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RIO DE JANEIRO -- If English is the language of world commerce, Brazil hasnt gotten the memo -- only a small fraction of its 200 million people have a basic proficiency. Fluency is also rare for other languages such as German, French and even Spanish, despite Brazil being bordered by seven Spanish-speaking countries.Many of the hundreds of thousands of tourists expected to descend on Rio de Janeiro for the Olympics in a few weeks could frequently find themselves in a linguistic muddle.Vanderclei Silva Santos, who sells caipirinhas, Brazils national cocktail, says he struggles to communicate with foreign tourists who stop at his stand on Copacabana Beach, so he uses his fingers and toes to write prices and shapes in the sand.Most of the time it works, but trying and funny moments are common, like the time a woman made chomping gestures to ask where she might find fresh corn on the cob. There was also the time a man seemed to be urgently asking for a banheiro, which is a toilet, but it turned out he was trying to figure out where to take a banho, or shower.Communicating is tough. We move our hips, we smile, which tourists like. We find a way, said Santos, a 39-year-old who hopes to one day take a basic English course, something that until recent years generally was available only for wealthy Brazilians and is still not widely offered.Attempting over the last year to bridge the language gap for the Summer Games, Rio de Janeiro state, the Olympic Committee and several companies have offered in-person and online English courses to several thousand service industry workers, Olympic volunteers and police -- those most likely to come in contact with tourists.Do you know the meaning of `Im going to kick your butt? teacher Rafael Vianna asked this week to a dozen tourist police in an advanced course aimed at preparing them to help English speakers sort through any issues that come up, from harassment to robbery. Its often used in sports and can be interpreted in different ways depending on the context.On the blackboard, Vianna wrote and defined some words that tourists in distress may use, such as mace, malice, mayhem and nuisance.Vinicius Lummertz, the president of Embratur, a government agency that promotes Brazil overseas, said Rio will be ready. And he argues that any linguistic struggles will be part of the experience.A lack of English is a problem, but trying to communicate with Brazilians who only speak Portuguese becomes a flavor, Lummertz said. Do you want a world that is exactly the same everywhere?Latin Americas biggest country is roughly the size of the continental United States, which has tended to insulate its people. And vast inequalities permeate every walk of life, including education. Most Brazilians have never had a chance to study other languages.Virginia Garcia, former head of the British Council in Brazil, said research by the council a few years ago found that only 5 percent of Brazilians spoke English at a proficient level.Garcia said English instruction in public schools is limited, although several big events hosted by Brazil in recent years, including the Pan American Games, the World Cup and a visit by Pope Francis, have slowly pushed the country to expand language teaching.Twenty years ago, only people coming from the high classes could learn other languages in Brazil, Garcia said. Its slowly getting more democratic.Antonio Carlos de Moraes Sartini, director of the Sao Paulo-based Museum of the Portuguese Language, said Brazils intense focus on Portuguese dates to 1750, when the Portugals monarchy made teaching the language mandatory to create a national identity different from the surrounding Spanish-speaking colonies.At the time, only about 20 percent of people in Brazil spoke Portuguese, while more than 1,000 indigenous languages prevailed. A few hundred of those languages are still spoken, mostly in the Amazonian region, but the vast majority of indigenous peoples now also speak Portuguese.The language spoken here today expresses Brazilians expansive, affectionate nature, said Sartini.That nature often includes having a good laugh when it comes to foreign languages.Joel Santana, a former soccer player and coach, has parlayed his halting English into a second career in television advertising. In 2010, while coaching South Africas national team, he gave an interview in English that was so indecipherable that it became an internet sensation. Since then, he has pitched products such as Pepsi and Head & Shoulders shampoo in commercials, throwing in barely understandable words in English.Jens Heftoy, a journalist from Norway who has visited Brazil several times in the last decade since marrying a woman from Rio, said that in his experience even Brazilians who have a decent level of English prefer not to speak it unless they work in the tourism industry.Three blocks from here, youll have problems in communicating, Heftoy said while walking on the tourist mecca of Copacabana Beach. It works out, but you have to be patient.---Associated Press writer Stan Lehman in Sao Paulo contributed to this report.