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Thursday, September 15, 2011

Brazil, The World’s Ultimate Host


Brazil, the largest Latin American country, is playing the ultimate host this decade. Just recently, this South American country hosted the 60th Annual Miss Universe Competition. As a follow up to this show of mesmerizing beauties, the 2014 FIFA World Cup will also be held in Brazil. Two years after the biggest football event in the world, Brazil will be the host country for two other major sporting events: the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2016 Summer Paralympics. With a spectacular line up of world-class events, Brazilians are eagerly preparing for the influx of participants and visitors alike.

About Brazil

Brazil’s motto is “Ordem e Progresso” (Order and Progress). In the world stage, Brazil is the fifth largest country in terms of total land area and one of the fastest growing economies. It borders a number of South American countries including Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Suriname and French Guiana. The Atlantic Ocean lies on the eastern side of Brazil. Brasilia is the country’s capital.

The country is rich in natural resources, history and culture. Brazil was a colony of Portugal from 1500 to 1815. It has seen its share of military coups and unstable governments. Today, Brazil is a Federal Republic under President Dilma Rousseff.

The people of Brazil are a mixture of different races. Indians, Africans, Portuguese, other Europeans, Asians, Arabs and Jews contribute to Brazil’s melting pot of races. Portuguese is Brazil’s official language. Brazil is the only country among its neighbors that speak Portuguese. The rest are Spanish-speaking countries. However, its brand of Portuguese is quite different from the one heard in Portugal and in the other former colonies of Portugal.

Brazil has always been known to be welcoming of tourists and travelers from all over the globe. Each year, people from every corner of the globe make their way to Brazil to join the annual Mardi Gras in Rio de Janeiro and the other Carnaval festivities all over the country. The people of this South American nation have long been hosting guests of different nationalities. They have had all the practice they need to stage bigger events. So it is no wonder that Brazil will play host to several world-class events in the next coming years. The kick off to Brazil’s turn to play host to the world is a pageant that showcases beauty, brains and grace.

2011 Miss Universe Competition

São Paulo, the largest city in both Brazil and the southern hemisphere, was chosen as the location for the 60th Miss Universe Competition. It was Brazil’s first time to host the Miss Universe competition. Held last September 12, 2011 at the Credicard Hall in São Paulo, the beauty of the country was a fitting backdrop for the Miss Universe pageant.

The coveted crown was won by Miss Angola, Leila Lopes. Although Brazilian beauty Priscilla Machado did not bag the crown, she made her country proud because she finished as 2nd runner up. With 89 countries and territories represented in the 2011 tilt, bagging 2nd runner up was no mean feat. Brazil won the Miss Universe crown in 1963 and 1968 and is ranked 5th in terms of top 15 countries by tally. Translation – Brazilian women are no doubt some of the most beautiful women in the world.

When Donald Trump, the pageant’s owner, announced that Brazil was the 2011 location for the beauty competition, he said that he found Brazil to be a “great place to do business.” Plus, it was the perfect prelude to the other major events that Brazil will host.

2013 World Youth Day

Pope Benedict XVI announced during the last World Youth Day in Barcelona, Spain that the the 2013 World Youth Day will happen in Rio de Janerio. Brazil really has its work cut out for it!

2014 FIFA World Cup

Brazil, the country that produced football (soccer) great Pelé, is gearing up for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. This will be the 20th edition of the largest football spectacle in the world. Not only is it preparing its talented football team, it is also preparing its infrastructure and its people for the event.

The largest football stadium in South America, the Maracanã Stadium, is located in Rio de Janiero. It is one of the many stadiums to be used for the upcoming 2014 World Cup. The Maracanã Stadium was first used for the 4th FIFA World Cup held in 1950. This just goes to show that football is in the blood of the people of Brazil; after all, their national team has won the World Cup five times. The other stadiums that were built all over the country for the Pan American Games hosted by Brazil in 2007 will be used for the 2014 football event.

