Etiquette and Customs in Brazil

Meeting Etiquette

. Men shake hands when greeting one another, while maintaining steady eye contact.
. Women generally kiss each other, starting with the left and alternating cheeks.
. Hugging and backslapping are common greetings among Brazilian friends.
. If a woman wishes to shake hands with a man, she should extend her hand first.

Gift Giving Etiquette

. If invited to a Brazilian's house, bring the hostess flowers or a small gift.
. Orchids are considered a very nice gift, but avoid purple ones.
. Avoid giving anything purple or black as these are mourning colours.
. Handkerchiefs are also associated with funerals, so they do not make good gifts.
. Gifts are opened when received.

Dining Etiquette

If you are invited to a Brazilian's house:
. Arrive at least 30 minutes late if the invitation is for dinner.
. Arrive up to an hour late for a party or large gathering.
. Brazilians dress with a flair and judge others on their appearance. Casual dress is more formal than in many other countries. Always dress elegantly and err on the side of over-dressing rather than under- dressing.
. If you did not bring a gift to the hostess, flowers the next day are always appreciated

Whats the difference between European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese?

Does it make any difference whether you learn Portuguese from Portugal or Brazil?

European Portuguese differs from Brazilian Portuguese mainly in terms of pronunciation. There are also significant differences in vocabulary, and relatively minor differences in grammar and spelling. The relationship is similar to that between British and American English, though the regional differences in Brazil are greater than those in the USA.

The most noticeable differences in pronunciation are that European Portuguese uses a lot more sh and zh (as in pleasure) sounds than Brazilian Portuguese, and that some word endings are not usually pronounced in Portugal, while they are in Brazil. For example, the word saudade, sadness/longing, sounds something like ’sao-oo-daad’ in Portugal, and like ’sao-oo-daa-jay’ in Brazil. When an S comes at the end of a word in the European Portuguese, it becomes a sh sound, as in Portugês ‘por-too-geysh’, which is pronounced ‘por-too-geys’ in Brazil, unless the following word begins with a vowel.

Brazilian Portuguese has absorbed many words from the languages of African slaves, from European languages such as French and Italian, and from indigenous languages of Brazil, such as Tupí and Guaraní, especially in place names and names of flora and fauna native to Brazil. Examples of words that are different in Brazil and Portugal include comboio (Pt) / trem (Br) – train (comboio = convoy in Brazil); autocarro (Pt) / ônibus (Br) – bus; pequeno almoço (Pt) / café da manhã (Br) – breakfast.

Grammatical differences include the disappearance of a number of tenses, such as the pluperfect from Brazilian Portuguese. The second person plural is used in Portugal but not in Brazil, and compound tenses are more widely used in Brazil than in Portugal.

In Brazilian Portuguese a number of letters such as c and p that have become silent are not written, while they are still written though not pronounced in European Portuguese. For example, acção (Pt) / ação (Br) – action, and óptimo (Pt) / ótimo (Br) – optimum. There are a number of other spelling differences, including the replacement of ó and é with ô and ê in many Brazilian Portuguese words.

Brazilian TV programmes and songs are popular in Portugual, so the Portuguese are fairly familiar with Brazilian Portuguese and have little difficult understanding it, though they may find some of vocabulary and grammar a bit strange. However few Brazilians are familiar with European Portuguese and can find it difficult to follow. Moreover Portuguese speakers can understand Spanish fairly well, but Spanish speakers find Portuguese, especially European Portuguese, much harder to make sense of.

Unless you plan to live or work in Portugal, or make regular visits there, it will probably be more useful to learn Brazilian Portuguese. Far more people speak Brazilan Portuguese, more courses and classes are available in that form of the language, and the majority of literature in Portuguese comes from Brazil.

Funny Brazilian cartoons

Here are some funny brazilian cartoons called Dr. Pepper
enjoy....

Money in Brazil

- Above you can see the Brazilian Reals

- You can take money from almost any ATM machine

- VISA is much more popular in Brazil than American Express. And cash works everywhere!

What are the prices in Brazil?

