Archive for the year 2012
The Girl from Ipanema Turns 50 Posted by Rachel on Jul 14, 2012
This month, one of the most famous bossa nova songs “The Girl from Ipanema” turns 50 years old. The actual “girl” is now a 67-year-old woman. Read a bit about the history from G1: A jovem que inspirou Tom Jobim e Vinícius de Moraes a escrever “Garota de Ipanema”, Helô Pinheiro, hoje uma senhora de…
Collective Nouns in Portuguese: People Posted by Adir on Jul 13, 2012
Last year our Portuguese blogger Rachel wrote about animal and nature collective nouns and today I’m going to continue this series with collective nouns related to people. I will include a translation when possible, ok? Shall we go for it? assembleia [assembly] = pessoas reunidas banca [board] = examinadores banda [band] = músicos bando, corja…
Learning Tip: Significant Other Posted by Rachel on Jul 12, 2012
One of the reasons that people decide to learn Portuguese is that they will live or travel to Brazil to be with a spouse or significant other. In this case, learning Portuguese can either be a breeze or a bit of a struggle. That’s because one of the best ways to learn a language is…
How to use “mal” and “mau” – the answers Posted by Adir on Jul 11, 2012
Hello, there! Here are the answers to Monday’s test on how to use mal and mau. 1. Ele é um MAU profissional. 2. Ele está trabalhando MAL. 3. O chefe está de MAU humor. 4. O chefe está sempre MAL-humorado. 5. O empregado foi MAL treinado. 6. MAL chegou ao escritório, teve o desprazer de…
How to use “mal” and “mau” Posted by Adir on Jul 9, 2012
Mau and mal sound the same in Portuguese and oftentimes even native speakers have difficulty using them correctly. So today let’s learn some basic rules. Mal Mal can be an adverb, noun or conjunction. As an adverb it means “badly”, “incorrectly”. It is the opposite of bem (well). Ele fala inglês muito mal. [He speaks…
Zé Carioca Posted by Rachel on Jul 7, 2012
Zé Carioca is one of the best known Brazilian animated characters. Created by Disney in 1943, Zé Carioca is a friend of Donald Duck, and both starred in the film “Saludos Amigos” that year. He’s a dapper parrot from Rio de Janeiro who shows Donald Duck around the city. Zé Carioca also appeared in the…
How to use “onde” and “aonde” Posted by Adir on Jul 6, 2012
Olá! Today is Friday and we’re getting ready for the weekend so let’s finish our week with a tip that will help you to learn and improve your Portuguese: how to use onde and aonde. Onde (where) is used to indicate the place where you are or where something is happening. It is usually used…