Archive for 'Uncategorized'
Brazilian Independence Day Posted by Transparent Language on Sep 7, 2007
Sete de Setembro the 7th of September is Brazilian Independence Day. In another post I provided a brief synopsis of the events leading up to the 7th of September, 1822. On this historic day, Dom Pedro I declared Brazil an independent nation, allegedly tearing the Portuguese insignia from his uniform and swearing: “By my blood…
Conversation Partners Posted by Transparent Language on Sep 4, 2007
Get a Brazilian chat-pal for Skype, MSN, Yahoo, AIM If any of you loyal (thank you!) readers of the Portuguese Blog would like me to arrange a conversation partner, I would be happy to do so. I have an address book full of Brazilians who are enthusiastically learning English who would be happy to participate…
Pagar Mico Posted by Transparent Language on Aug 31, 2007
Pagar Mico means to be embarrassed. Specifically, pagar mico refers to whatever you did to embarrass yourself. An example would be: “Ele escorregou no tapete na casa da minha avó. Pagou mico!” He slipped on the rug at my grandmother’s house. Pagou mico. Other circumstances of pagando mico would be spilling a beer on your…
Skypecasts Posted by Transparent Language on Aug 30, 2007
Last night I had an amazing experience. André Barbosa (from the terrific Brazilian Portuguese Podcast) invited me to join a Skypecast that he had created and was moderating. I stayed up way too late speaking English and Portuguese with people from all over the world; simply fantastic! … Continue Reading
Lógico Posted by Transparent Language on Aug 29, 2007
MY favorite way of saying “of course” in Portuguese is lógico. Cleary cognate with the English logical, this is a great one-word phrase that communicates support of a proposition. It is common for Spanish-speakers learning Portuguese to look for a counterpart to por supuesto, the standard phrase used to communicate this idea in Spanish. Though…
How to type in Portuguese Posted by Transparent Language on Aug 27, 2007
Do you have a US keyboard and want to type in Portuguese? Blog reader David Stephensen sent in this terrific .pdf file that will take you step-by-step through the process of implementing the Portuguese language keyboard in Windows and also how to type all the accents using a standard North American-style keyboard. The method he…
Expressing Annoyance Posted by Transparent Language on Aug 24, 2007
Sometimes we all get a little annoyed, no matter what language we speak. This post will show you how to express your frustration in the most succinct and culturally common manner. Chatear is the first word you will need to know; it means to bother or annoy. If you are upset, you may say that…