Discovering the Language Landscape of Brazil
An Insight into What Languages are Spoken in Brazil
Brazil is an amazing linguistic landscape with many different languages spoken by its people. The journey this country went on to claim an official language complicates the question of ‘what language do they speak in Brazil’.
To discover what language do Brazilians speak, keep reading! We will answer all the frequently asked questions about the language of Brazil and compare it to Canada’s own linguistic landscape too. You may be surprised by what you find out about the languages spoken in this South American country.
What Languages Do They Speak in Brazil?
There are a multitude of languages that are spoken in Brazil. And along with each of the base languages you can hear, there are even more dialects that create variation by regions of the country. Of course Brazil does have an official language, but some of the minority languages are heard just as much.
So, what language do Brazilians speak? The simple answer is Portuguese is the Brazil official language. Despite being in South America where all the other countries speak some version of Spanish, Brazil was colonized by Portugal in the mid 15th century. Hence, Portuguese was the native tongue of the conquerors and their descendants.
What is the Official Language of Brazil?
The official language of brazil is Portuguese. Portuguese is the main language of Brazil with 98% of the population claiming it as their native language. There are two main dialects of Portuguese you can hear: Brazilian and Portugal. Brazilian Portuguese has its origins in the home country dialect, but evolved through an influence of the many indigenous languages found in the country.
Minority Languages Spoken in Brazil
Of course, even though Portuguese is the most spoken language in Brazil there are plenty of other languages that are spoken by a minority of the population. Know that when going to Brazil, languages spoken there include:
- German
- Italian
- Spanish
- Japanese
- French
Notice that English is not on this list. It is important to know what language do people speak in Brazil because, unlike many other countries, English will not get you far. The government says that only 5% of the population can understand English in Brazil.
Why Does Brazil Speak Portuguese?
Portuguese may seem out of place as the official language of Brazil when surrounded by Spanish speaking countries. However, Brazil speaks Portuguese for the same reason that Canada speaks English and French. It is all based on who colonized the land.
In 1493, the Pope of Spain claimed that all lands West of the meridian in the Atlantic Ocean were to belong to Spain. After negotiations with the upset Portugal king, Portugal was able to sign a treaty moving the dividing line farther to the West and giving Portugal control of Brazil.
Is Brazilian a Language?
Brazilian itself is not a language. Brazilian people speak Portuguese. However, there is a Brazilian dialect of Portuguese that could be considered Brazilian as any dialect could be considered a language. But, Brazilian itself is not a language that is recognized by any countries, including Brazil.
Canadian Languages vs. Brazilian Language
For those tourists that are looking to visit Brazil for vacation or other reasons, let’s compare the languages found in Canada to those found in Brazil. They are both linguistically rich countries with many immigrants languages that can be found in different regions.
However, the popular languages of each country are very different. Canada’s two official languages are French and English. In Brazil, French is only spoken by 1.9% of the population and English is not spoken at all. On the other hand, Portuguese is not really spoken in Canada. So it can be hard for tourists to find their way around in either country without Google Translate!
Translating Between Brazil Languages and English
That being said, Brazil and Canada are both populous countries. Many businesses who want to make it on the international market need to have their text be localized and translated to the right languages. So you need to find the best translation services to translate English to Brazilian and Brazilian to English.
When looking for English to Portuguese translation, make sure that you are translating into the right dialect. It is very different to translate English to Portuguese than English to Brazilian Portuguese. If you want your content and products to be successful, you need to cater to the dialect and culture of Brazil, not Portugal.
Final Thoughts
Brazil is a language landscape like no other. 98% of the population speaks the official language of Brazilian Portuguese while the others are a variety of minority languages including indigenous ones. Very few Brazilians speak English, so if you want to visit the country or market your products, you’ll have to learn the local language and Brazilian dialect.
