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Copa América Posted by Rachel on Jun 28, 2011
The Copa América tournament, or America Cup, is a major soccer championship held in South America every two to four years with twelve teams from Latin America and sometimes from North America or Asia (Japan, the US, and Canada have participated). The first edition was held in 1916 in Argentina, with games played between Argentina…
Hard to Believe Posted by Rachel on May 25, 2011
The other day, I was talking to a Brazilian friend and he used an expression that I wanted to share, since it’s perfect for using in everyday conversation. Por mais incrível que pareça / Pelo incrível que pareça This expression roughly translates as, “As difficult as it is to believe,” or “As hard as it…
The Carioca Accent Posted by Rachel on Mar 24, 2011
We’ve talked about regional slang in the past, including vocabulary about how to speak like a Carioca. But after I saw this video, I thought it would be helpful to talk a little bit about regional accents as well, and in this case, the Rio de Janeiro accent. Cariocas da gema (which literally means, people…
Ronaldo Retires Posted by Rachel on Feb 17, 2011
As many of you may have heard, one of Brazil’s biggest soccer stars, Ronaldo, announced this week that he is retiring. In Portuguese, the verb to retire is aposentar-se, and the noun for retirement is aposentadoria. The Carioca footballer had most recently been playing for Corinthians, in São Paulo, after playing for five major clubs…
Portuguese Words of English Origin Posted by Rachel on Feb 15, 2011
Between globalization and the rise of technology, you’ll find dozens, if not hundreds of Portuguese words that come directly from English. In some cases, the spelling of words are changed to adapt to the Portuguese pronunciation, but the words essentially stay the same. In Portuguese, these words are known as anglicismos. Here are some examples…
Na Praia! Posted by polyana on Jan 10, 2011
Many times when we think of Brazil, we think beaches! Granted, that’s not ALL there is to see in Brazil, but some of the prettiest beaches I have been to have been… in Brazil. So why not take advantage of the fact that it’s summer in Brazil to get ready for the beach soon, to…
Brazilian Skateboarding Documentary Posted by Rachel on Nov 9, 2010
While soccer, volleyball, and Formula 1 are hugely popular in Brazil, there’s another lesser known sport that is very popular amongst urban youth: skateboarding. In fact, one of the world’s most famous skateboarders is Brazilian. To help understand this phenomenon, I’m going to share a really cool documentary available online called Dirty Money, a Portuguese-language…