Real Brazilian Portuguese & Culture
HOW TO LEARN BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE The best way to learn Brazilian Portuguese (or any language) is to expand your vocabulary by gradually memorizing lists of related words. This technique will help orient your mind to making connections between words in a certain category or taxonomy, which will facilitate your retrieval of the newly learned words [...]
Here’s the Portuguese word of the day! If you have any words that you would like to nominate for this word of the day series, let me know! portugueseblogger@gmail.com “AFROUXAR” afrouxar – to loosen, slacken, ease, alleviate (especially when talking about rules, laws or regulations) “Governo federal vai afrouxar controle sobre obras da Copa e das Olimpíadas.” – The federal government is [...]
How To Speak Portuguese Like A Mineiro Translated from Mineirês, the cartoon above reads: M1 – Antes de ontem achei um quilo de carne dentro do forno. Comi tudo. Que azia que deu. M2 – Nossa senhora. Doido demais. M1 – Só pinga com mel pra descer do estômago. M2 – Isso mesmo. M1 – Olha, pra você ver, guardei um pouco embaixo da cama que é pra eu comer amanhã. M2 – *Silêncio* Vish, divide aí. Have [...]
HOW TO LEARN PORTUGUESE The best way to learn Brazilian Portuguese (or any language) is to expand your vocabulary by gradually memorizing lists of related words. This technique will help orient your mind to making connections between words in a certain category or taxonomy, which will facilitate your retrieval of the newly learned words later [...]
PORTUGUESE CHESS VOCABULARY Plan on playing chess against a Portuguese-speaking opponent? Here’s some vocab to make that easier: xadrez - chess tabuleiro - board casa - square coluna - column fileira - rank partida – game as brancas - white as pretas - black relógio - clock peças - pieces peça menor - minor piece peão - pawn bispo - bishop cavalo - knight torre - rook dama - queen rei - king roque - castle promoção - promotion xeque - check [...]
If you spend any time living in Brazil you will soon come across an institution that does not exist in the United States, but which is part of the everyday bureaucratic life of this country. Brazilian bureaucracy requires government-approved translators to translate all legal documents that originate in non-Portuguese speaking countries into Portuguese. Such a [...]
Fantástico is Brazil’s own, idiosyncratic answer to Sixty Minutes. Fantástico regularly lives up to its name and satisfies Brazil’s passion for the supernatural and the offbeat. In 1996 it created a major stir with exclusive footage of what it claimed to be two UFOs seen over Brazilian cities. And in 2001, it had a report [...]
Facebook has opened an ad sales office in São Paulo, Brazil that apparently will serve as the social site’s headquarters for Latin America. Facebook head of marketing Carolyn Everson mentioned her company’s expansion in an interview with ClickZ at Cannes Lions on Wednesday. “There is a wonderful creative community happening in Brazil. We just opened our [...]
SER VS. ESTAR IN BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE The fact that there are two words in Portuguese that mean “to be”, ser and estar, can baffle some English speakers at first. How am I supposed to know the difference? you may wonder. First off, don’t get aggravated about it because every language has its own special characteristics that don’t [...]
THE SEASONS IN PORTUGUESE Here is some vocab for the seasons in Portuguese. Remember that since it is in the Southern hemisphere, Brazil’s seasons occur opposite to ours in the Northern Hemisphere. as estações do ano – the seasons of the year ano bissexto – leap year um ano – a year estação – season [...]
PAULISTA VS. PAULISTANO What is the difference between a “Paulista” and a “Paulistano” in Brazilian Portuguese? -A Paulista is a native or inhabitant of the state of São Paulo. -A Paulistano is a native or inhabitant of the city of São Paulo. If there are any other groups of similar words in Portuguese that get you [...]
TURMA [gang, group of people, usually friends] Vou sair com a turma hoje. – I’m going out with the gang tonight.
THE MEDIA IN BRAZIL South America’s biggest media market is home to thousands of radio stations and hundreds of TV channels. Media ownership is highly concentrated. Home-grown conglomerates such as Globo, Brazil’s most-successful broadcaster, dominate the market and run TV and radio networks, newspapers and pay-TV operations. Brazilian-made dramas and soaps are aired around the [...]
The Brazilian government confirmed this week the existence of an uncontacted tribe in a southwestern area of the Amazon rain forest. Three large clearings in the area had been identified by satellite, but the population’s existence was only verified after airplane expeditions in April gathered more data, the National Indian Foundation said in a news [...]
MASP stands for Museu de Arte de São Paulo (São Paulo Museum of Art) and it is located on 1578 Paulista Ave. in São Paulo. It is undoubtedly one of the trademarks of the city. It is a 1968 concrete and glass structure designed by architect Lina Bo Bardi. The building’s most distinctive feature is the 243 [...]
CRISTO REDENTOR – CHRIST THE REDEEMER Learn about one of Brazil’s most famous landmarks. “E a cidade que tem braços abertos (It’s the city that has open arms) Num cartão postal (On a post card) Com os punhos fechados na vida real (With clenched fists in real life) Lhe nega oportunidades (It denies opportunities) Mostra a face dura do [...]
HERE IS A LIST OF BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE COLLECTIVE NOUNS FOR OBJECTS: acervo – collection (art, collectibles, etc) baixela – tableware bagagem - luggage cartuchame – cartridges (ie for printers, video games, etc) clientela – clientele comboio – fleet of trucks, ships, or trains elenco – cast madeixa – tress/lock of hair (bunch of hairs) molho (de chaves) – bunch of keys * ror – a [...]
WHAT IS A FESTA JUNINA? Festa Junina are two week long festivals that happen during the month of June in Brazil and are extremely popular throughout the entire country. The Brazilian June festival traditionally celebrates the Catholic Saints Santo Antônio (Saint Anthony) São João (Saint John) and São Pedro (Saint Peter). Therefore, many Brazilian Festa Juninas are run by churches and [...]
Here are some Portuguese slang terms for Brazilian money, with some examples of the words used in sentences. grana – dinheiro (this is a very common slang word for money in Brazilian Portugues) Mãos ao alto, isso é um assalto, me passa a grana e o celulá! Hands up, this is a robbery, give me the money and the [...]
GREETING SOMEONE INFORMALLY IN BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE This is just proof of how extensive that Brazilian slang vocabulary is. There are about 100 ways to greet your friends in Brazil and many of these greetings will have slightly different tones to them or shades of meaning. Sometimes there is just no great translation, our English slang inventory is simply not as [...]
