Archive for August, 2007
Why do Brazilians speak Portuguese Posted by Transparent Language on Aug 15, 2007
People speak Portuguese in Brazil because Brazil was a Portuguese colony. Though this fact is well-known in some circles (loyal blog readers and Portuguese language learners, for example), one may be surprised how many well-educated people either don’t know that Portuguese is spoken in Brazil, or don’t know why! It is actually pretty common to…
Diminutives Posted by Transparent Language on Aug 13, 2007
Terms of endearment are a national pastime in Brazil. You can’t bottle cuteness, but the Brazilian Portuguese language has the next best option. The diminutive form in Portuguese has nearly cornered the global market for endearing nicknames (apelidos) in addition to being a common useful way of describing the tiny form of common nouns. As…
Colors in Portuguese Posted by Transparent Language on Aug 9, 2007
Time to learn some new words or just brush up on your vocabulary! Here is a list of Colors in Portuguese. This list features images in addition to the native speaker sound that we include as standard in our BYKI Web lists. Enjoy!
Homem Cueca Posted by Transparent Language on Aug 9, 2007
O Homem Cueca is a super-hero who appears in the humor sketches (quadros de humor) that bear the same name. Homem Cueca translates as Underpants Man. Created by Felipe Xavier for the São Paulo radio network Jovem Pan 100,9 FM, o Homem Cueca is sort of a satire of Superman, an anti-hero who appears in…
Here and There: Aqui, Ali and Lá Posted by Transparent Language on Aug 8, 2007
English is easy, right? We have two prepositions, here and there for describing relative location to the speaker. Portuguese isn’t so tough itself, but in this instance the language is both more involved and more specific. Brazilians use four different prepositions for a similar purpose. Aqui, means here, just as it does in Spanish. To…
Vir and Ir, Coming and Going Posted by Transparent Language on Aug 8, 2007
It is very important in Portuguese not to confuse the verbs Vir to come and Ir to go. It is incorrect to say “Vou aqui de novo a semana que vem”, you would need to be sure to say “Veio…” By the same token, be careful not to translate in your head phrases such as…
X marks the sound Posted by Transparent Language on Aug 1, 2007
Pronunciation in Portuguese can be tricky, and there are several areas in which language learners are frequently confused. One such area in Portuguese is the letter X. This one letter has four different sounds! In the word Xangô, the ‘x’ is pronounced like the ‘sh’ in shampoo. In proximidade, it sounds like the ‘s’ in…