Bandeira (RS), Nova Pádua (RS), Ipumirim (SC), Barão (RS), Casca (RS) e Vila Flores (RS).

Pomerode (SC) and São João do Oeste (SC):German

Sapato de Pau by Westfália (RS):Plattdüütsch

Antônio Carlos (SC), Barão (RS) e Ipumirim (SC):Hunsrik

Rodeio (SC):Trentino ( From the Trento Region in Italy)

Palmeira (PR):Plautdietsch

São Mateus do Sul (PR), Casca (RS), Mallet (PR), Carlos Gomes (RS), and Aurea (RS): Polish

Prudentópolis (PR) and Mallet (PR): Ukranian

Promissao(SP), Registro(SP), and Pereira Barreto(SP): Japanese ( Samurai)

and I should remind the City of Rio Verde (GO) is populated by American Baptists, and the English with a  Southern Drawll is spoken there.

I spend three or dour months a year at our home in SP.  Although Portuguese is the main language at our US home, its still total immersion for me when we are in Brasil.  I can understand most everything my wife and family says to me, but have real problem initiating a conversation when I'm in country. 

At one time in my life I lived in Germany and spoke fluent German.  Although I haven't had a conversation in German for about two decades, I find that for the first couple of days I'm in Brasil I find myself answering people in German and thinking in German.  Its crazy! I'm hopeful that soon I can be fluent in Portuguese with my family down there and have the confidence to start conversations.  I also am a amature radio operator with a station in Brasil and would love to be able to converse with other operators on the local 2 meter and 70 cm bands. 

I spend three or dour months a year at our home in SP. Although Portuguese is the main language at our US home, its still total immersion for me when we are in Brasil. I can understand most everything my wife and family says to me, but have real problem initiating a conversation when I'm in country.
At one time in my life I lived in Germany and spoke fluent German. Although I haven't had a conversation in German for about two decades, I find that for the first couple of days I'm in Brasil I find myself answering people in German and thinking in German. Its crazy! I'm hopeful that soon I can be fluent in Portuguese with my family down there and have the confidence to start conversations. I also am a amature radio operator with a station in Brasil and would love to be able to converse with other operators on the local 2 meter and 70 cm bands.
-@Enprize

I'm sure like every other country, different regions in Brazil speak differently. People in SP make fun of the way people in Rio speak, etc. Recently, I purchased an apartment much closer to the state of Goias, and I have been driving quite a bit up there. I find that I am having a hard time understanding some of the locals there. I truly enjoy people and their cultures, so for me, this is all part of it.

Just wait til you go to Portugal - no chance to understand their Portuguese there...!!

05/30/23 Just wait til you go to Portugal - no chance to understand their Portuguese there...!!
-@Peter Itamaraca

I speak Portuguese as well as I speak English, and it generally doesn't take me more than about an hour to adjust to European Portuguese.  But there was one time diving in Indonesia that I ran into an married couple from Portugal, both dive guides and both very nice.  I understood her almost immediately, but was still asking him to repeat things a week in.  He didn't have any identifiable speech impediment, just an accent that I had an unusually hard time decoding.

Just wait til you go to Portugal - no chance to understand their Portuguese there...!!
-@Peter Itamaraca

Great! Kkk, I'll be there this fall

Just wait til you go to Portugal - no chance to understand their Portuguese there...!!
-@Peter Itamaraca

Correct. 

Azoreans, Madeirenses, Beiroes ( Beira Alta) have ways to talk you need to pay close attention. And then there is Porto, they speak with their hands.

Azorean speak has a lot of throat sounds, ooo, uuus

Some examples....

Caralho ( equivalent to shit , although the direct translation is the phalus ),   Depending on what part of Azores you are ( or Fall River ), sounds like Corooollo.   With a strong intonation in the middle O. 

Buraco ( hole or a street or open field fault ).   It's Birooouco in Azoreans. 

It's not quebrado or defeituoso ( as for it's broken or defective ). It's  Esta Partido ( as if it was split ).

