Do they speak Spanish in Compo Grande?

Question

They didn't understand anything I said to them until I started speaking English, but then I don't speak Spanish, I was using a phrase book.

Answer 1

I'm afraid that, if your sole knowledge of Spanish is limited to a phrase book, then your ability to actually SPEAK the language is even worse.... They probably didn't understand you because your accent was so bad.  Unless Americans have had some basic classes in Spanish they make some terrible errors in pronunciation because they try to use American versions of the language.

For instance, when a word ends on a Vowel, the emphasis is on the next to the LAST syllable and if it ends on a consonant, it is on the last syllable.  Americans put the emphasis on the SECOND syllable, whether it belongs there or not.

This just a single example, but there are at least a dozen of serious errors Americans make that has them sounding like a fool when they try to speak Spanish (or just about any other language).

Answer 2

No, they don't, they speak Portugese, as they do all over the rest of Brazil.