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) Latin duet dances with origins from the Congo and Angola. Presently, the Samba is the most prevalent dance form in Brazil, and reaches the height of its importance during the festival of Carnaval. There is actually a set of dances, rather than a single dance, that define the Samba dancing scene in Brazil; however, no one dance can be claimed with certainty as the "original" Samba style. A major stream of the Samba dance besides the Brazilian Samba dancing styles is ballroom Samba, which differs significantly. There are many theories regarding the origin of the word Samba. Samba music contains