Archive for October, 2007
Guarana Posted by Transparent Language on Oct 19, 2007
Guarana is a tropical berry from which several different popular drinks in Brazil are made. I love Guarana soda. Thank goodness I can get it in grocery stores in the USA, because I really would be sad without it. Lately I’ve even been substituting my morning coffee with a Guarana Antarctica soda – diet of…
Arabic Influence on Portuguese Posted by Transparent Language on Oct 17, 2007
500 years of Moorish influence will leave a linguistic mark! The period in which the Moors ruled Spain (roughly from 700 to 1500 common era), also affected Portugal quite a bit. It wasn’t until 1250 that the Moors were expelled from Portugal, and by that point the Arabic language had made quite an impact on…
Mineirês: Part 1 Posted by Transparent Language on Oct 15, 2007
Have you ever heard someone from Minas Gerais speak Portuguese? The Portuguese spoken in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais is quite distinct from that spoken in other parts of the country. Full of idiosyncrasies, the Mineiran ‘dialect,’ or Mineirês can be hard to understand and even painful to listen to for some Brazilians. Indeed…
Asa Branca Posted by Transparent Language on Oct 11, 2007
In 1947, amidst a devastating drought in the Brazilian Sertão, two men wrote a song that has become a national epic. Many people consider this work, Asa Branca to be much more than a song; it is a poem, an emotion, a history and a destiny. The cyclical droughts of the Sertão have driven hundreds…
Jardim Botânico Posted by Transparent Language on Oct 11, 2007
Located next to the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas in Rio, Jardim Botânico is a popular spot to hang out and relax The park, which is located in the neighborhood of the same name in the Zona Sul, is home to over 6,500 different types of plants (some on the verge of extinction), both planted in…
How Hard is Portuguese to Learn? Posted by Transparent Language on Oct 10, 2007
Question: “I want to learn to speak and read Portuguese; how hard will it be?” [First off, let me acknowledge that any thoughts on this topic are quite subjective, and as a passionate fan of the Portuguese language, I am arguably biased. That being said, I have learned a lot of Portuguese and also several…
Racecars in Brazilian Cities Posted by Transparent Language on Oct 10, 2007
Just for fun, here are some videos showing Formula 1 racecars on the streets of major Brazilian cities. Here’s one of a Ferrari F1 on Avenida Vieira Souto in Ipanema and another one of a Red Bull F1 demo in Sampa (São Paulo). Formula 1 racing was popularized in Brazil in the 1980s by Ayrton…