Brazil Least Affected by Crisis Posted by Rachel on Jan 16, 2009
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released a report recently indicating that Brazil is the country least affected by the worldwide economic crisis. The OECD uses an index based on the number 100: countries with indexes below 100 that are contracting are considered countries in a slowdown, while countries with indexes below 100…
New Biofuel Discovery in the Amazon Posted by Rachel on Jan 15, 2009
Brazilian engineer Otoniel Duarte has made an important discovery during a study in the northern state of Roraima: he found that a species of Amazon palm tree, the palmeira inajá, is capable of producing oil that can be used for biofuel. The inajápalm is a close relative of the dende palm, native to Africa, which…
Brazil in the Headlines Posted by Rachel on Jan 14, 2009
Today we’re going to take a look at the headlines about Brazil: The Place to Be: Florianopolis, Brazil, New York Times Government fights slave labor in Brazil, CNN Brazil President: Newspapers give me heartburn, IHT Brazilian Firms Step Up to Bridge Education Gap, LA Times BG to Invest $4 Billion in Brazil’s Pre-Salt Oil, Bloomberg…
Try, try again Posted by Rachel on Jan 13, 2009
There are several different ways to translate the English verb “try” into Portuguese, so today we’re going to take a look at them. 1. tentar: try as in make an effort to do something Vou tentar terminar o projeto logo. I’m going to try to finish the project soon. Ele tentou entrar no site de…
Beach Democracy Posted by Rachel on Jan 12, 2009
Though Brazil is a highly stratified society, one thing Brazilians pride themselves on is the democracy of their beaches. Unlike other locations like restaurants, clubs, and stores, the beaches are open to all, and all beaches in Brazil are considered public. The beach is supposedly a place where people of any social class can feel…
Celebrity Tips for Rainy Days in Rio Posted by Rachel on Jan 9, 2009
Rio de Janeiro is known best for outdoor activities, like the beach, Corcovado Mountain, the Sugarloaf, hang gliding, hiking, and more. But there’s no need to despair when it rains, since there are plenty of fun things to do indoors. Globo asked some local celebrities to give tips about what to do in Rio when…
Technology Vocabulary Posted by Rachel on Jan 7, 2009
Today we’re going to take a look at some important technology vocabulary, useful for the Internet café or the copy store. Internet café = lanhouse [lahn-howz] copy store = copiadora copy = Xerox [sher-ocks] page/sheet = folha computer = computador printer = impressora to print = imprimir Internet = Internet [een-ter-neh-chee] mouse = mouse [mawz]…