Adding Portugese to HTML/PHP, and small html -

i'm editing website, , have couple of small snags i've hit. in .php file i'm editing, i'm changing language portugese, have typed below english characters, once add special characters Ç or à plugin dies (i mean spinning wheel loading, , never loads). plugin in wordpress.

<div id="label_gen_info">' .                                             'informacao geral' .                                         '</div>'.'<div>' .                                                 '<table>' .                                                     '<tr>' .                                                         '<td>endereco :</td>' .                                                         '<td>{1}</td>' .                                                     '</tr>' .                                                     '<tr>' .                                                         '<td></td>' .                                                         '<td>{2}</td>' .                                                     '</tr>' .                                                     '<tr>' .                                                         '<td></td>' .                                                         '<td>{6}</td>' .                                                     '</tr>' .                                                     '<tr>' .                                                         '<td style="width:115px">telefone :</td>' .                                                         '<td>{14}</td>' .                                                     '</tr>' .                                                     '<tr>' .                                                         '<td>horario de funcionamento :</td>' .                                                         '<td>{7}</td>' .                                                         '<td>{11}</td>' .                                                     '</tr>' .                                                     '<tr>' .                                                         '<td></td>' .                                                         '<td>{8}</td>' .                                                         '<td>{12}</td>' .                                                     '</tr>' .                                                     '<tr>' .                                                         '<td></td>' .                                                         '<td>{9}</td>' .                                                         '<td>{13}</td>' .                                                     '</tr>' .                                                     '<tr>' .                                                         '<td></td>' .                                                         '<td>{10}</td>' .                                                     '</tr>' .                                                     '<tr>' .                                                         '<td>horario de compras :</td>' .                                                         '<td>{15}</td>' .                                                     '</tr>' .                                                 '</table>' .                                             '</div>' .'</div>' . 

also, i'm trying edit format, i'm not sure {15} (what {15} does) does, didn't want change things around without knowing first. appreciated, thanks.

alright, posted in other places on forum, language needed set utf-8 instead of ascii. i'm not entirely sure how that, instructions on little out of scope question, i'll leave own research. answer second question, {15}, , other numbers still confuse me little, apparently similar variable calls, since when changed them, variables in places changed. if wants clear little bit more, feel free, enough of answer me (although i'll still looking php more, since i'm still novice.)