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"
Samba (Brazilian dance) many influences from Angolan music genres; it is thought that the word Samba was adopted into Brazilian culture during the early nineteenth century from the Angolan word Semba. One of the first places where the word Samba has been used is in Pernambuco magazine's "O Carapuceiro", which was published in February of 1838. Father Miguel Lopes Gama of Sacramento wrote an article arguing against what he called "the samba d'almocreve", which was a type of dance drama popular with black people of that time. According to Hiram Araújo da Costa, over the centuries, the festival of dances of slaves in