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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…
Brazilian Blood Drive Posted by Rachel on Jul 6, 2012
Soccer, as you all know, is a huge part of life in Brazil. Harnessing its popularity is a great way to advocate for different causes. So one professional soccer team in Bahia decided to get creative for a public health campaign. From Andrew Downie: “The club normally plays in a red-and-black hooped shirt, with white…
Cutting Off Syllables in Portuguese, Part II Posted by Rachel on Jun 28, 2012
We’ve looked at a number of instances when Brazilians often cut off syllables from words in spoken Portuguese, so today we’re going to look at some more. Remember that in written Portuguese, you shouldn’t cut off syllables, but in spoken Portuguese people acabou – The verb acabar means to end. Occasionally, you’ll hear people cut…
Things Cariocas Say Posted by Rachel on Jun 27, 2012
Even though the “Stuff People Say” meme ended awhile ago, it resurged in Brazil today with the release of a video called “O jeitinho carioca” that follows the same formula. In the video, you’ll see people from Rio saying things that are, well, things Cariocas say. You’ll hear funny things about the weather, beach culture…
Cutting Off Syllables in Portuguese Posted by Rachel on Jun 24, 2012
In spoken Portuguese, there are certain words that you will often hear cut off. While it’s important to learn and understand how words are spelled, it’s also good to know how words are treated in spoken form. Let’s take a look at some of these instances. estar (to be) – Conjugations of estar are frequently…
RioReal: A Bilingual Blog Posted by Rachel on Jun 21, 2012
One of the best ways to learn proper phrasing and new vocabulary is to read the same text in both Portuguese and English to compare the two. One place that makes it easy to do so is RioReal, a fantastic blog written by long-time Rio resident Julia Michaels about news in Rio de Janeiro–with posts…
Photography in Portuguese Posted by Rachel on Jun 21, 2012
Whether you go to Brazil to travel, work, or live, one thing is for sure: you’re going to want to take pictures. Today we’re going to review some vocabulary associated with fotografia (photography). You’ll notice that a couple of words come directly from English. fotógrafo = photographer câmera= camera tirar uma foto = take a…