Portuguese Language Blog

Hello, there!

June came with a wave of protests in Brazil’s largest cities, but today we will be taking a look at a very typical Brazilian festivity: Festa Junina.

The June Festivities or popular saints festivities are Catholic celebrations that date back to the Middle Age to celebrate St John’s Day on June 24th. In Brazil St Anthony (June 13) and St Peter (June 29) are also celebrated.

June Festivitivies have some basic elements:

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A Fogueira – The Bonfire

The June bonfires come from Europe and are part of the pagan tradition of celebration the summer solstice in the Middle Age. A Catholic legend states that the ancient custom of lighting bonfires at the beginning of summer had its roots in an agreement from cousing Mary and Elizabeth, who had to light a bonfire on a hill to ask Mary to help her when she would give birth to John the Baptist.

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Os Balões – The balloons

Ballons are part of June festivities to tell people that the party is about to start. Kids play around with small and harmeless little bombs called “traque”. Nowadays people are advised not to release balloons without the help of a professional due to fires in forests.

A Quadrilha – Square dancing

The quadrilha is a rural wedding ceremony with a dance afterwards. It portraits a very funny and typical wedding that used to happen back in the day. After the bride and groom say “yes”, they start dancing to commands that a quadrilha singer gives.

The quadrilha usually has the bride and groom and their parents, a priest, the padrinhos and madrinhas – something like the best men and maids of honor – and a pregnant woman for when the priest asks if someone knows about something that could impede this wedding from happening.

The quadrilha is usually a lot of fun and at the end of it the participants praise the three saints:

Viva Santo Antônio!
Viva São João!
Viva São Pedro!

And everybody replies, “Viva, viva, viva!”

Check out this video of a quadrilha I sang last year, at a college party! Enjoy!

A Comida Típica

Here’s a list of some typical food and dishes eaten at June festivities in Brazil.

• Arroz Doce
• Bolo de Milho Verde
• Baba de moça
• Biscoito de Polvilho
• Pipoca
• Curau
• Pamonha
• Canjica
• Milho Cozido
• Quentão (bebida feita com gengibre, pinga e canela)
• Batata Doce Assada
• Bolo de Fubá
• Bom-bocado
• Broa de Fubá
• Cocada
• Cajuzinho
• Doce de Abóbora
• Doce de batata-doce
• Maria-mole
• Pastel Junino
• Pé de moleque
• Pinhão
• Cuzcuz
• Quebra Queixo
• Quindim
• Rosquinhas de São João
• Vinho Quente
• Suspiro

Google them to see how they are made!

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Hello, there!

Today I’m going to teach a very common Brazilian expression: fazer uma vaquinha. Literally it means “to make a little cow” and you may wonder, “Adir, what on earth is that?”

Well, fazer uma vaquinha means to raise money, informally, for something or someone. For example, your friend wants to audition for American Idol, but he doesn’t have the money for the bus ticket so all his friends contribute with a little something until they reach their goal.

Here are some examples:

Acabou a cerveja. Vamos fazer uma vaquinha e comprar mais.
We’re out of beer. Let’s pitch in and buy some more.

Tivemos que fazer uma vaquinha pra ele comprar a passagem de ônibus.
We had to pitch in for him to buy the bus ticket.

In Brazil there’s even a website that faz uma vaquinha for you, it’s called Vakinha (of course!). I just moved into a new apartment and I needed to buy a TV set and a couch and I fiz uma vaquinha online to see if it works. Well, I’m reaching my goal!

Another expression for when we run out of something at parties is passar o chapéu, to pass the hat around so that people contribute with some money.

Well, this is it for today! Hope you have a great weekend!

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Olá, pessoal!

Tomorrow is Dia dos Namorados, Valentine’s Day, in Brazil so I thought I’d teach you some “loving” vocabulary in Portuguese.

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Namorar = to date
Ter um encontro com = to have a date with
Um encontro = a date

Você parece mais feliz depois que começou a namorar o Mike. – You look happier since you started dating Mike.
Tenho um encontro hoje à noite. Estou ansioso. – I have a date tonight. I’m anxious.
A que horas é seu encontro? – What time is your date?

Estar apaixonado (por) = to be in love (with)
Apaixonar-se (por) = to fall in love (with)
Amor à Primeira Vista = love at first sight

Não dá pra pensar direito quando se está apaixonado. – You can’t think straight when you are in love.
Ele se apaixonou por ela assim que a viu. Para ele foi amor à primeira vista. = He fell in love with her the minute he laid eyes on her. For him it was love at first sight.

Namorar firme (com) = to go steady (with)
Dar-se bem (com), entender-se bem (com) = to get along (with)
O amor é cego. = Love is blind.

Eles namoram firme há três anos. – They have been going steady for three years.
No início eles não se entendiam. – At first they didn’t get along.
Como dizem, “o amor é cego”. – As they say, “love is blind”.

Romper (com alguém), largar (de alguém) = to break up, to split up (with)
Superar (o fim do relacionamento), “esquecer” = to get over

Todos ficamos surpresos quando soubemos que ele tinha largado dela. – We were all surprised when we found out he had broken up with her.
Ela levou bastante tempo para se esquecer dele. – It took her quite some time to get over him.

Fazer as pazez e voltar = to make up and get back together
Casar-se = to get married

É bom saber que eles fizeram as pazes e voltaram depois daquela briga. – It’s good to know they made up and got back together after that argument.
Você sabe quando eles vão se casar? – Do you know when they are getting married?

Now, if you are not in a relationship – and hate Dia dos Namorados – , there’s a brand new (and funny!) movie for you: Odeio O Dia dos Namorados, with comedian Heloisa Perisse!

Want more free resources to learn Portuguese? Check out the other goodies we offer to help make your language learning efforts a daily habit.