Archive for January, 2010
The Brazen Kayaker Posted by Rachel on Jan 20, 2010
A teacher from Porto Alegre has an interesting hobby that has taken him to the other end of the country: kayaking the Amazon. Hiram Reis e Silva, age 58, has already kayaked several tributaries, including the 1,600 kilometer Rio Solimões. Now, he’s kayaking the 950 km long Rio Negro, which has very few inhabitants along…
Brazil Economic News Posted by Rachel on Jan 19, 2010
Let’s take a look at the headlines from business and economy in Brazil this week: Vale eyes Brazilian fertilizer assets, Financier Worldwide Vale deve roubar mercado de gigantes da mineração neste ano, Estadão Brazil Alupar completes $141 million debenture issue, Wall Street Journal Brazil Petrobras signs deal…, Wall Street Journal Azul transporta 2.2 milhões de…
Lyrics Practice: Carlinhos Brown Posted by Rachel on Jan 18, 2010
With a song that is sure to brighten your Monday, to practice for Carnival which is rapidly approaching, and in honor of one of our Transparent colleagues currently in Bahia, here is Carlinhos Brown’s song “Maria Caipirinha.” Follow along with the lyrics, which are fairly straightforward. Lyrics Tê tê tê Tetetê tetê Tê tê tê…
Brazilians Help Out in Haiti Posted by Rachel on Jan 15, 2010
After the devastating earthquake in Haiti this week, Brazilians rose to the challenge to help out in the Caribbean country. Brazil already had 1,300 peacekeeping troops stationed there (although at least fourteen soldiers were killed in the quake). Brazil pledged US$15 million in aid, along with 13 tons of food and 17 tons of medicine…
Reading Comprehension: Endangered Species Posted by Rachel on Jan 14, 2010
Today we’re going to work on a reading comprehension exercise about an endangered species in the Amazon. The article is entitled, “Pesca excessiva ameaça maior peixe da Amazônia, diz pesquisa,” on Globo’s Amazon section. Here’s the first part: “A captura descontrolada pode fazer com que o maior peixe da Amazônia – e um dos maiores…
Já já Posted by Rachel on Jan 13, 2010
In keeping up with our New Year review of some basic phrases, I’d like to reiterate a nice little expression: já já. Já means already or soon. When you use it twice, it emphasizes the speed of the action your referring to. It is mostly used as a spoken term. Examples: Estou chegando já já…
Brazilian Cooking Series: Shrimp Posted by Rachel on Jan 12, 2010
Seafood is very popular in Brazil, so today we’re going to look at a few fun recipes for shrimp. 1. Camarão no abacaxi – Shrimp-stuffed pineapple 2. Camarão à Paulista – São Paulo-style shrimp 3. Camarão escondido – Hidden shrimp 4. Risoto de camarão – Shrimp risotto 5. Camarão à Brasileira – Brazilian-style shrimp (directions…