Low Saxon, like many other Brazilian minority languages (such as Riograndenser Hunsrückisch, Talian (Italian) and Japanese), is still spoken by some in the old colonial zones.
São Leopoldo, in the neighboring state of Rio Grande do Sul, founded in 1824 by the first pioneer German speaking families to settle permanently in Brazil, is officially considered the cradle of German-Brazilian culture (see the Riograndenser Hunsrückisch German language of South America).