Do Brazilians learn English in school?
Abstract. Only three percent of Brazilians are estimated to speak English despite the status of this language as a mandatory subject in grades 10 to 12 of basic education and preferred foreign language in grades 5 to 9.
Many schools in Brazil teach both English and Spanish as secondary languages, but despite that curriculum in private and public schools, English proficiency in Brazil is relatively low.
English. While it's not widely used in Brazil, languages spoken there do include English. Around 5% of Brazilians speak some degree of English, though that's not to say they are fluent.
Despite the fact that Portuguese is the official language of Brazil and the vast majority of Brazilians speak only Portuguese, there are several other languages spoken in the country.
In Brazil, 5.1% of the population aged over 16 state that they have some knowledge of the English language. Nevertheless, there are differences between the generations. Among younger people aged 18-24 the percentage of those stating they speak English doubles, reaching 10.3%.
High school core curriculum comprises Portuguese (including Portuguese language, essay studies, Brazilian and Portuguese literatures), foreign language (usually English and an optional language), History, Geography, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Arts, Physical Education, and Biology.
Both English and Spanish are taught in many Brazilian schools.
The biggest languages present in Brazil include: Portuguese – 208.31 million speakers. Spanish – 6.38 million speakers. English – 8.50 million speakers.
According to a survey by the British Council, only 5% of the Brazilian population can communicate in English - and of these, only 1% has some degree of fluency.
And the situation in Brazil is even worse… According to a research made by The British Council, only 5% of Brazilians speak English and only 1% speak it fluently. Even here in São Paulo, the most developed city of Brazil, it's not easy to find locals who speak English.
How many kisses do Brazilians give?
If you are unsure of how many kisses to give, a single kiss with the right cheek touching the other person's is a good place to start. This is the greeting most common in Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais. In Rio, two kisses are customary. In Bahia, expect to receive three or more kisses!
According to data from 2021 Vigital, the smokers percentage aged 18 or more in Brazil is 9,1%, represented by 11,8% of men and 6,7% of women. According to 2012 National Survey on Student Health (PeNSE), 19.6% of students had experimented cigarettes.
Adult literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15 and above who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement about their everyday life. Brazil literacy rate for 2021 was 94.30%, a 1.07% increase from 2018.
There are two main varieties of Portuguese: European/Continental and Brazilian. Duolingo teaches Brazilian Portuguese, but European Portuguese speakers will also be able to understand you. The Portuguese for English course contains 69 skills, and 420 total lessons.
Brazilian Portuguese is considered by many to be the easier strand to learn, with its open vowels and strong cadence (it's also considered to be easier on the ears, for this reason).
Background. There is a real problem with education in Brazil, with standards lagging well behind other Latin American countries, including Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, Uruguay, Chile and Costa Rica. The UN's Education Development Index ranks Brazil at 79, compared with Chile at 41.
School is free and compulsory for students at the primary (ages 7–14) and secondary (ages 15–17) levels, but roughly three-fifths of Brazilians have only four years of schooling or less.
NOTE: In Brazil, it is mandatory for children to go to school from age 6 to 14. Children under the age of 6 may be enrolled as long as they turn 6 in the first semester. These compulsory 9 years of education are known as "fundamental education" (ensino fundamental) and are divided into levels I and II.
Students may attend school either in the morning (from 7am to 12am) or in the afternoon (from 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm), Monday through Friday. Students usually take about 5-6 classes per day, each about 50 minutes long. There is usually a 30 minute break in the middle of the day.
| Primary | Ensino Fundamental (Elementary School) | 1–9 |
|---|---|---|
| Secondary | Ensino Médio (High School) | 10–12 |
| Tertiary | Higher Education- Ensino Superior | |
| Tertiary | Bacharelado, Licenciado (Undergrad.) | 13–16 |
| Tertiary | Especialização (Graduate) |
How is school life in Brazil?
The student usually completes the primary education at age 14 or 15, then attends high school for three years. A typical high school day in Brazil begins at 7:15 a.m. and ends at 1 p.m. Students generally have 6 classes per day. They study 14 different subjects and have between 200- 220 days of school per year.
Compared to German, Italian, and Spanish, English is not a widely spoken language in Brazil. While most Brazilians don't speak English fluently, it is the most frequently learned foreign language in Brazil.
Officially, Brazilians are not considered to be Hispanic or Latino because the federal government's definition of the term – last revised in 1997 – applies only to those of “Spanish culture or origin” such as Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, South or Central American or other origins, regardless of race.
According with a recent estimate (Rodrigues 1993), about 75% of the languages spoken in Brazilian territory five hundred years ago disappeared. This notwithstanding, the number of languages spoken today in Brazil is between 160 and 180, but none of these counts with a population large enough to ensure its future.
Majority English-speaking countries
Five of the largest of these are sometimes described as the "core Anglosphere"; they are the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
