Along with the emotional and psychological barriers that hindered the exploration of unknown lands are the equally imposing barriers of communication between European explorers and the indigenous peoples of Africa and, later on, India and the Americas. When Europe first began to explore the unknown world, the Portuguese established the practice of recruiting individuals from the native population to act as interpreters. Each Portuguese ship was to carry with it one interpreter who could speak the language of the last trading post reached on previous journeys and, if at all possible, who could speak the language of the coast to be visited afterwards. Part of the problem was that many different dialects were spoken along the western coast of Africa, which meant that an interpreter for each language would have to be found. Generally, once Portuguese explorers had gone as far as possible on a given journey, they would put ashore to find a human settlement. If a settlement could be located, European explorers would attempt to capture a number of Africans in order to bring them to Europe. The Africans were placed in homes, baptised as Christians, and taught Portuguese. After the Africans could communicate in Portuguese, they were returned to their native soil as interpreters.

Once ashore, it was the interpreter's responsibility to gather information about the area in the name of the Portuguese Crown. The interpreter was to explain the interests of the Portuguese explorers, identify the kinds of goods the Portuguese were interested in acquiring, and negotiate agreements. The interpreters sometimes became victims of local suspicion and mistrust, and they could also face significant danger. On more than one occasion, they were killed by uneasy inhabitants. On one voyage, Bartolomeu Dias sent female interpreters ashore in the hope that they would be treated more kindly than male interpreters. Whether or not they fared better than their male counterparts is unknown because no trace was found of them on Dias' return.

Interpreters were not always captured Africans, they were also degredados. These prisoners, who were generally facing death sentences in their native lands, could secure their freedom by completing dangerous assignments. Indeed, on Vasco Da Gama's successful voyage from Portugal to Africa in 1497, ten degredados were brought along. In order to win their freedom, the degredados were dropped on unknown shores with the express purpose of contacting the local population, gathering information about the area, and awaiting the return of a ship. Faced with the prospect of death should they fail in their assignment, either at the hands of the indigenous population or their Portuguese jailers, basic survival meant that they quickly mastered the needed languages to complete their assignments.

Communication between explorers and indigenous populations was a very important feature of the early years of discovery for, when an interpreter could not be found, or when communication between explorers and indigenous peoples failed, the resolve and courage of the ship's crew quickly faltered. But when interpreters succeeded, and peaceful relations were established, the Portuguese would set aside their swords and negotiate with local populations. The work of interpreters made it possible for Portuguese explorers to gather vital information, establish good relations with local political leaders, begin to understand the local culture and customs, establish forts in Africa, and negotiate effective trading agreements.

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