That's Awful, or this is bad, .... The Brazilian Portuguese would be Que Ruim, Ta Mal, Que chato, Que Pena.   The Azorean speak it is Mal Amanhoooudu.   ( as Mal Amanhado  in writing ).   

The common Portuguese word for standing in line is Bicha, Anywhere in Portugal. The Brazilian word is Fila.  Bicha in Brazil is the equivalent of a Gay Man in more of a derrogatory tone.

Portugal fuel is not Diesel Fuel. it's Gasoleo.

To argue or to get in a Ruse in Brazil, it is Brigar or Discustir.  The Azorean only equivalent is Ralhar, which sounds a roooulloor.   

The typical Azorean, well there is not typical Azorean. The City slick educated one is comprehensible, and can construct sentences.  The Farm worker, the country bumpkin or the Seafarer, he is given to short sentences. Not an eloquent type, but warm and sincere. 

Breakfast in Brazil is café da manhã (morning coffee), but in Portugal it is pequeno almoço (little lunch). When you hear the Portuguese pilot on TAP speak for the first time, it will sound like Russian!

Azoreans have thick skin....

You might spot Husband and Wife, specially the provincian small town types,   shouting at each other and think it might be a precursor for domestic violence, or a shouting match.  Annoying and uncomfortable, right ?

You could not be any more mistaken on your instincts. 

  This is normal. They shout at each other all day long. it's Repartee.  And it goes for the whole family.  They are not squabbling, or quarreling or fighting..  it's just business as usual.   

Oh by the way, Gays are not Gays or any other derrogatory term you can concoct.  It's a "Paneleiro", and it goes to the whole country.   As conservative as they are, they are not homophobic.  It's just the way it goes. 

And Portuguese Women, specially from Tras-os-Montes, are not easy. Trasmontanas, in particular are know for their "Nao-me-Toques" ( Don't Touch me ). Totally the contrary of Italians, Brazilians, Latin Americans in General.   You are under scrutiny. 

And Portuguese men particularly take notice when you are messing with their women. Even the ones of ill repute.  There are stories, in  Lisbon,  Post WWII, or Homeric Bar Brawls in Lisbon when American GI's went messing with the local prostitutes, treating them poorly, and the Portuguese men went at bat for them.   They used to call American GI's as "Camones or Comones" after the American and Britt habit of using the word C"mon.

For fun and quick notes, Watch "Dating Beyond Borders"  skits on Youtube.  Stereotypical but fun.  You will gather some clues.  Many of which are true.

@Peter Itamaraca

Haha. Yes! Same as in French for breakfast = le petit dejuener = little lunch!

The difference from Portuguese from the Old Country and Brazil, is that Brazilians are always chasing new words, there is always a fad,. or some kind of appropriation.  The folks from Portugal, regional differences aside,. they tend to be more conservative in customs and use of their language.

Here  is an example...

AIDS as the disease. English meaning Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. In Portugal is known as SIDA, which translates into  "Síndrome De Imunodeficiência Adquirida".

Ask any Brazilian what is SIDA, they will shrug.  It will take a while for them to figure out you are asking about AIDS, which they understand, because they refer to the disease  as AIDS, just as Anglo Speaking ones do.

Sandwich is another one. In Brazil, it is a Sanduiche.  In Portugal, it is either a Sande or it is a "Prego no Pão"

or simply Prego ( Prego in Brazil is your carpentry nail ).

Brazil is all about simplification. If it sticks on the wall, folks will adopt it in a heartbeat. Portugal is all about time honored traditions. 

The good news is that Portugal have adopted the modern educational approach to tourism (unlike Brazil), and nearly everyone speaks at least some English. So no problem for any of us to get around in Portugal without speaking Portuguese!

The good news is that Portugal have adopted the modern educational approach to tourism (unlike Brazil), and nearly everyone speaks at least some English. So no problem for any of us to get around in Portugal without speaking Portuguese!
-@Peter Itamaraca

True.

That and the fact they take public education a lot more serious there, and that the Portuguese Diaspora is huge.