---Online:Joel Santana interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoxA9ghHkOM---Follow Peter Prengaman at http://twitter.com/peterprengaman Zapatillas Nike Just Do It Mujer . The 28-year-old from Calgary matched his career best after missing just one shot in his two rounds of shooting in the mens 10-kilometre sprint competition. Smith finished in 23 minutes 15. Vapormax Off White Negras .ca! Hi Kerry, Its another day and here we are looking at another dubious hit to the head. In this case Blue Jackets forward Brandon Dubinsky elbowed Saku Koivu in the head about a second after he dished off the puck to a teammate, knocking him unconscious. http://www.vapormaxbaratas.com/zapatillas-nike-just-do-it/negras.html . Booth picked up 65 caps after making her national team debut in 2002 at the age of 17. She most recently played for Sky Blue FC of the National Womens Soccer League. "It just felt like it was my time to move on," she said in a phone interview from her hometown of Burlington, Ont. Vapormax Hombre Baratas . U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield in Manhattan agreed that lawyers on both sides could make their formal requests by Nov. 8. A hearing is scheduled for a day earlier. Jordan Siev, a lawyer for Rodriguez, wrote in a joint letter to the judge from lawyers on both sides that MLB lawyers planned to ask that the lawsuit be dismissed. Vapormax Baratas . Varlamov made 33 saves and Ryan OReilly had a goal and scored in the shootout as the Avalanche beat the New Jersey Devils 2-1 on Thursday night. INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- The Kid has an open post-retirement invitation to pursue coaching in The Land.Cleveland Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said that Kevin Garnett, who retired from the Minnesota Timberwolves after 21 seasons last week, is welcome to join his coaching staff.I talked to him about it, Lue said after Cavs practice Thursday. I know his wife is pushing for it a lot. Brandi is pushing for it, trying to get him to come and coach. He says hes not ready yet. He goes back -- I might do it -- but hes back and forth. Well see. But Id definitely make a spot for him if he wanted to come back and coach.Earlier this month, Lue told TMZ that Allen Iverson, recently inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, could come coach with me. While the Iverson invitation was somewhat tongue-in-cheek, Garnett is a more realistic candidate.Hes one of my best friends, Lue said of Garnett.Lue, who was an assistant coach on the Boston Celtics when Garnett played there, stopped a fight from happening between Garnett and Carmelo Anthony after a game against the New York Knicks in 2013.Lue, 39, was rooting for the 40-year-old Garnett to play a 22nd and final season in Minnesota this year.Didnt want to see him do it, Lue said of Garnetts retirement. I thought he wouldve been the first player in NBA history to play in his teens, 20s, 30s and 40s. He just turned 40 in May. I just thought that wouldve been great for him.Garnett was a 15-time All-Star, was named league MVP in 2004 and won a championship with the Celtics in 2008. He finished his career ranked third in all-time minutes, fifth in games played, ninth in total rebounds, 11th in made field goals, 16th in steals and 17th in blocked shots.Just seeing him go, just seeing what he brought to the game coming out of high school, all the guys that tried to mimic him, the things he did with the powder first and having his boys in the commercials first, Lue continued. Everything hes done, hes been a trendsetter. Just seeing him leave the game and the way he played every night on a night-to-night basis, every practice from me being with him in Boston, just how he approached the game every single day. He was just like LeBron [James].One of the easiest guys to coach as far as being a superstar, as far as telling him whatt to do, they would do it.dddddddddddd If they didnt like what you were doing, theyd call you out to the side and tell you. Theyd never call you out in front of everybody. Just having respect for everybody from the janitor to the owner. Thats our motto. Him, Kobe [Bryant] and [Tim] Duncan at the same time is bad for the game. But we all get old. Its all part of the game.L.A. Clippers coach Doc Rivers, who was the coach in Boston when Garnett played there and Lue was on the staff, told ESPN that he would have welcomed him as a player in L.A. this season.Rivers also said hes already?thinking up ways to bring him into the fold with the Clippers, especially with Garnett owning a home in Malibu, California.Im going to offer him something, Rivers said earlier this month. I dont want to say too much right now. I just know hed be a great asset to any team.Garnett was at Clippers practice on Thursday.?KG was phenomenal today, Rivers said about Garnetts appearance Thursday. This morning, before practice, he had a teaching clinic that you would pay a lot of money to see. It was great. It was great for Blake [Griffin] and [DeAndre Jordan] and the young guys as well. Its great to have him around. Hes a great teacher. We know him as a great player. I knew him as a great teacher. Hell be really good for us.When asked if Garnett had a future in the NBA as a coach, Rivers wasnt sure of Garnetts level of interest.I dont know think he wants to coach. Hes not that crazy, Rivers said. Who would ever want to do that?Lue already has a full coaching staff, with the Cavs announcing this week Larry Drews promotion to associate head coach as well as the re-signing of Jim Boylan,?Mike Longabardi, James Posey and Damon Jones?as assistants. However, Garnett always could serve in an unofficial capacity or simply spend time visiting with the team, as he plans to do when the Cavs host the Knicks and receive their championship rings on Oct. 25.Hell be here for sure, Lue said. I know hes coming to opening night to the rings ceremony. I know hell be here for that, and he says hell be around a lot. Well see.Information from ESPN.coms Jovan Buha was used in this report. ' ' '