Archive for 'Entertainment'
Reading Comprehension: Dance Club Posted by Rachel on Apr 8, 2010
For today’s reading comprehension, we’re going to read a bit of a bizarre story about a nightclub in São Paulo. Talk about dancing to your own beat! You can also watch the accompanying video here. Casa noturna promove balada silenciosa com música só nos fones de ouvido Excerpt: “Uma casa noturna da capital resolveu lançar…
Jokes in Portuguese Posted by Rachel on Mar 29, 2010
Jokes in Portuguese, called piadas, tend to poke fun at different groups, like in English: lawyers, doctors, people from specific parts of the country, blondes, and famous people. Brazilian jokes also poke fun at Argentines, Portuguese people, soccer players, and caipiras, or people from rural areas. Let’s take a look at some jokes, and see…
Laugh and learn Posted by André on Jan 20, 2010
The science of language acquisition has already proven that people tend to learn more and better in a relaxed environment and with funny material. That’s why I’m gonna talk about comedy in Brazil. More specifically about standup comedy. Brazilians are famous for being a happy people and having good sense of humor. However this kind…
Caminho das Indias Wins International Emmy Posted by Rachel on Nov 25, 2009
On Monday, Globo Brazil’s Caminho das Indias novela won the Best Soap Opera award at the International Emmy Awards in New York. The show, which was one of the most popular TV programs in Brazil during its run, beat out its competition from France and the Philippines. The show’s creator, Maria Perez, says the show…
Listening Practice: Commercials Posted by Rachel on Oct 12, 2009
Watching TV is a great way to learn Portuguese, and though they may not seem important, commercials are also helpful ways to learn new vocabulary words. Let’s take a look at a few commercials as an example: Keywords to listen for in Portuguese: menu, dip/sauce, vegetables, ice cream, discount, percent, broadband, calls
Listening Comp: Brazilians in Japan Posted by Rachel on Sep 28, 2009
Today, we’re going to do an upper intermediate listening comprehension exercise using a short documentary filmed at a Brazilian festival in Japan. There are subtitles but surprise! They’re in Japanese. So you’ll have to listen very carefully to answer the questions. Questions 1. What is the woman featured in the video asking Brazilians to do?…
Brazil’s New Craze: A Fazenda Posted by Rachel on Jul 1, 2009
Rede Record, Globo’s major competitor, has come out with a new reality show to rival Globo’s Big Brother series. The show, called A Fazenda, is like Big Brother, but the participants are famous Brazilian actors and actresses who live together on a farm in rural Sao Paulo, rather than in a house on a set…