Talking about Travel in Portuguese 3: travelling by plane

Quanto tempo! (again)... Now that I have finally finished settling in in Nova Iorque, I am back from my sumiço (=disapearance). Completing our travelling series, here is a dialogue describing a trip. If possible, try to get the main gist from the Portuguese version and the glossary before peaking at the English translation. (More vocabulary coming up in a future post).

Diálogo:
Thomas: - Ananda, como foi a sua viagem para LA?
Ananda: - Foi bem legal, mas o vôo de volta foi bem longo.
Thomas: - Ah é? Foi um vôo direto, ou você teve conexões?
Ananda: - Eu tive uma conexão em Chicago. Foi bem demorada... mas a passagem foi bem baratinha!
Thomas: - Que bom! Por que? É baixa-estação?
Ananda: - Nem sei se é alta ou baixa... mas foi barata porque eu comprei a passagem pelo programa de milhagem.
Thomas: - Legal!

Notes:

• A volta: the way back on a return flight. A return flight is called ida-e-volta, consisting of a vôo de ida (flight there) and vôo de volta (flight back).
  
• Vôo direto: direct flight, with no conexões (connections) or escalas (stop-overs).
• Bem + Adjective, as in bem longo or bem baratinha: Although bem literally means 'well', in these cases it is used to instensify the meaning of the adjective, much in the same way of the word 'very' in English.
  

Loose Translation:
Thomas: - Ananda, how was your trip to LA?
Ananda: - It was very nice, but the flight back was very long.
Thomas: - Really? Was it a direct flight or did you have connections?
Ananda: - I had a connection in chicago. It took a long time... but the ticket was very cheap!
Thomas: - Great! Why? Is it low season?
Ananda: - I am not even sure if it is low [season] or high [season]... but is was cheap because I bought the ticket through the millage program.
Thomas: - Cool!

Exercícios:
1. Como foi a minha viagem para LA? E o vôo de volta?
2. Porque a minha passagem foi bem baratinha?
3. Você faz parte de um programa de milhagem? Em que companhias aéreas?
4. Qual foi o vôo mais longo que você já fez? Para onde foi? O vôo teve escalas ou conexões?

Brazilian Writer: Machado de Assis

This may be especially interesting for Portuguese learners and Brazilian culture appreciators in New York City: from Sept. 15th-19th, there will a centennial celebration of Machado de Assis, a Brazilian author regarded as one of the most important writers of Brazilian literature. This will include the screening of two movies at the Latinbeat 2008 film festival, discussion panels and a book exhibit.

Wheather you are in NYC or not, it may be fun to practice reading in Portuguese by learning a little about Machado de Asiss (if you are not there yet, you can read about him in English here or here).

A lot of Brazilians have read some of his books as part of their high school education, but the language is older and quite different from colloquial Portuguese, so it can be tough to read, even for advanced students. If you are up to it, his original work, in Portuguese, can be downloaded for free from Domínio Público... Or you can get an English translation, just in case :-).

Expressions with dar: 'Dar para' em Portuguese

Today's tip will show you how to use the expression dar para in Portuguese. This is a very natural and common way to say that something is possible/ doable. Here are a couple of examples:

Dá para ver a cidade inteira do topo da Sears towers!
One can see the whole city from the top of the Sears towers.

Não dá para dirigir de Los Angeles até Nova Iorque em um dia: é muito longe!
One cannot/ It is not possible to drive from L.A. to NY in one day: it is too far!

Com a nova ponte, vai dar para chegar em casa bem rápido.
With the new bridge, it will be possible to arrive home very quickly.

Mini-dialogue:

(Ananda:) Eu fui no MoMA ontem ver a exposição do Dali, mas não deu pra ver nada: estava muito cheio!
I went to MoMA yesterday to see the Dali exhibition, but one could not see anything: it was too full!

(Dju-Dju:)É, quinta-feira é muito cheio... Amanhã vai estar menos cheio e vai dar para ver melhor.
Yeah, Thursday it is very full... Tomorrow it will be less full and it will be possible to see better.


Deu para entender os exemplos?
Was it possible to understand the examples?

So the structure is:

DAR PARA + VERB(infinitive)
to roughly mean: It is possible to VERB

1. Exercise: Answer however many questions you can:
1. Dá para dirjir de Nova Iorque até Los Angeles em um dia?
2. Dá para dirjir de Nova Iorque até Los Angeles em cinco dias?
3. Dá pra ver o mar da sua janela?
4. Dá para pegar (pick up) a Internet dos vizinhos na sua casa?

