Why Do They Speak Portuguese in Brazil? (¿Por Qué en Brasil Se Habla Portugués?)

Do you know what’s one of the strangest things in Latin America? The fact that the biggest country in a Spanish-majority region (with a third of the total population in Latin America) speaks a different language: Portuguese.

You’d think that somehow, Brazil would have adopted Spanish like their neighbors, but they never did, and even today, it is a minority language among many others. So… why? Why does Brazil speak Portuguese?

Basically, it has a lot to do with its origins and how the colonized lands were divided when it came to the Portuguese and Spanish kingdoms, who now had practically full control of the South American continent.

…but I won’t go into the historic details here. It’s better if you watch the fascinating latest episode of the Learn Spanish with Stories podcast, instead!

Transcript of this episode is available at: https://podcast.lingomastery.com/listen/1176