Here are some everyday prices in Brazil.
If you want to know how much 1 real is in $, euros or any other valuta , go to the website: http://www.xe.com/ where there is an online cash converter.

At the supermarket:

- Apples/ kg: 4,34 Reals
- Bananas/kg: 1,86 Reals
- Batteries (Duracell): 9,14 Reals
- Beans 1kg: 5,00 Reals
- Beef 822gr: 10,61 R
- Beer 1 can: 1,05 Reals
- Beer (Heineken): 1,59 Reals
- Bread: 2,50 Reals
- Cake (fresh baked) 1,70kg: 1,53 Reals
- Can of deconsended milk: 1,50 Reals
- Candy different types: 2,00 Reals
- Cheese (local musserala) 500 gr: 8,52 Reals
- Chicken , Whole fried chicken: 11,98 Reals
- Chicken, whole frozen: 5,38 Reals
- Chips (local): 1,50 Reals
- Chips (pringles): 7,98 Reals
- Coca Cola can: 0,99 Reals
- Coca Cola 1l: 1,89 Reals
- Coffee 250 gr: 4,00 Reals
- Cookies: 0,60 till 3,00 Reals
- Corn flakes (House brand): 1,71 Reals
- Corn flakes (Kellogs): 7,80 Reals
- Cucumbers/kg: 1,28 Reals
- Deoderant: 4,00 R
- Detergent (Ariel): 3,01 R
- Dog food pellets(Pedigree): 7,98 Reals
- Eggs 12: 3,98 Reals
- Granola: 6 Reals
- Grapes/kg: 7,98 Reals
- Hairblowdryer: 38,50 Reals
- Ice cream 1l: 13,71 Reals
- Kiwis /kg: 8,48 Reals
- Margarine: 4,00 Reals
- Melon/kg: 2,28 Reals
- Mentos: 1,18 Reals
- Milk 1l: 2,00 Reals
- Milk Powder: 5,00 Reals
- Muffins (fresh baked) per 4: 3,19 Reals
- Noodles soup, cup: 2,24 Reals
- Onions/kg: 1,88 Reals
- Orange juice 1l: 3,20 Reals
- Pistolets per 6 : 1,60 Reals
- Pizza (unbaked): 6,45 Reals
- Pork 358gr: 2,14
- Red Bull can: 4,98 Reals
- Rice 1kg: 1,94 Reals
- Salt 1kg: 0,77 Reals
- Shampoo: 3,34 Reals
- Sigarettes (Marlboro): 3,00 Reals
- Slippers (Havainas): 10,00 Reals
- Soap, bar: 0,95 Reals
- Television: 328,00 Reals
- Toilet paper 4 rolls: 2,14 R
- Tomatoes/kg: 2,47 Reals
- Toothbrush (Colgate): $,74 Reals
- Toothpaste: 2,04 Reals
- Tuna, can: 3,50 Reals
- Twix: 1,52 Reals
- Ventilator: 50,00 Reals
- Water 1l: 1,24 Reals
- Whiskey (Grants): 54,90 Reals
- Whiskey (local): 16,11 Reals
- Wine : Between 4,00 - 15,00 Reals
- Wodka (Smirnoff) 1l: 14,56 Reals
- Wodka (local): 4,23 R


Going out:

- Bus: 2,00 Reals
- Bus with airconditioning: 4,00 Reals
- Beer: 3,00 reals for a big beer
- Caiperinha: 4,00 Reals
- Entrance to a club: 15,00 Reals
- Cinema: 5,00 Reals

How to make caipirinha

Caipirinha recipe


Scale ingredients to servings
2 tsp granulated sugar
8 limes wedges
2 1/2 oz cachaca

Muddle the sugar into the lime wedges in an old-fashioned glass. Fill the glass with ice cubes. Pour the cachaca into the glass. Stir well.

Is Brazil safe?

Most people (98%) who had problem in Brazil, just put themselves in jeopardy, doing stupity things like counting money at streets, showing values (jewelry), and other dumb behaviours that called unwanted attention.
If you are wise and use commom sense, you will be fine.