Basics of Brazilian Culture and National Identity

Before traveling to another country, it's important to know the basics like what language is spoken and what the people there are like.

Here are the must-know facts about Brazil, it's culture and it's people:

Language:

 Portuguese. Brazilian Portuguese is different than European Portuguese.  Some slang that you might want to be familiar with when traveling to Brazil: 

•   Burro: While directly translated as "donkey", if you hear someone call you this, they aren't comparing you to a 4 legged mammal, they're calling you stupid. 

•   Legal: This word is slang for cool.

•   Gringo: This is a Portuguese term for foreigner. 

•   E aí, cara?: What's up, dude?
(Sonia, 2014)

It's important to keep in mind when traveling to every country, that words aren't always taken at face value. Slang is an example of that. Just because you know the language, doesn't mean you'll be able to communicate perfectly. (Martin & Nakayama, 2014.)

Holidays:

Brazil celebrates many different holidays many of which America celebrates for example Christmas, New Year's, Labor Day and a few more along those lines. Brazil has seven holidays that are the most important in their culture and are very interesting.

1  February Carnival

2  Festivals of the Cavalhadas (Of The Holy Spirit)

3  Festival of Tiradentes

4  Independence Day

5  Festival of la Virgen Aparecida 

6  Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Republic


Religion:

One of the most popular types of religion in brazil is Catholicism. Though down 90 percent from decades ago, there is a high number of people in Brazil that are Catholic. According to Margolis (2013), A random sample of Brazilians in the Boston metropolitan area in the mid-2000s found that more than one in three (or 37 percent) were Protestant; close to one in two (48 percent) were Catholic; and most of the remaining 15 percent claimed to have no religious preference. 68 percent of Brazilian in Brazil claim they are Catholic. According to Martin & Nakayama (2014)  some religions are learned through culture and it’s just acquired when you are born. They list two examples: Catholic and Protestant. When you look at studies it is clear that most Brazilians are very culturally oriented in their religion.

Traditions:

One of the biggest traditions that you will find in Brazil is soccer. Brazil is one team out of eight that has won a world cup tournament and they have won 5. Brazil is the only team that has played in every single world cup tournament. There have been 20 world cup tournaments and if you do the math, Brazil has one a quarter of them. 

If traveling to Brazil, whatever you do, do not walk around anywhere and talk bad about Brazilian Soccer or soccer in general.