Owner: Portuguese Blog: Language, Culture URL:http://www.transparent.com/TLBlog/portuguese/ Join Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2007 10:21:41 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: C.T. O\'Donnell\'s blog about everything related to learning Brazilian Portuguese. Updated frequently with posts about Culture, Vocabulary, Travel, Friends, and more... published by Transparent Language. www . byki . com Site statistics:Click here
Sounds of Samba - Repenique 2007-06-22 09:41:53
The repenique is a common Brazilian drum that is part of the 'batucada' as well as the larger samba school ensembles. It is a high-pitched tom drum (as opposed to the 'caixa' or snare drum) and adds a crucial element to the oceanic samba sound.
Typically, the repenique is played with a stick in one hand (usually the right one) and no stick in the left. The left hand plays the drum as well, but with fingers instead. The stick can produce a powerful rim shot and the bare hand provides both the ability to muffle the sound and also produces a mellower striking tone.
Watch the video... it speaks for itself. Read more:Sounds
, Samba
iGoogle Gadget for this Blog 2007-06-20 14:49:02 For those of you who use iGoogle, the Google custom homepage, I've written a gadget that displays this blog. It uses the same stylesheet as the blog itself, and has some simple but effective preference functionality.
There you go, enjoy!
Additionally, you can add it to your webpage through gadget syndication; we'd love it if you'd give it a try.
Read more:Gadget
Spok Frevo - Amazing Orchestra from the Northeast 2007-06-18 14:39:40
The video here really speaks for itself, so the best I can do is give a little background about Frevo.
The word Frevo comes from the Portuguese verb 'to boil,' 'Ferver' (frankly it's a mis-pronunciation). In a general sense, Frevo refers to myriad musical traditions with origins in the Northeast
(Nordeste) of Brazil. The main region in which one encounters Frevo is clearly Recife, on the coast of Pernambuco. This culturally-rich city is also the exclusive home of Maracatu, another, even rarer, type of Brazilian music.
The music itself is often thought of as Polka-ish, largely due to its 'two-feel' beat and peppy tempo. I suspect that many share my opinion of Frevo as being quite a bit more pleasant and listenable than polka, but perhaps I'm alone on this one. Characteristic features of the Frevo march include the prevalence of umbrella-wielding dancers and fast, repeating snare drum patterns.
Spok Frevo is the brainchild of...
Maestro Spok (yeah! that's really his na Read more:Amazing
, Orchestra
Dia dos Pais: Brazilian Father's Day 2007-06-15 14:19:58
This Sunday is Father
's Day in the U.S., as many of you well know. One might wonder if these 'Hallmark Holidays' exist in other countries; the answer is a resounding YES! Europe, long famous for its multitudinous holidays, shares with Brazil the tradition of using just about anything as an excuse for celebration.
'Dia dos
Pais' is the name for Father's Day in...
Brazil. It is not this coming Sunday but rather the second Sunday in August. The first Dia dos Pais was on August 14th, o dia de São Joaquim, patriarca da familia, in 1953.
Along with Father's Day, Brazilian
s celebrate Mother's Day (Dia das Mães) and Lover's Day (Dia dos Namorados), their equivalent of Valentine's Day, and a holiday celebrated with particular fervor.
What kind of Portuguese should I learn? 2007-06-13 12:15:01
Let's examine some considerations when determining what type of Portuguese
to learn
. The first determining factor is, obviously, where are you going to be traveling and speaking Portuguese. If Brazil is your destination, then clearly Brazilian Portuguese is the way to go, and the same goes for European Portuguese. Sheer practicality would suggest that Brazilian Portuguese is more useful than European, at least in terms of geographic area and number of speakers.
But what if you have specific goals in academia or business? Well, then the waters are muddied by several factors.
First of all, most Brazilian Portuguese teachers will gloss over a lot of grammar simply because it is not used in Brazil (see previous posts No Second Person and A Gente). Additionally there are many literary grammatical forms that one is more likely to recognize with a European Portuguese background. Also important is the tendency for Brazilian Portuguese speakers to consider European Portuguese somehow
Você já foi a Bahia? 2007-06-13 12:08:20
Most people are familiar with the two main cities of Brazil: Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. These cities are really jewels of South America and incredible vacation and study abroad destinations, especially Rio. Off the beaten track, however, there are many many wonderful regions and cities that are well worth visiting.