Have a look at the verb dar in the examples. Did you notice they are always the verb form (conjugation) for ele (dá, deu, vai dar). That is how you always use the verb in this expression (with the third person singular form of the verb).

That is not to say that you can't 'personalize' them a little bit by saying that an action is possible/doable for specific people, as in the following examples:

Só vai dar para ela chegar em Nova Iorque em três dias.
It will only be possible for me to arrive in New York in three days.

Não deu para eu ir no seu aniversário: eu estava muito ocupada.*
It was not possible for me to go to your birthday: I was very busy.

Não dá para eu ler o cardápio: eu esqueci os meus óculos.
It is not possible for me to read the menu, I have forgotten my glasses.

Dá para você abaixar o volume do seu som, por favor?
Is it possible for you to lower the volume of your stereo, please?

In this case, the structure is like this:

DAR PARA + (EU/VOCÊ/ A MARIA...) + VERBO
It is possible for me/you/Maria... to VERB

Notice that the verb dar is still the form for ele (dá, deu, vai dar...).**

Now let's practice again:

1. Exercise: Answer whichever questions you can:
1. Dá para você ver o mar da janela do seu quarto?
2. Vai dar para você ir no Brasil este ano?
3. Dá para você pegar a Internet dos vizinhos na sua casa?
4. Deu para entender esta dica (=tip)?
5. Dá para alguém dirjir de Nova Iorque até Los Angeles em um dia?

Espero que dê para você usar esta expressão agora!

Até a próxima!

*Advanced speakers only: Brazilians have a lot of trouble deciding what form of the pronoun to use over there. I've used the form considered correct in written Portuguese, but colloquially many people may use mim instead of eu.
**The second verb changes for eles and nós... but this will be the tópic for another tip...

Famous People Trying to Speak Portuguese

Quick motivational post :-)... Want to boost your confidence levels? Watch these celebrities trying to speak Portuguese. (some or them are pretty good, others, not so much... (don't worry if you don't understand). If some of them could learn in front of the cameras, you can do it in the privacy of your home (or the vicinity of your iPhone :-)).

Talking about Travel in Portuguese 2

Celebrating a road trip to NYC, we've done a dialogue about travel (you may look there first). Now let's review some more expressions related to traveling...

Modo de transporte (Means of transportation):
Viajar/ ir... (travel/ go)
de carro (by car)
de avião (on a plane)
de trem (by train)
de barco (on a boat)
de navio (on a ship)
de bicicleta! (like my friend Eric Fiala)
a pé (on foot!)

Exercises:
1. Construct two sentences with the expressions above.
2. Answer what you can:
a.Você já viajou de navio? Aonde você foi?
b.Você viajaria a outra cidade de bicicleta?

Na estrada (on the road):
pagar pedágio (to pay a toll)
ultrapassar (to pass)
estrada, pista (road)
faixa (lane)
posto de gasolina
multa por excesso de velocidade (speeding ticket)
milhas/ quilômetros por hora (mph/kph... it might be useful to review numbers)

Exercicios:
1. Answer however many questions you can:
a. Tem muito pedágio no seu estado?
b. Você paga pedágio no caminho para o trabalho?
c. Qual é a faixa usada para ultrapassar?
d. Você já levou uma multa por execesso de velocidade? Onde você estava? Qual era a sua velocidade?

Distâncias:
Los Angeles está/ fica a 2.700 (dois mil e setessentas) milhas de Nova Iorque.
(Los Angeles is/ is located 2,700 miles from New York).

Union City está/ fica a 5 milhas de Nova Iorque.
(Union City is/ is located 2,700 miles from New York).

Los Angeles fica longe de Nova Iorque.
Union City fica perto de Nova Iorque.

Exercises:
1. Answer what you can:
a. O seu trabalho fica perto da sua casa?
b. A sua cidade fica perto de Nova Iorque?
c. Qual é a distância entre a sua casa e a praia?
d. Qual foi a maior viagem de carro que você já fez?

2. Write a couple of sentences describing a trip that you have done. You could tell your means of transportation, who went with you, where, the distance...

[Feel free to post your answers!]

Te vejo em Nova Iorque!

Talking About Travel in Portuguese

Quanto tempo! (= long time no see, lit. "how much time!"). Although I don't think I have much of a regular following (yet?), I feel I should appologize for my long absence. I have been camping and hiking in somewhat remote places (part of a road trip from LA to New York City), unable to post any Portuguese wisdom. Now that I have the basics (a cell phone connection and a power supply), we are ready for a special travel edition (i.e., basic with no links, as I am typing this from a cell phone).

