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Archive for March, 2008

Gostar Posted by on Mar 31, 2008

Gostar is an important verb to learn and is luckily fairly easy to use. It means “to like,” but is used in various contexts. Unlike the Spanish gustar, which is a bit tricky for English-speakers to learn, gostar is a completely regular verb. Here are of gostar‘s uses. First, in the present tense, it can…

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Showing Surprise: Part II Posted by on Mar 28, 2008

To finish the week, we’ll look at three more expressions used to show surprise in Portuguese. 1. Puxa / puxa vida! (poo-shah / poo-shah vee-dah): Jeez! Man! Gosh! This expression is meant to show surprise, indignation, or frustration. Examples: Puxa! Esta cidade é bem cara. Man! This city is expensive. Puxa vida! Você esqueceu de…

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Resolve a tua crise! Posted by on Mar 27, 2008

Globo News is reporting that Brazilian President Lula da Silva spoke to U.S. President George Bush twice on the phone today. President Lula claims that Bush was upset after the Brazilian leader had phoned U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown recently before communicating with him to discuss the U.S. economic crisis. And then, the best part…

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Brazilian City Spotlight: Petrópolis, the Imperial City Posted by on Mar 26, 2008

Located an hour from the city of Rio de Janeiro, Petrópolis is a city nestled in the mountains of the Serra dos Órgãos, with a population of about 306,000. The city was the summer home of the Brazilian emperor, Dom Pedro II, who founded the city in 1843 after buying a farm in the area…

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And the winner is… Posted by on Mar 25, 2008

The votes are in and the winner of Big Brother Brasil 8 is… Rafinha.   Rafinha is 26 year-old musician from Campinas in the state of São Paulo. Rafinha beat his competitor, Gyselle, by a hair–with only 50.15% of the votes. This year’s Big Brother beat all voting records, with a whopping 75 million votes…

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Showing Surprise Posted by on Mar 24, 2008

There are a rich array of ways to display surprise in Brazilian Portuguese. Let’s look at some of them. 1. Nossa Senhora or Nossa!  [Noh-sah Seen-yor-ah]This is a very common Brazilian expression. The full expression is “Nossa Senhora Aparecida,” which is the patron saint of Brazil. It’s a nicer way of saying “Oh my god!”…

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JetBlue Set to Launch New Brazilian Airline Posted by on Mar 22, 2008

This week, Globo reported that the Brazilian National Aviation Agency (ANAC) is going through the approval process to allow JetBlue to start a new airline based in Brazil. The airline will be officially announced on March 27th. JetBlue founder David Neeleman raised US$200 million to begin the new company. He’s in the process of hiring…

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