In addition to saving a few bucks by being outside the hustle and bustle of the modern, industrial cities, added benefits of more rural traveling include developing a more realistic picture of the country, a more diverse range of experience and a tremendous sense of adventure.
Bahia
, on the Northeast Brazilian coast, is a gorgeous and culturally rich state whose capital, Salvador, is a national icon. Located on a large bay (hence the name Bahia), Salvador occupies a peninsula and is comprised of several main sections, including Upper and Lower Salvador. These two areas are connected by a really neat elevator overlooking the water. The food is terrific in Bahia,
Getting Over Spanish 2007-06-04 15:05:28 Probably the most universal experience learning Portuguese, especially in North America, relates to the process of 'over-writing' previously learned Spanish
knowledge. It is extremely common in beginning Brazilian Portuguese classes to hear and see these mistakes over and over. Saying 'hablo' instead of 'falo' or misspelling 'quando' 'cuando' are very frequent, in addition to the myriad subtle vocabulary differences we see between the languages.
Is it a benefit or a hindrance to take on a new language that is related to one you have already studied? Good question. On one hand, you may be very familiar with the vocabulary, conjugations and basic grammar, but this knowledge can also lead you down the wrong path. Just because you can read a newspaper doesn't necessarily mean you sound correct when you speak!
In my experience, I really had to forget Spanish in order to learn Portuguese. When I approached my teacher about this, she ex
False Friend #1 2007-06-27 06:05:41
'Atual' in Brazilian Portuguese ('actual' in European) is not equivalent to 'actual' in English. 'Atual' means 'current, relevant, or on-topic' not 'real.' To say 'actual' in Portuguese you would be much better served to say 'real' or 'verdadeiro.'
Brazilian Radio on the Internet 2007-06-26 14:27:53
click on the image to hear the live broadcast!
MPB, Música Popular Brasileira, is a sort of 'super-genre' of music that has it's roots in the post-Bossa Nova era of the mid- to late-60's. MPB encompasses many different styles of music, ranging from those with jazzy bossa-nova influences to rock and pop music very similar to that found in North America.
Generally MPB signifies any style of music that is relatively current and recognized as, frankly, widely popular and distinctly Brazilian
. I suppose MPB is a pretty good moniker indeed.
MPB FM, a radio station broadcasting out of Rio de Janeiro (where else!?), serves as a fantastic soundtrack to the 'cidade maravilhosa' ...
itself. Extremely popular and influential, it is very common to hear MPB FM spilling out of the speakers of taxis, botequins, casas and apartamentos. From what I understand it's even pretty popular in the favelas. Seja o que for (be what it may), it's safe to say that MPB FM is a great reflection of Read more:Radio
, Internet
Instant Messaging in Portuguese 2007-06-25 16:59:14
Is there anything more important? It’s funny that in this day and age one of the most practical modes of language communication is not only not taught in school, but most adults are completely unaware it even exists. Luckily I’m here to shed some light on the all-important dialect: IM!
Some quick terms to get you going:
Kkkkk Laughing out loud
Rsrsrs Lol
Vc You
Cd Where are/is (cadê)
Oq, q, oke, o q What (O que, que)
pq Why (por que)
Tbm, tb Also (também)
td Everything (tudo)
tc Chat (teclar)
Blz Great, “Word” (Beleza)
Aki Here (aqui)
Be sure to check out the BYKI Web list that I've made for these terms!
I’ve been IM-ing a lot more lately in Portuguese
, and I think you could really get by with a few hundred word vocabulary, certainly on the speaking side.
Phonetic typing can take some getting used to, especially since people IM with varying degrees of accuracy. Common
substitutions include ‘k’ for ‘qu’ dropping ‘es’ from all forms of ‘estar Read more:Messaging
Female Pharoah's Mummy Identified 2007-06-29 12:59:05
Today I wanted to share with you all an article in Portuguese on BBCBrasil.com about the recent discovery of Hatshepsut, a powerful Ancient Egyptian queen who was so powerful that... okay I won't give it away, you can read it yourself here
You probably want to learn some words about Ancient Egypt in Portuguese before you read it, it helps a lot to go in prepared after all!