In this post, you can learn some new expressions with a conversation (see what you understand on your own first, then look at the notes on new expressions... only then look at the translation... then practice!):

Conversation:

Ananda: - Dan, você prefere viajar de carro ou de avião?
Dan: - Ah, depende. Dirigir é legal... mas não se a distância é muito longa...
Ananda: - É mesmo... mas eu não gosto de tomar 'chá de aeroporto'...
Dan: - É... fazer o check in, as filas, preocupação com a segurança, bagagem... muito chato!
Ananda: - ...e de carro dá para ver a paisagem, parar para ver lugares diferentes...
Dan: ... Vamos dirigir até Nova Iorque, em vez de ir de avião?
Ananda: - Bora!

Expressions:

• Tomar chá de aeroporto literally means "to have airport tea" is a slang expression which means to have to wait around the airport. Another common variant (even more common) of this expression is tomar chá de cadeira ("to drink chair tea"), meaning to be made to sit down and wait around (for example while waiting for a doctor's appointment or for a friend who is late).
• Bora! - is derived from vamos embora (let's go (away)) and it means "let's go" or "let's do it". You can combine it with other verbs to mean "let's do X" (where X is the verb). For example, "bora comer" means, "let's eat".
  

Translation:

Ananda: - Dan, do you prefer traveling by car or by plane?
Dan: - Oh, it depends. Driving is nice... but not if the distance is very long...
Ananda: - That's right... but I don't like having to wait around at the airport [see glossary].
Dan: - Yeah... doing the check in, the lines, worry about security, luggage... very annoying!
Ananda: = and by car one can see the view, stop to see different places...
Dan: - Let's drive to New York rather than going by plane?
Ananda: - Let's do it!

E você: prefere veiajar de avião ou de carro?

Brazilian Film Festival in New York City

Atenção New York City Portuguese learners: the Reel Brazilian Film festival is going to be showing 14 Brazilian movies, this coming August 11-16th at the Tribeca Cinemas ($10 per film).

The opening party will be at Central Park, with the singer Maria Rita, followed by a screening. Admission is free!

Definitely worth a little educational trip! Pity I won't be in town then... So far, I've only seen one of the movies: Not by chance (pic.) and found it muito legal!

Basic Computer Terms in Portuguese

Are you sitting in front of the computer? Great! (sorry, iPhone users). Let's learn how to talk about it in Portuguese. Ready?

Let's start, repeat after me: software, hardware, mouse... that was easy, huh? :-) A lot of Portuguese computer terms are really easy to learn, because they are really just straight borrowings from English (advanced students may like to read this rant against the use of estrangeirismos (foreign words) in Portuguese by the IT industry). As with any borrowed words, the fun lies in pronouncing them the Brazilian way way, so:

software [softchyweh], hardware [hahdjiweh], mouse [mouzy].

Computer Parts:
Now look at your computador (it is masculine, so you say o/meu/seu computador):
Here is some more, if you are into hardware (you may also look here):
O disco rígido (the hard disk)
O processador (can you guess?)
O leitor/gravador de CD/ DVD (the CD/DVD reader/ writer)
A Memória RAM
A placa mãe (the mother board)

Actions:
Ligar/ Desligar o computador (to turn the computer on/off)

Clicar ... (To click)
... o botão direito/ esquerdo do mouse (the right/ left mouse button)
... na link (the link)

Fazer um clique duplo or clicar duas vezes (to double click)

Abrir/ Fechar... (open/ close)
... a janela (the window)
... o arquivo (the file)

Selecionar (to select)
Salvar
Apagar (or deletar)
Copiar
Editar
Imprimir (print)

Exercises:
A. Read the article. Now minimize the article, look at your computer and name its parts. How many terms can you remember? Check the terms you missed and repeat. Did you improve your score?

B. Answer the questions you that you can understand (or try your best guessing their meaning):

1. Qual é o processador do seu computador? (e.g. "Intel"/ "AMD")
2. O seu computador tem um gravador de DVD?
3. Qual é a marca (=brand) da sua impressora?
4. Qual é o tamanho da sua tela? (exemplo: 14 polegadas (=inches))
5. Quantas janelas estão abertas na sua tela agora?
6. As suas caixas de som são boas?
   

