Archive for January, 2009
Brazilian Cooking Series: Part V Posted by Rachel on Jan 21, 2009
Today we’re going to learn how to make coxinha, a popular Brazilian snack food. Literally, coxinha means “little thigh,” but in reality coxinha is deep fried chicken, shaped like a pear. The recipe is also popular in Portugal. It is made using dough, a mixture of wheat and chicken stock, and shredded chicken. The chicken…
Political Vocabulary Posted by Rachel on Jan 20, 2009
In honor of the American Presidential inauguration today, we’re going to learn some political vocabulary in Portuguese. político = politician posse / ceremônia de posse = inauguration presidente = president eleição = election eleitorado = electorate discurso = speech governo = administration Congresso = Congress Senado = Senate lobista = lobbyist direitos = rights liberdade…
Novela News Posted by Rachel on Jan 19, 2009
Due to intense competition between two of the major TV networks in Brazil, there are a slew of new novelas and TV shows coming out in Brazil as each network tries to edge out the other. The two networks in question, Globo and Record, have been competing for viewers as Record has won over traditional…
Brazil Least Affected by Crisis Posted by Rachel on Jan 16, 2009
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released a report recently indicating that Brazil is the country least affected by the worldwide economic crisis. The OECD uses an index based on the number 100: countries with indexes below 100 that are contracting are considered countries in a slowdown, while countries with indexes below 100…
New Biofuel Discovery in the Amazon Posted by Rachel on Jan 15, 2009
Brazilian engineer Otoniel Duarte has made an important discovery during a study in the northern state of Roraima: he found that a species of Amazon palm tree, the palmeira inajá, is capable of producing oil that can be used for biofuel. The inajápalm is a close relative of the dende palm, native to Africa, which…
Brazil in the Headlines Posted by Rachel on Jan 14, 2009
Today we’re going to take a look at the headlines about Brazil: The Place to Be: Florianopolis, Brazil, New York Times Government fights slave labor in Brazil, CNN Brazil President: Newspapers give me heartburn, IHT Brazilian Firms Step Up to Bridge Education Gap, LA Times BG to Invest $4 Billion in Brazil’s Pre-Salt Oil, Bloomberg…
Try, try again Posted by Rachel on Jan 13, 2009
There are several different ways to translate the English verb “try” into Portuguese, so today we’re going to take a look at them. 1. tentar: try as in make an effort to do something Vou tentar terminar o projeto logo. I’m going to try to finish the project soon. Ele tentou entrar no site de…