Click through to the full entry of this post for reading comprehension questions about the article.
Muito Obrigado André Barbosa for the native speaker sound in the Free BYKI Web list
Reading comprehension and vocabulary questions:
1) How do you say 'mummy' in Portuguese?
2) Before this recent discovery, what was the last finding of relative significance in Egypt?
3) How do archeologists identify mummies?
4) In addition to the answer to #4, how did scientists also confirm Hatshepsut's identity?
5) What made Hatshepsut a unique ruler?
6) How did Hatshepsut dress? Read more:Mummy
, Female
Some Great Verbs 2007-05-30 16:26:19 Practice these, folks... very useful stuff!
Free Portuguese (Brazilian) software download at byki.comLearn Portuguese (Brazilian) at Transparent.com Read more:Great
, Verbs
False Friend #1 2007-05-30 16:15:25
'Atual' in Brazilian Portuguese ('actual' in European) is not equivalent to 'actual' in English. 'Atual' means 'current, relevant, or on-topic' not 'real.' To say 'actual' in Portuguese you would be much better served to say 'real' or 'verdadeiro.'
Você já foi a Bahia? 2007-05-30 15:51:47
Não? Então vai!
Most people are familiar with the two main cities of Brazil: Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. These cities are really jewels of South America and incredible vacation and study abroad destinations, especially Rio. Off the beaten track, however, there are many many wonderful regions and cities that are well worth visiting.
In addition to saving a few bucks by being outside the hustle and bustle of the modern, industrial cities, added benefits of more rural traveling include developing a more realistic picture of the country, a more diverse range of experience and a tremendous sense of adventure.
Bahia
, on the Northeast Brazilian coast, is a gorgeous and culturally rich state whose capital, Salvador, is a national icon. Located on a large bay (hence the name Bahia), Salvador occupies a peninsula and is comprised of several main sections, including Upper and Lower Salvador. These two areas are connected by a really neat elevator overlooking the water. The food is
Cool Excel Blog in Portuguese 2007-05-30 15:42:01 Excel
Blog: http://exceler.blogspot.com/
This hits a total geek spot for me as I am into programming spreadsheets. Very good examples and creative ideas. Read more:Portuguese
No second person! 2007-05-30 15:33:00
One of the greatest things about learning Brazilian Portuguese is that in most of Brazil, the second person
(you) form is not used. There are some exceptions, and it's common to hear the second-person 'Tu' form in the south of the country, but for the most part, you simply don't need to learn it!
That means that for every verb conjugation, instead of 6 forms there are only 4 forms that one needs to memorize. Hallelujah! Anyone who has learned a second language knows what this 'shortcut' means: a lot of saved time.
In Spanish, Italian and French the third-person can be used as a formal second-person using the correct pronoun: Usted, Lei and Vous. In Brazilian Portuguese this same form, Você, has actually lost its formality and is used in place of the 'Tu' form. So when speaking to a friend or acquaintance, it is correct to use the Você form with the third-person: 'Você sabe quando o trem vai chegar?'
There are still ways of implying formality when addressing a per
A Gente 2007-05-30 15:22:38
In my last post I discussed the boon that is the lack of the 'You' form in Brazilian Portuguese. Today, I'm going to go one step further and talk about another form that you don't need to master: the first-person plural. The 'We' form is used more commonly in Brazilian Portuguese than the second-person, but it's not a form that one absolutely needs to know to get around. The reason for this is simple; Brazilians say 'a gente' to mean 'We.' Literally, 'a gente' means 'the people,' but in speech is taken to mean 'we' or 'us.'