C. Make sentences with the actions above. Here are a couple of examples:

Para abrir uma janela nova, eu cliquei nessa link.
To open a new window, I clicked in this link.

João, salva o documento nessa janela e desliga o computador para mim, por favor.
John, save the document in this window and turn the computer off for me, please. (informal)

Uau! A foto naquela janela é muito bonita! Eu vou copiar e imprimir ela para você.
Wow! The photo in that window is very pretty! I will compy and print it for you.

Hand gestures in Brazilian Portuguese

Brazilians use a lot of hand gesture when they communicate, so if you are learning Portuguese, those are a great thing to learn too. Here are just a few of many that are frequently used, to get you started:

Thumbs up - you will probably see this a lot in Brazil. It means beleza (nice, literally beauty) or that everything is legal (cool). Some people (usually younger people) greet like this (instead of using Tudo bem):

- Beleza? [Thumbs up]
- Beleza! [Thumbs up]

Ok Gesture: The gesture used to indicate 'ok' in the U.S. (making a circle with your thumb and your index finger) is not commonly used in Brazil, and when it is it is considered by most to be obscene! (something to do with the whole represented by the circle... ). For some people it is offensive only if you face the remaining fingers down, as in turning the ok sign upside down... but for some people even just the plain ok sign is a bad thing. Just avoid it and use the thumbs up instead.

Repeatedly snapping your fingers - that is, snap your thumb to the middle finger, as some people do when dancing or singing: People snap repeatedly (around 3 -4 times) to indicate something taking a long time.

O Marcos mora aqui nos Estados Unidos faz, ó... [snap, snap, snap] muito tempo!
Marcus has lived here in the U.S. for, look... [snap, snap, snap] a long time!

Pseudo-finger snapping - this is very similar to clicking your fingers, but you just stroke your thumb to the middle and index finger instead of snapping them: this is usually means 'expensive' (though I have seen it more rarely to mean money). For example, say a street vendor is offering you something for 10 reais, and you think it should cost 5, you can say no (head shaking for 'yes' or 'no', as well as 'no' done with the index finger is just the same as in English) and do the pseudo-finger clicking to indicate you think it is too expensive.

All fingers together - palm facing up, bring all your fingers together, repeatedly taping four fingers against the thumb: this means 'a lot' or 'full'. For example, a bus driver might make this gesture if you are trying to catch a bus, but he won't let you get on because the bus is too full... Or someone might say:

A festa ontem estava, ó... [All fingers together]: lotada!
The party yesterday was, look... [All fingers together]: full to capacity!

Tap behind your chin - palm facing down, tap right under your jaw, with the back of your hand. This means papo-furado (B.S.), indicating that something is not true.

Clapping the back of a hand against the palm of the other - both palms horizontal, facing up the whole time, clap the back of one hand on the palm of the other and slide it off as if sweaping. Repeat couple of times: This means Não tô nem aí ( 'I don't care at all' or 'I am not all all interested').

For more, you may look at this article with pictures of gestures, here is a great video on Brazilian hand gestures and another with some more examples of gestures and body language (make sure to look at the helpful comments). If you have a Brazilian teacher or a friend, get them to show you these to help you practice.

Watch a Movie in Portuguese

A great way to hear the language and experience a view of the culture!

If you are either in New York City or Los Angeles, you can catch regular screenings at the Centro Cultural Brazil (NYC) or at Melnitz at UCLA.

For everyone else, here are some movies that you can get relatively easily in the US (it is as easy as adding it to your Netflix list... a couple of them are at Blockbuster too.):

- Central Station (Central do Brasil)
- Carandiru
- City of God (Cidade de Deus)
- Cidade dos Homens (City of Men)
- The other side of the street (Do outro lado da rua)
- Behind the Sun (Abril despedaçado)
- Four days in September (O que é isso, companheiro?)
- Me You Them (Eu, Tu, Eles)
- Midnight: 2000 Seen By... (O Primeiro Dia)
- God is Brazilian (Deus é Brasileiro)
- Orfeu
- Black Orfeus (Orfeu Negro)
- Possible Loves (Amores Possíveis)
- The man who copied (O homem que copiava)
- Bossa Nova
- Casa de Areia (House of Sand)
- Vidas Secas
- The Middle of the World (O Caminho das Nuvens)
- Bus 174 (Ônibus 174)
- Manda Bala (Send a Bullet)
- Foreign Land (Terra Estrangeira)
- Tieta of Agreste (Tieta do Agreste)
- Moro no Brazil
- The Sound of Rio: Brasilierinho
- Almost Brothers (Quase Dois irmãos)
- Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures (Cinema, Aspirinas e Urubus)
- Saudade do Futuro
- Dona Flor and her Two husbands

This should be able to give you a lot of listening practice...

