Nearly everyone in Brazil speaks Portuguese, and it will be very difficult to live there without learning the language. Only a minority of highly educated or upper class Brazilians speak good English.

Brazilian Portuguese is slightly different to the version spoken in Portugal, and there are considerable regional variations in accent. Spanish and some Italian are quite widely spoken and understood in some areas, especially the south.

Brazilians also communicate using a lot of gestures and body language, the meanings of which may differ from those in other parts of the world.

Although there are some Portuguese language schools in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, they are not widely found in other parts of the country.