Brazilian Portuguese the last decades of the 20th century, due to the popularity of Brazilian music and Brazilian soap operas. Since Brazil joined Mercosul, the South American free trade zone, Portuguese has been increasingly studied as a foreign language in Spanish-speaking partner countries. Many words of Brazilian origin (also used in other Portuguese-speaking countries) have also entered into English: samba, bossa nova, cruzeiro, milreis and capoeira. While originally Angolan, the word "samba" only became famous worldwide because of its popularity in Brazil. After independence in 1822, Brazilian idioms with African and Amerindian influences were brought to Portugal by returning Portuguese Brazilians ("luso-brasileiros"
Brazilian Portuguese tends to adopt French suffixes as in "aterrissagem" (Fr. "atterrissage" "landing [aviation]"), differently from European Portuguese (cf. Eur.Port. "aterragem"). Brazilian Portuguese (BP) also tends to adopt culture-bound concepts from French. That is the difference between BP "estação" ("station") and EP "gare" ("train station"—Portugal also uses "estação"). BP "trem" is from English "train" (ultimately from French), while EP "comboio" is from Fr. "convoi". An evident example of the dichotomy between English and French influences can be noted in the use of the expressions "know-how", used in a technical context, and "savoir-faire" in a social context. Portugal uses the expression "hora de