Happy watching!

Note: I haven't watched many of these yet, so please add a comment if you liked or disliked any of these... or add your own suggestion.

Learn by singing: Exercises for "Amanhã eu não vou trabalhar"

I have just posted the words of a música (this is how Brazilians say song) for you to practice your Portuguese by singing. Here are some exercises if you want to turn the song into a complete lesson that you can do without a teacher (note: start here and follow the instructions, then only go to the post after you are done).

Focus of the exercises: listening and practice conjugating verbs in first person (eu)

1. Get the song and open it in a different window.
You can purchase the song from itunes or listen to it from this somewhat strange video.

2. Listen to the song once or a couple times.
Advanced/ upper intermediate students: pay close attention to the words while you listen and then try to summarize what you understood: (a) Did you get a gist for what is the song about? Pretend you are explaining your guess to a friend, in Portuguese. (b) Can you remember any of the verses?

Upper beginners and intermediate learners: pay close attention to the words while you listen. (a) Did you recognize any words? Intermediate students: try to list 10 words you think you recognize and write them down, upper beginners: try for 5 words. (b) Can you guess what the song is about? (it is ok if it is wrong!)

Fresh beginners: Just listen to the song a couple of times and enjoy it. At least once, try and pay close attention to the singing, even if you don't understand (just to help you get used to the sounds of Portuguese). If you are adventurous, you can even try to imitate a little part of the song, just for fun... but don't worry too much.

3. Complete the orange part of the words below.
Feel free to skip this part if you are a fresh beginner and you don't know much about verbs yet. Just follow the conjugation instructions and fill in the orange blanks in a separate page or a print out of this post. (For example, if you see: Eu _________ [falar, eu, presente] Português. You write: falo in the blank space.)

Amanhã eu não vou trabalhar
_________ [Ficar - eu, pretérito perfeito] até tarde no samba
Não ________[poder - eu, presente] negar
E eu não _______[saber - eu, presente] o que eu vou _________
Só sei que ______________________
________[acordar - eu, presente] às cinco da manhã
e _________[sair - eu, presente] sozinho
_________[Levantar, eu presente] antes mesmo do sol levantar
Demoro uma vida pra ____________
Começa o meu expediente, não boto uma fé
_________ [Tomar - eu/presente] um litro de ________
Pra ver se eu __________[esquecer - eu, presente]
que a minha ________ já tá pra estourar
Eu ________[perder - eu/presente] o emprego,
mas sei que Amanhã eu não vou trabalhar

Amanhã eu não vou...

O samba tá bom demais
Pra ir embora, como é que faz
O chopp descendo, o couro comendo
E aquela nega não para de _____________
__________ pra mim
E a loura __________ que sim
Já ___________ [se apaixonar, eu, preterito perfeito] mais de três vezes
Desde o começo da noite pra cá
Eu perco o juízo, e ________[dizer - eu, presente]:
Amanhã eu não vou trabalhar.

Optional: you may now listen to the song again, paying attention to the parts you have completed.

3. Complete the remaining (green) blank spaces of the words above.
Upper beginners to advanced students: now listen to the song again. This time you want to fill out the green spaces. Don't worry if you don't get all of them.

4. See the full lyrics.

Check the full lyrics for the song here.

Optional exercises (if you haven't had enough already! :-))

Intermediate: (a) Can you summarize what the song is about now? (b) Find one or a couple of new words that you didn't know before and see if you can guess their meaning from context.

Advanced: (a) Have you had any experiences similar to the one described in this song? How was it? How would you tell a friend about that experience (in Portuguese).Did you learn a little Portuguese from the exercise? Good job! Now you can sing along in Portuguese!If you still want more, you can see a rough translation and some notes in this next post.

Well done! Now, you can see a rough translation of the song with notes on this post.

Learn by singing: "Amanhã eu não vou trabalhar"

Music can be a great tool to help you learn (see a short post in Portuguese, here): it can build up your vocabulary, it is fun and the rhythm may help you better remember what you learn. Here is a song for you to get started: "Amanhã eu não vou trabalhar", by Alexandre Grooves, with Seu Jorge. You can get it from itunes, msn music or listen to it from video.

