Learning to communicate in Brazil extends way past just learning Portuguese. There are so many small “linguistic aspects” of the language that textbooks simply cannot teach you. In these instances, immersion in the culture is the only way to get a full understanding of the language. The first cultural nuance I encountered when I studied abroad in Brazil dealt with the concept of physical space. American society holds high importance to the concept of respecting one’s personal space. Every individual has an invisible bubble, and people generally know the limits of intrusion on the bubble. In Brazil, anyone who has this so-called “invisible bubble” will quickly have it popped.
Brazilians are also very personable and passionate when they communicate. They make use of extensive touching, eye contact, and loud voices to get their points across. On the same token, kissing on both cheeks is a custom carried out by men and women (exception: men do not kiss men on the cheeks). With these actions in place, I often thought many of the men and women were flirting with each other on a regular basis. If someone was standing very close while talking to you, making extensive eye contact, and kissing you on the cheek in the U.S., wouldn’t you think they were flirting or even dating?
Similarly, Brazilians are extremely indirect and nearly always late. Their indirectness is characterized by the fact that they absolutely dislike the use of the word “no.” Thus, Brazilians say “yes” when they actually mean “no.” The only way to decipher the fact that they actually mean “no” is to pick up on hints provided by body language and voice intonation. Lastly, Brazilian time is limitless and non-quantifiable (polychronic). Lateness is customary, and is not considered rude. Coming from the U.S. where time is a commodity, slightly frustrated my ability to function in Brazil upon my arrival. Once I became accustomed to the cultural tendencies however, I knew that when someone told me to meet them for lunch at noon, they actually meant 1:30 pm…
Here is an example of the Brazilian "yes" that actually means "no." In this instance, I was bartering with this beach vendor to buy a beach sarong at a discounted price. He told me I could have the sarong at the discounted price but as you can see by his face, he actually meant I could NOT have it at the discounted price. As a result, he continued to haggle with me for another 15 minutes :)
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