"A gente vai lá agora, ou vamos mais tarde?" means "Are we going there now, or later?" Notice that in this example 'a gente vai' and 'vamos' mean exactly the same thing. 'Vamos' is the first-person plural; 'a gente' takes the third-person singular, the 'he, she, it' form. This means that by knowing the 'I,' 'He,' and 'They' forms for any verb you can say everything you need to say. That's half of the typical conjugation for
What kind of Portuguese should I learn? 2007-05-30 15:05:10
Let's examine some considerations when determining what type of Portuguese
to learn
. The first determining factor is, obviously, where are you going to be traveling and speaking Portuguese. If Brazil is your destination, then clearly Brazilian Portuguese is the way to go, and the same goes for European Portuguese. Sheer practicality would suggest that Brazilian Portuguese is more useful than European, at least in terms of geographic area and number of speakers.
But what if you have specific goals in academia or business? Well, then the waters are muddied by several factors. First of all, most Brazilian Portuguese teachers will gloss over a lot of grammar simply because it is not used in Brazil (see previous posts No Second Person and A Gente). Additionally there are many literary grammatical forms that one is more likely to recognize with a European Portuguese background. Also important is the tendency for Brazilian Portuguese speakers to consider European Portuguese somehow 'm
Portuguese and Italian 2007-05-30 14:55:11 I took Italian
for a semester (intensive) in college and found it to be a highly learnable language for someone familiar with Brazilian Portuguese
. The grammar is by and large pretty similar, except for some different preferences for constructing the past and future tenses. The languages share a lot of vocabulary, and a proficient Portuguese speaker (or Spanish) could build a 200-300 word vocabulary very quickly.
Sometimes to differentiate cognates in a few languages it can be helpful to picture the words in different colors, i.e. Italian in green, French in blue, Spanish in red. Portuguese in black of course because it's the coolest language.
De Repente 2007-05-30 14:48:34 Here’s a neat colloquial ‘hack’ in Brazilian Portuguese. Instead of using ‘talvez’ to say ‘maybe,’ you can say ‘de repente.’ De repente usually mean ‘suddenly,’ but it is commonly used, at least in Rio, as ‘maybe.’
While ‘talvez’ requires the subjunctive e.g. ‘quem sabe, talvez seja melhor ficar aqui,’ you can use ‘de repente’ with any voice.
Here’s a pretty common situation you might hear ‘de repente’ in:
João: “Você quer ir a festa na Lagoa hoje para dançar forro?”
Marcos: “Não sei, de repente a gente encontra mais gatinhas na festa lá no Centro.”
Here Marcos uses ‘de repente’ and the indicative to suggest an alternative, though dubious, plan.
Also you can use the conditional: “de repente levaria menos tempo andar na praia,” or the subjunctive: “de repente seja porque ele e chato.”
In a weird way, it kind of makes sense that ‘suddenly’ could mean ‘maybe.’ To me it’s easy for some reason
Imperfect Used as Conditional 2007-05-30 14:47:59 Ok, once again it’s time for a super-useful Portuguese ‘hack.’ This time I’m going to talk about a cool tense substitution that they won’t teach you in the classroom. Many teachers can’t even explain why it sounds right to the ear, but it just does.
In English, we have a construction that uses a future conditional: “If I won the lottery, I *would* be on a plane to Rio the next day.” We also use ‘would’ to convey the imperfect, specifically the habitual past: “When I lived in Recife, I would fight the sharks off every day.”
Ha! You can do the same thing in Brazilian Portuguese. “Eu faria” means ‘I would do (something)…’ and, it turns out, “Eu fazia” means the same thing. So if someone asked you what you would do if you won the lottery, you could say “Eu daria o premio todo ao meu amigo Christopher” but you could also say “Eu dava meu premio…” and it would mean the same thing. Kooky.
Instant Messaging in Portuguese 2007-05-30 14:38:57 Is there anything more important? It’s funny that in this day and age one of the most practical modes of language communication is not only not taught in school, but most adults are completely unaware it even exists. Luckily I’m here to shed some light on the all-important dialect: IM!
Some quick terms to get you going:
Brazilian Portuguese
IM Meaning
Kkkkk Laughing out loud
Rsrsrs Lol
Vc You
Cd Where are/is (cade)
Oq, q, oke, o q What (O que, que)
pq Why (porque)
Tbm, tb Also (tambêm)
td Everything (tudo)
tc Chat (teclar)
Blz Great, “Word” (Beleza)
Aki Here (aqui)
I’ve been IM-ing a lot more lately in Portuguese, and I think you could really get by with a few hundred word vocabulary, certainly on the speaking side.