[Note: if you want to make the most of this song by doing some exercises, go through this post before reading on]

Listen to the song and see the words for the song here. Here a free translation with some notes:

Amanhã eu não vou trabalhar Tomorrow I am not going to work
Fiquei até tarde no samba I stayed until late at the samba
Não posso negar I can't deny it
E eu não sei o que eu vou inventar I don't know what I am going to make up
Só sei que amanhã eu não vou trabalhar I just know that tomorrow I am not going to work
Acordo às cinco da manhã e saio sozinho I wake up at five in the morning and go out alone
Levanto antes mesmo do sol levantar I get up even before the sun rises
Demoro uma vida pra chegar I take a life[time] to arrive
Começa o meu expediente, não boto uma fé My work hours start, I can't believe it/ I have no faith on it
Tomo um litro de café I take a liter of coffee
Pra ver se eu esqueço que a minha cabeça já tá pra estourar To see if I forget that my head is already about to explode
Eu perco o emprego, I lose my job,
mas sei que amanhã eu não vou trabalhar but I know that tomorrow I am not going to work

O samba tá bom demais The samba is really good
Pra ir embora, como é que faz How can one do to leave?
O chopp descendo, o couro comendo The beer (draft beer) going down, the action going down*
E aquela nega não para de sambar and that girl/ black girl doesn't stop dancing samba
Olhando pra mim Looking at me
E a loura dizendo que sim and the blond saying yes
Já me apaixonei mais de três vezes I've already fallen in love more than three times
Desde o começo da noite pra cá Since the begining of the night until here
Eu perco o juízo, e digo: I lose my mind, and I say:
Amanhã eu não vou trabalhar. Tomorrow I am not going to work.

Expressions:

• botar fé: literally, to put faith. It is a slang, popular with hip youngster, that means to believe in or have faith in something and somebody, e.g.: Boto fé que a Marina vai acabar ficando com o Alexandre. (I believe that Marina will end up hooking up with Alexandre)
• Chopp: draft beer.
• O couro comendo: I think the best translation, meaning wise, would be "the shit is going down", though in the Portuguese expression has no bad words in it.
• nega: this slang term means black girl or woman, but it is also used to refer to women of any skin color as an endearment term (like honey or sweety).
• perder o juízo: to lose one's mind.

Now see if you can sing along!

Happy Bithday in Portuguese 2

Here is a little more on singing happy birthday in Brazil.

Right after singing the standard happy birthday song, people may also sing this song as a joke (in the same tune as the happy birthday song):

Parabéns pra você
Eu so vim pra comer
Esqueci do presente
Nunca mais vou trazer

When the birthday boy or girl is single, people may also add the following song:

Com quem será
Com quem será
Com que será que o/a [Name of bithday boy/girl] vai casar?
Vai depender
vai depender
vai depender se o [Name of potential love interest]** vai querer
Ele/ela aceitou
Ele/ela aceitou
Tiveram dois filhinhos e depois se separou

The name of the love interest usually agreed upon amongst the party guests (without consulting the birthday girl/boy) to be someone of the opposite sex who is present at the party, as a potentially embarrassing joke.

Happy Birthday in Portuguese

Today is my lovely mom's and her twin sister's birthdays (Parabéns, gatíssimas!). Here is a happy birthday song for them:

Parabéns pra você
Nesta data querida
Muitas felicidades
Muitos anos de vida!*

This is the simple song that most people sing. If the crowd is really enthusiastic (which is true in this case), they would keep on singing a second song (not everyone does this, and there are variations):

Chegou a hora de apagar a velinha
Vamos cantar aquela musiquinha
Parabéns pra você
Parabéns pra você
Pelo seu aniversário
Parabéns pra você
Parabéns pra você
pelo seu aniversário.

Here is an example a video with both songs.

After the song is over, we say, while clapping (don't ask about meaning, because I don't know! :-)):

É pique! É pique! É pique, é pique, é pique!
É hora! É hora! É hora, é hora, é hora!
Rá-tim-bum!
"Teresa/Tetê"! "Teresa/Tetê"! "Teresa/Tetê"! [these are their names]

Here is an example (after their intro)... and here is another very cute person trying.

So here, it is. We can all sing Parabéns to my mum and aunt.

Feliz aniversário pra vocês, Mãe e Tia Tetê! Tudo de bom pra vocês!

Here is the Google Translate translation of this post (pretty good, but use at your own risk :-)).

