Archive for July, 2011
Capixabês – Pretending to be From Espírito Santo Posted by polyana on Jul 29, 2011
You’re probably looking at the title saying, “What? Speaking like the Holy Spirit? This blogger has officially gone weird.” For those of you more familiar with Brazilian geography, Espírito Santo is a small state on the coast, squished between Bahia & Rio de Janeiro and which makes Minas Gerais the inland state that it is!…
The Brazilian Diet: Listening Comprehension Posted by Rachel on Jul 29, 2011
This week, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics released a report about the foods that Brazilians consume, and the state of Brazilian nutrition. We’re going to watch some news reports about the findings. Questions 1. What food item is most consumed by Brazilians, even more than rice and beans? 2. Which substance is being…
Pizza in São Paulo: Reading Comprehension Posted by Rachel on Jul 28, 2011
Today we’re going to do a reading comprehension exercise using a great blog by American journalist Seth Kugel, who writes a travel blog in Portuguese for iG. He’s also an inspiration to all of you learning Portuguese, since Seth learned Portuguese as an adult and became fluent, and now writes his own column entirely in…
Writing Formal Emails in Portuguese Posted by Rachel on Jul 26, 2011
For those who need to learn Portuguese for work, today’s post will come in handy. We’re going to learn how to write a formal e-mail in Portuguese, including the salutation and leave-taking. There are ways to write even more formally, but we’re going to learn the simpler version. 1. Salutation A formal salutation to use…
Video: the sound of LH Posted by Adir on Jul 22, 2011
E aí, tudo bem com você? Today we have another pronunciation video with a very common sound in Portuguese, represented by the letters LH. Remember to practice the words presented in the video to get better and better. You can download the audio of the video in the link below, ok? Aproveite o vídeo! Download…
Internship in Portuguese Posted by Rachel on Jul 22, 2011
In Brazilian Portuguese, an internship is called an estágio. Like in other countries, it’s an opportunity for students or young people to gain experience in a company, either unpaid or with a small stipend or salary. These employees are called estagiários, or interns, and to participate in an internship is to estagiar. In Brazil, internships…
Aleijadinho – Brazilian Baroque Sculptor Posted by polyana on Jul 21, 2011
I was in Ouro Preto this past weekend, one of the more famous historic towns in Minas Gerais, in the southeast of Brazil. The town has maintained its historic look and feel with stone streets, Portuguese architecture, and gorgeous Baroque Catholic churches. A couple of the churches contain the sculpture of Antonio Francisco Lisboa, more…