Archive for November, 2007
O Globo Online: Popular Brazilian Newspaper Posted by Transparent Language on Nov 30, 2007
A great way to stay on top of the latest Brazilian events, while keeping up with your Portuguese! There isn’t much to explain here; O Globo is a hugely popular newspaper in Brazil which is always worth reading. You can check it out online to get Brazilian news headlines quickly and easily. For those of…
Brazilian Oil Discovery Posted by Transparent Language on Nov 19, 2007
BYKI Web List and Podcast audio included below JACKPOT! You know that feeling when you find a $20 bill on the street? Pretty great, right? Ok now imagine finding a hundred billion dollars. That is essentially what happened to Brazil last week, when the national oil company Petrobras stumbled upon an undiscovered underwater oil reserve…
City of Men (Cidade dos Homens) Posted by Transparent Language on Nov 16, 2007
For those that enjoyed ‘City of God,’ this new movie is a must-see. City of God, directed by Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund, and based on the book of the same name by Paulo Lins, was released internationally in 2002. Though the movie was criticized, mainly by Brazilians, for glorifying and exposing the violence of…
Google Brazil Posted by Transparent Language on Nov 16, 2007
Check out Google.com.br if you haven’t already. Using localized Google, you are able to search sites and documents in other languages, such as Portuguese. It has happened to me that my Brazilian friends have found things faster than I while searching concurrent with my queries, and the reason is that sometimes I forget to localize…
Proclamação da República Posted by Transparent Language on Nov 15, 2007
On this very day – November 15th – in 1889, Brazil marked its transition from a monarchy to a republic. The event was triggered by a coup d’état or golpe de estado conducted by Brazilian army units under the direction of Deodoro da Fonseca. The coup ousted Dom Pedro II and ended the rule of…
Samba School: Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel Posted by Transparent Language on Nov 13, 2007
There are over a dozen major samba schools (escolas de samba) in Rio de Janeiro. G.R.E.S. Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel is a terrific example of one of the major schools. Located in Samba City near downtown, Mocidade grew out of not a samba school, but in fact a local soccer team: A escola…
Swim the amazon in 66 Days! Posted by Transparent Language on Nov 12, 2007
…or just let this guy do it. Martin Strel is a world-class swimmer with a zeal for breaking records. Already having broken many Guinness World Records for distance swimming, including swimming the Adriatic Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Danube River and the Mississippi River, Stel decided to attempt the unthinkable: swim the entire Amazin river…