Typing Portuguese Accents (Keyboard shortcuts)

Are you ready to get serious and start typing accents? Not only will your accented text look somewhat cool, but you will also be able to type correct Portuguese and get some important distinctions, like the difference between avô (grandfather) and avó (grandmother)... or coco and cocô !*

On a Mac, it is very easy to type accents, even without any configuration (setting up a keyboard etc.) necessary. You just have to remember the 5 combinations below (press keys in the square brackets at the same time and then type a vowel):

[Option n] = tilde (til) e.g.: não
[Option `] = grave accent (crase) e.g. Fui à escola. (I went to the school)
[Option e] = acute (acento agudo) e.g.: café
[Option i] = circumflex (acento circunflexo) e.g.: você
[Option c] = cedilla (cê cedilha) e.g. força (strength)

These should work with all applications, including word and browsers in Internet Cafes, and you should remember them in no time if you use them (it works for me! ˆ´˜ç :-)).

On Windows, unfortunately it is harder to just use the immediately available shortcuts. This is because they have separate codes for each combination of vowel, case and accent, so there are more codes to type and remember... but here are the codes anyway (press the Alt Key at the same as the codes below on the number keypad only):

á 0225, Á 0193, à 0224, À 0192, â 0226, Â 0194, ã 0227, Ã 0195
é 0233, É 0201, ê 0234, Ê 0202
í 0237, Í 0205
ó 0243, Ó 0211, õ 0245, Õ 0213, ô 0244, Ô 0212
ú 0250, Ú 0218
ç 0231, Ç 0199

... So Windows users usually set up an international or Brazilian Keyboard first, which you can quickly learn how to do here (Brazilian), here or here (International)**. Once an international keyboard is set up, the key combinations become easy and more intutitive (press keys in square brackets at the same time, followed by a vowel):

[Shift ~] = tilde (til)
[`] = grave accent (crase)
[' ](apostrophe) = acute (acento agudo)
[Shift ^] = circumflex (acento circunflexo)
[RightAlt c] = cedilla (cê cedilha)

Want to try it out? Leave a comment with accents!

*Digresssion for advanced learners only... you may be entertained by these discussions on Brazilians confused by these words.
** For setting up a Brazilian keyboard on a Mac, see this page.

A Great Website for Portuguese for Spanish Speakers

If you know Spanish, learning Portuguese is really great! You get a ton of vocabulary and grammatical structures for free, which you can use very soon after learning some basics on the pronunciation. (If you have not heard much Portuguese yet, you may try just reading some text first, to start appreciating the similarities)... but it is not all easy: since the languages are so similar, it is very easy to get confused where they do differ. It can be really tricky to separate them (to have an idea on the types of differences you can have a look here (written in Spanish)).

Because of that, it is very useful for Spanish speakers to learn through a program especially for them, focusing on speeding up on the similarities and giving you a lot of practice on the differences. This is exactly what you can find at Tá Falado, an excellent resource including podcast lessons and notes put up by the University of Texas Language Technology Center... and it is all free too. Definitely worth a try for the Spanish speakers.

A final note before you start: I find from observing myself and my students that the hard part is not to understand what the differences are. The real challenge is to remember them when you are speaking. So don't just read the notes at Tá Falado and consider yourself done: really practice each lesson extensively so that it becames part of your speech.

'Ter' versus 'estar com'

We have seen the difference between ser and estar... Ter and estar com form another pair that can be confusing, this time for both English and Spanish speaking learners.

Like in Spanish, to say you are cold, hungry, sleepy etc., in formal Portuguese you use ter (have):

Tenho frio/ calor/ fome/ sono. (Written Portuguese)
Tengo frio/ calor/ hambre/ sueño. (Spanish)
I am cold/hot/hungry/tired.

... though we sometimes see this in written text, it sounds very unnatural. In spoken Brazilian Portuguese, it is much more natural to use estar com to say these things:

Eu estou com frio/calor/fome/sono.

[Suggestion: At this point, you may try to make simple phrases on your own now using estar com with different persons (você, a gente, eles...) and different words you may know (frio, medo, sede, raiva, muita pressa, vontade de comer chocolate)... If that is easy, try making up small dialogues using other expressions you may know, e.g.:

João: Você quer água?
Maria: Quero sim. Eu estou com muita sede.]

The main difference between the two is very similar to the difference between ser and estar: In general, Ter is more appropriate to express conditions that are somewhat permanent, whereas estar com is best for temporary states. (... so since frio/calor/fome/sono above are things that are normally temporary, estar com is the best form to be used with them). We can see this more clearly from the following examples:

Eu tenho medo de cachorro.
I am (always/permanently) afraid of dogs.

