Archive for August, 2011
Religion in Brazil Posted by Rachel on Aug 31, 2011
While Brazil is the largest Catholic country in the world, there are many other religions represented amongst Brazil’s 190 million people. Catholics now represent about 68 percent of the population, and Evangelical Christians encompass around 20 percent. Evangelical sects are on the rise, including Pentacostalists, Neo-Pentacostalists, Mormons, and others. In fact, Mormonism is one of…
English-Portuguese Glossaries Posted by Rachel on Aug 29, 2011
Dictionaries can be helpful when you’re looking for a particular vocabulary word to translate, but another very helpful resource is a bilingual glossary. This means you can find simple translations as well as words unique to each language with a translation and explanation. For example, we don’t have a carteira do trabalho in the US…
Brazil’s National Anthem in English Posted by Rachel on Aug 26, 2011
Now more than ever, you can find quite a few texts online that are translated in both English and Portuguese. To give a few examples, there’s a limited New York Times syndication on MSN of NYT articles translated into Portuguese, and Paul Krugman‘s blog is syndicated in Portuguese on Estadão. As Adir recommended yesterday, reading…
Learning tip: Reading is fun! Posted by Adir on Aug 25, 2011
Olá, tudo bem? Reading is fun! No? You sure? Well, reading what you don’t like or have to read (like school assignments and stuff) is boring, I know that. But in this post I’m going to show you that reading can be fun, oh yes it can! When we’re learning a foreign language reading is…
Senna The Movie Posted by Rachel on Aug 23, 2011
The epic biopic Senna, a documentary about Ayrton Senna, a Formula One driver and one of Brazil’s most famous personalities widely considered a national hero, The film was recently released in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Australia. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s a must-see for anyone studying Portuguese or interested in Brazil. Here’s…
Abaixo vs. A baixo Posted by polyana on Aug 22, 2011
One thing I always forget the rule to in Portuguese is the difference between abaixo and a baixo. The both sound the same, and they both essentially mean the same (or do they?!). And because of this, I always find myself asking my coworkers time and again, “Ok, I know I’ve asked you this before…
Rafinha Bastos Posted by Rachel on Aug 18, 2011
Rafinha Bastos is one of Brazil’s most famous comedians, and he was recently profiled in The New York Times. We’ve watched some of his stand up before, but today we’re going to read about his career and how he used social media to become the most influential person on Twitter. But here’s the catch –…