LanguageMain articles: Languages of Brazil<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Brazil> , Portuguese language <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_language>, and Brazilian Portuguese <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_Portuguese> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Museu_da_L%C3%ADngua_Portuguesa.jpg><http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Museu_da_L%C3%ADngua_Portuguesa.jpg> Museum of the Portuguese Language<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_the_Portuguese_Language> in São Paulo <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A3o_Paulo>, the first language museum in the world.
Portuguese is the official language of Brazil.[12]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil#cite_note-CIA_People-11> It is spoken by almost all of the population and is virtually the only language used in newspapers, radio, television, and for all business and administrative purposes, with the exception of Nheengatu<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nheengatu>, an indigenous language of South America<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_America> which was granted co-official status alongside Portuguese in the municipality of São Gabriel da Cachoeira<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A3o_Gabriel_da_Cachoeira> .[142] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil#cite_note-141> Moreover, Brazil is the only Portuguese-speaking nation in the Americas<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Americas>, making the language an important part of Brazilian national identity and giving it a national culture distinct from its Spanish-speaking neighbors.[ 143] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil#cite_note-BGOW_Port-142> Brazilian Portuguese <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_Portuguese> has had its own development, influenced by the Amerindian<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_languages_of_the_Americas> and African languages <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_languages>.[144 ] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil#cite_note-Portuguese-143> Due to this, the language is somewhat different from that spoken in Portugal<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portugal> and other Portuguese-speaking countries, mainly for phonological and orthographic differences. These differences are somewhat greater than those of American <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_English> and British English <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_English>.[144]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil#cite_note-Portuguese-143> As of 2008, Portugal is considering reforming its own spelling rules to accommodate linguistic developments in the Brazilian Portuguese since the two languages diverged.[145]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil#cite_note-144> Minority languages are spoken throughout the vast national territory. Some of these are spoken by indigenous peoples: 180 Amerindian languages<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amerindian_language> are spoken in remote areas. Others are spoken by immigrants and their descendants.[144]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil#cite_note-Portuguese-143> There are important communities of speakers of German<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_language> (mostly the Hunsrückisch <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunsr%C3%BCckisch>, part of the High German languages<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_German_languages>) and Italian <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_language> (mostly the Talian <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talian> dialect, of Venetian<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venetian_language> origin) in the south of the country, both largely influenced by the Portuguese language.[143] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil#cite_note-BGOW_Port-142> [144] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil#cite_note-Portuguese-143> -- ☼I hear and I forget. I see and I believe. I do and I understand. Confucius (551 BC - 479 BC).☼ --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "English Learner's Cafe" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/english_learners?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
