Archive for January, 2012
Interviews from São Paulo Fashion Week Posted by Rachel on Jan 30, 2012
This month, São Paulo Fashion Week held its Winter 2012 edition, attracting celebrities and designers from Brazil and abroad. Today, we’re going to do a listening comprehension exercise listening to interviews from the event. Where are they holding Fernanda Motta’s fashion shoot? According to the editor, what did fashion week used to be like before?…
Brazilian Yelp Posted by Rachel on Jan 29, 2012
Ever wondered where to go to look for reviews of businesses in Brazil? There are a few places to look, but what’s sometimes called the “Brazilian Yelp” is a site called Kekanto, that has reviews of services and local business throughout the country. It’s also an app that can be used on mobile devices. Kekanto…
Learning Tip: Informality Posted by Rachel on Jan 26, 2012
Something that can be a bit confusing about spoken Portuguese is when to be informal, and when to be formal. In some ways, Portuguese is quite informal. Small talk is a very important part of communication, and expressions like tudo bom, tudo jóia, and tudo bem are commonplace in any conversation. So it can sometimes…
Cordel Literature Posted by Rachel on Jan 25, 2012
Cordels are an important Brazilian cultural form that come from the Northeast. A cordel is a string, and these poems, songs, or novels get their name from the way they are hung on a string at street fairs. They are typically printed in black and white with woodcut-style illustrations. While this folk literature comes from…
Watch Carnaval in Salvador…. Live! Posted by polyana on Jan 24, 2012
For those who don’t know, one of the biggest Carnaval celebrations in the world is in Salvador, Bahia, in the northeast of Brazil. We posted last year about watching Carnaval Online, and I think it’s only fair we give you a heads up this year too! Plus, this year you have more than just YouTube…
Idioms in Brazilian Portuguese – Part 02 Posted by Adir on Jan 20, 2012
E aí, pessoal? Tudo bem? Let’s learn today some very interesting idioms in Brazilian Portuguese. Remember that languages are full of idioms and it’s always a good idea to be able to recognize and learn them. Vamos começar? Andar na linha – literally it means to “walk on the line”. This idiom is used when…
Luiza in Canada Posted by Rachel on Jan 20, 2012
Brazilians are really big on memes, and one of the most popular ones going around recently is “Luiza está no Canadá.” It’s from a commercial for a luxury apartment building in Paraíba, where the man advertising the building used his family in the commercial, but makes a point of saying that everyone is there except…