While talking with Brazilians:
There are certain things to keep in mind. The Brazilian language, culture, and variety, as well as the country's customs and etiquette, are among these components. Understanding these details will allow you to do business in the country, host Brazilian clients in your country, and have successful visits to Brazil whenever such occurrences arise (Kwintessential UK, 2017).
Brazilian national unity and language:
The Brazilian national unity is strongly reliant on language. The national language spoken by the entire population is Portuguese. The immigrants from South Korea and Japan make up the small percentage of the population that does not speak this language. This group of people has not yet learned Portuguese. Also, there are the primary Indian languages spoken in Brazil, including the Arawak, Ge, Carib, and Tupi (Guide & Guide, 2017).
The Portuguese language that the Brazilians speak is much different from the one spoken in other countries. However, the language has no dialect, and the difference comes only from the variation of vocabulary, accent, and the use of personal pronouns, nouns, and conjunctions in different regions.
Society and Culture of Brazil:
The community of Brazil is made up of a mixture of ethnicities and races. This combination has made the country highly diversified. A lot of intermarriages exist in Brazil whereby the settlers of Brazil have married native women resulting in new races, for example, the 'mestizos' and 'mulattoes' races. Moreover, there is no slavery in the country since 1888. The abolishment became beneficial through the creation of various racial lines. Therefore, this mixture of culture and races makes communication in Brazil simple as far as foreigners and residents are concerned.
Brazilians also put much importance on family values. The family is the center of the social structure. Brazilian families are mostly large, and the members of the extended family are very close. People depend so much on family assistance and its social network during the times of need. As a result, nepotism in Brazil is a positive practice because they believe that it is important to employ people whom one trusts and knows better than others (Guide & Guide, 2017). Therefore, it is worth noting that during any conversation in Brazil, one should not talk ill of nepotism.
Another important aspect of the Brazilian culture is its class system. Despite the existence of a mixture of races, Brazilians can be racists. People with a dark complexion face economic challenges and are less privileged than white people. Also, there is minimal interaction between the upper and the middle classes. For example, drivers and maids belong to the lower class and cannot interact freely with people working as managers or directors. Therefore, the determinants of classes are the skin color of an individual and the economic status. The kind of communication among people would depend on the class that they belong to.
Brazilian Customs and Etiquette:
One of the important aspects in Brazilian meetings is etiquette. In the event of any meeting, greetings among men involve handshaking and maintaining eye contact at the same time. For women, greetings entail kissing one another on the cheeks. Friends greet one another by backslapping and hugging. Also, in case a woman wants to greet a man through handshaking, she should be the first to extend the hand. All these forms of etiquettes comprise the non-verbal communications that one needs to know when communicating with Brazilians (Guide & Guide, 2017).
When giving gifts in Brazil, the etiquette to keep in mind is that small gifts and flowers should be taken when invited to someone's house. Orchids are considered to be a lovely gift as long as they are not purple. Colors like this one or, for example, the color black are mourning colors and, therefore, cannot make good gifts. Another example of bad gifts is handkerchiefs, as they are considered to be used during funerals (Kwintessential UK, 2017).
References
Kwintessential UK. (2017). Guide to Brazil - etiquette, customs, culture & business. Retrieved from http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/guides/guide-to-brazil-etiquette-customs-culture-business/
Guide, B., & Guide, B. (2017). Brazil - language, culture, customs and etiquette.
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