Archive for 'Learning'
Grammar Review: Something/Someone Posted by Rachel on Jul 15, 2009
Today we’re going to do a little review of the “some” words in Portuguese. something = algo Você tem algo nos dentes. You have something in your teeth. Ela queria algo mais barato. She wants something cheaper. some = algum/alguma Eles compraram algum tipo de madeira, mas não sei qual. They bought some type of…
Word of the Day: empregada Posted by Rachel on Jul 8, 2009
Today’s Portuguese word of the day is empregada. This word is fairly easy to pronounce: em – pray- gah-dah. The most common meaning of this word is maid, as in a female servant who cleans and/or cooks for clients. The complete term is empregada doméstica, to indicate that the maid works in a home. This…
Podcast: Air Travel Posted by Rachel on Jun 30, 2009
Today, we’re going to discuss air travel on the podcast. Click here for the podcast. Fui ao aeroporto às 16:00 horas. Fiz o check-in, passei pela imigração e pela segurança. Depois, esperei no portão. Embarquei no avião e achei o meu assento. A aeromoça trouxe o jantar e depois fiquei dormindo. Quando cheguei ao aeroporto…
Estar vs. Ser Posted by Rachel on Jun 25, 2009
One of the difficult things for English speakers to learn in Portuguese is to distinguish between estar and ser, which both mean to be. Let’s review this very important concept. First, let’s take a look at how we conjugate both in the present simple tense, since they have similar conjugations. ser eu sou tu és…
Word of the Day: feriado Posted by Rachel on Jun 18, 2009
As you know, Transparent offers a word of the day feature on Portuguese Blog (check the right side), as well as a word of the day in 12 other languages. You can listen to the pronunciation of the word and see how it is used in a sentence. Today’s word of the day is feriado…
Portuguese Courses in the US Posted by Rachel on Jun 11, 2009
For today’s interactive feature, I want to know if any US-based readers are taking formal Portuguese classes, and what you think about the classes. The question is: do you take a Portuguese class at a language school or with a private tutor? Is it helpful? Is it worth the time and money? Though I’ve never…
Portuguese Verb Tenses Posted by Rachel on Jun 4, 2009
For today’s interactive feature, we’re going to talk about the different verb tenses. The question is: which is the most difficult Portuguese verb tense for you? There are a few verb tenses that I find tricky, like the future subjunctive tense (for, estiver, etc), since when I’m speaking, I sometimes confuse the eles/elas conjugation with…