Phonetic typing can take some getting used to, especially since people IM with varying degrees of accuracy. Common substitutions include ‘k’ for ‘qu’ dropping ‘es’ from all forms of ‘estar’ and o for ‘ou. Read more:Messaging
European Grammar Snobbery 2007-05-30 14:38:17 The idea of 'correct' speech has all but disappeared in English. The same is more or less true of Brazilian Portuguese, certainly at the street level, though I would submit that Brazilians feel a little more guilt about butchering their mother tongue than we do. Hey, we've already entered 'aint' into our dictionaries, and the last few holdouts who avoid such pitfalls as 'hopefully' and 'the reason is because' are a dying breed, though I include myself in that group.
European
Portuguese speakers at times take great pride in pointing out every example of Brazil's bastardization of their precious language. Prontuário Ortográfico is a very thorough example of this tendency. Perhaps I'm jealous of their persistent zeal in defending, maintaining and promoting the 'correct' use of the language, perhaps I find it truly pretentious, not quite sure. At any rate, it's impressive how 'wrong' Brazilian Portuguese is, after all.
The bigger debate asks us what is more important: Read more:Grammar
Getting Over Spanish 2007-05-30 14:12:26 Probably the most universal experience learning Portuguese, especially in North America, relates to the process of 'over-writing' previously learned Spanish
knowledge. It is extremely common in beginning Brazilian Portuguese classes to hear and see these mistakes over and over. Saying 'hablo' instead of 'falo' or misspelling 'quando' 'cuando' are very frequent, in addition to the myriad subtle vocabulary differences we see between the languages.
Is it a benefit or a hindrance to take on a new language that is related to one you have already studied? Good question. On one hand, you may be very familiar with the vocabulary, conjugations and basic grammar, but this knowledge can also lead you down the wrong path. Just because you can read a newspaper doesn't necessarily mean you sound correct when you speak!
In my experience, I really had to forget Spanish in order to learn Portuguese. When I approached my teacher about this, she ex
Brazilian Radio on the Internet 2007-06-26 19:27:20
click on the image to hear the live broadcast!
MPB, Música Popular Brasileira, is a sort of 'super-genre' of music that has it's roots in the post-Bossa Nova era of the mid- to late-60's. MPB encompasses many different styles of music, ranging from those with jazzy bossa-nova influences to rock and pop music very similar to that found in North America.
Generally MPB signifies any style of music that is relatively current and recognized as, frankly, widely popular and distinctly Brazilian
. I suppose MPB is a pretty good moniker indeed.
MPB FM, a radio station broadcasting out of Rio de Janeiro (where else!?), serves as a fantastic soundtrack to the 'cidade maravilhosa' ...
itself. Extremely popular and influential, it is very common to hear MPB FM spilling out of the speakers of taxis, botequins, casas and apartamentos. From what I understand it's even pretty popular in the favelas. Seja o que for (be what it may), it's safe to say that MPB FM is a great re Read more:Radio
, Internet
Instant Messaging in Portuguese 2007-06-25 19:45:08
Is there anything more important? It’s funny that in this day and age one of the most practical modes of language communication is not only not taught in school, but most adults are completely unaware it even exists. Luckily I’m here to shed some light on the all-important dialect: IM!
Some quick terms to get you going:
Read more:Messaging
, Portuguese
Sounds of Samba - Repenique 2007-06-22 09:11:42
The repenique is a common Brazilian drum that is part of the 'batucada' as well as the larger samba school ensembles. It is a high-pitched tom drum (as opposed to the 'caixa' or snare drum) and adds a crucial element to the oceanic samba sound.
Typically, the repenique is played with a stick in one hand (usually the right one) and no stick in the left. The left hand plays the drum as well, but with fingers instead. The stick can produce a powerful rim shot and the bare hand provides both the ability to muffle the sound and also produces a mellower striking tone.
Watch the video... it speaks for itself. Read more:Sounds
, Samba
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