What language to adopt in Brazil Businesses?

Brazil is the largest geographic area in South America and has a population of over 196 million people. In this country, 99% of the population is speaking Portuguese; therefore, Brazil is the most populous Portuguese-speaking country in the world by a large margin.

Being able to speak the Portuguese language is a useful tool when doing business in Brazil because it is often interpreted as a sign of sincere interest for Brazilian society. While speaking the local language is always advisable for gaining market insight and building relationships, the use of Portuguese in Brazil, by North American business people, is of particular value. Brazilians have come to expect that the majority of North American business people with whom they come in contact will speak little or no Portuguese. For this reason, it is a real asset for a foreigner to learn to speak Portuguese, as it will likely reflect a presumed commitment to Brazil that the non-Portuguese speaker would have to demonstrate in other ways.

Besides, even in business, Brazilians do not speak English properly. Indeed, in Brazil, neither Public, nor Private Schools are able to educate students in speaking, reading, listening and writing English adequately. Hence, if some Brazilians want to learn the language properly, they have to pay exuberant fees for attending a private English tutoring institute like The English Language Centre. 

And, for the few Brazilian people who are speaking English, they have to face a strong phonetic issue. Indeed, because teachers in Brazil are concentrating more on grammar than on the audible correct pronunciation of English’s words by their students, it is difficult for foreigners to understand them. Thus, when they are entering into companies, Brazilians people are mainly speaking Portuguese, and their inability to speak English is the reason why Brazilians have always been isolated from the world and Brazilian businesses are losing opportunities in other countries.

Because it is of the utmost importance you learn Portuguese as thorough as possible! I am providing you below a concise dictionary of some of the most useful Portuguese expressions to be knowledgeable about for different situations.

Now that you have some basis knowledge about Brazilian Portuguese, keep pursuing the efforts and go to take some paid language lessons or go to watch some free videos on YouTube (such as the one on the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXjkXqhH_Lc) in order to avoid being dependent on a translator if, one day, you are working in Brazil. 

'If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.' – Nelson Mandela