32 teams from around the globe will descend in Brazil in 2014. They will surely bring with them their legions of fans. For those fans that cannot make it to Brazil, they will surely be glued to their televisions screens to watch the games. All eyes will not only be on the games and its players but also on the host country itself. The whole football –loving world is eagerly waiting for the games to begin and the parties to commence.

2016 Summer Olympics and 2016 Summer Paralympics

Rio de Janeiro will host the Games of the XXXI Olympiad as announced last October 2, 2009 by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Copenhagen, Denmark. The multi-sport event will start on August 5, 2016 with the Opening ceremony. The Closing ceremony will be on August 21, 2016. Both ceremonies will be held at the Maracanã Stadium. The Motto for the 31st Olympiad is “Viva sua Paixão” or Live Your Passion. There will be 28 sports featuring 304 events. Over 10,000 athletes are expected to participate. It is interesting to note that this will be the very first Summer Olympics to be held in South America and the first Olympics to be held in a Portuguese-speaking country.

A few weeks after the 2016 Summer Olympics, Brazil will host the 2016 Summer Paralympics. This will be the 15th Summer Paralympics. Organized by the IOC, it is scheduled from September 7 to September 18, 2016 at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracanã Stadium.

Brazil is the perfect place to hold the Summer Olympics as well as the Summer Paralympics. The climate, the beaches, the infrastructure, the people and the culture are well suited for a mega-event such as the Olympics and the Paralympics. It is definitely South American’s turn to host these events and Brazil, as host, is deserving of that honor. The country’s love for sports and its passion for life will serve it well come 2016. Viva sua Paixão!

How Language Will Come into Play

Almost 100 percent of Brazilians speak Portuguese. As mentioned earlier, their Portuguese is not the Portuguese heard in the country of Portugal. Different factors contributed to the evolution of Brazilian Portuguese.

Apart from Portuguese, German and Italian are also spoken in the country, specifically in the southern regions. Then there are groups of immigrants who speak their native tongue. The second language of the country is English, which replaced French among the educated peoples of Brazil. Spanish, because of its similarity to Portuguese, is understood at some level.

With several world-class events to be held in Brazil, language schools in the country have seen an increase in interest in learning English. Online language schools are also getting more enrollments to their English classes. More and more Brazilians are gearing up to learn English, especially those who work in the tourism industry. At the same time, participants and spectators who will find themselves in Brazil for the upcoming sporting events are expected to at least attempt to learn some level of Brazilian Portuguese.

This situation of embracing English is no different from what happened during the 2008 Olympic games held in China. The Chinese government implemented English learning activities for Chinese people that were expected to come in contact with foreigners – from hotel and restaurant workers, store clerks to taxi drivers. On the other hand, Mandarin became a popular language to learn for the Olympians, their coaches, managers, fans, journalists, and for the other people who descended to China to be part of the event. Language will now once again bridge the gap between different races and cultures.

The 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil logo is three hands intertwined following the shape and form of the World Cup trophy. It is aptly named “Inspiração” (Inspiration). This logo may as well be the logo for all the world events to be hosted by Brazil as each one will serve as an inspiration to its people to aim higher and do better. It will also inspire other nationalities to be more welcoming of different races and cultures. In today’s world, it is important not only to be a citizen of your native country but also a citizen of the world. Let the people of Brazil lead the way.

Brazilian Portuguese is different from the original language it sprung from, the Portuguese language of Portugal. This is why there is a need for translation and interpretation services like Day Translations, Inc. and World Interpreting, Inc. These two companies will make your life easier by providing you with excellent translating and interpreting services. They are as world-class as the different teams that will play in the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

4 comments:

BB. said...

I like your style.
Lolita

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Ariel Wilson said...

Brazil seems to be a colorful country. I’ve got to learn a lot from your post about this country. I’m almost done with my education and just have to submit my dissertation for which I have taken the UK dissertation help so I’m stress-free in that regard. I might visit Brazil after that at my aunt’s house who lives there.