Eu estou com medo daquele cachorro.
I am afraid of that dog (right now).

Ele tem raiva de todos os politicos.
He is (permanetly) angry at all politicians. ( since he hates all politicians)

Ele está com raiva da Maria, mas vai passar.
He is angry at Maria, but it will pass.

This can also happen in cases indicating possession:

Eu tenho um carro importado.
I have/own an imported car.

Eu estou com um carro importado hoje, emprestado do meu chefe.
I have (temporarily) an imported car today, borrowed from my boss.

Did you get the difference? Now, you could practice by trying to make sentences that emphasize the difference (like the ones immediately above)... or you could do search for estar com to see how people use it on the Internet... Meanwhile, eu já vou: estou com fome!

'Ser' versus 'Estar'

The other day I got a question about ter and estar com from a student again and I thought it would be a great tip to post... but I thought I should back up to a quick look at the use ser and estar for early beginners first.

Just as a quick reminder*, here is the conjugation for the verbs ser and estar in casual spoken Portuguese:

Eu sou
Você/ele/ela/a gente é
Nós somos
Vocês/eles/elas são

Eu estou or tô (common pronunciation in very casual speech)
Você/ele/ela/a gente está or tá
Nós estamos or tamos
Vocês/eles/elas estão or tão

Ser and estar can be most often translated as the verb be in English... Since there is is one word in English for two in Portuguese, no wonder English speaking learners get confused!

Similar to what happens in Spanish, the main idea (it works for most of the cases) is that ser is for intrinsic, somewhat permanent caracteristics, whereas estar is for temporary passing things. I have translated them roughly like that in the following examples, in case that helps (just to get the idea, in reality things are a little more subtle):

Meu nome é Ananda.
My name is (permanently/always) Ananda.

Eu sou brasileira.
I am (permanently/always) Brazilian.

Ele é casado.
He is is (somewhat permanently) married.
(note that in Spanish they use estar here... hmmm :-))

Eles estão cansandos.
They are (temporarily) tired. or They are tired (right now).

A Susan está na academia.
Susan is (temporarily) at the gym. or Susan is at the gym (right now).

The difference between the two is sometimes jokingly used by Brazilians:

Joana: Nossa Maria! Você está bonita!
Wow Maria! You are beautiful!

Maria: Eu não ESTOU bonita, eu SOU bonita.
I am not (temporarily) beautiful, I am (permanently/always) beautiful.

So this is the main idea on ser and estar. When you feel that you have enough practice on this or if this is all old news to you, come back for a post on ter versus estar com.

*Note: If you haven't learnt anything about the verbs ser or estar before, I recommend learning them in a more natural setting, such as part of a conversation first, rather than going straight for the grammar. This post is intended to those who have at least heard these verbs enough to get confused :-).

5 Ways to Get Started Learning Portuguese On Your Own

Have you decided or at least thought about learning Portuguese, maybe a while ago, but you don't know a word of it yet? Here are a couple of things you could do right now, without the help of a Portuguese teacher:

1. Get a Teach Yourself Book with audio.You could order one right now from an online vendor... or you could just take a walk and go get a copy from the library for free. There are a lot of books out there that would probably use to get started (check out some possibilities here). I find the Teach Yourself and Living Language books to do a decent job at it (I usually don't use them when I am teaching, and if I do, I find myself doing little corrections and using other sources all the time... but I think they are great if you are doing it on your own), covering basic expressions, conversation with some grammar and cultural notes... If you just want to start by picking up some quick phrases, I find Pimsleur audiobooks to be really great.

A couple of things you should have on your check list: make sure you get a book with accompanying audio, otherwise it will be really tough to pronounce things correctly (even if they try to explain it with phonetic spelling...)... and make sure to get the correct version of Portuguese (if you are here, you are probably going for Brazilian), as Portuguese from Brazil and from Portugal are quite different.

2. Try Language Learning Software.

There are also courses you can do on your computer and it seems that new ones will keep coming up. As with teach yourself style books, language learning software often offers structured programs with progressive ordered lessons you can do in your own pace, but with extras like integration of audio with the text, more interactivity etc... I recommend Mango Languages (Ok, so I work with these guys... but the recommendation is legit :-))... Another very popular option is Rosetta Stone.

3. Look up websites for beginners.You probably already know it: there are tones of stuff on the Internet for free. You could learn some quick words, do one of many quick basic courses around, including a the ones in this great collection of resources. The great thing is that you can start immediately, and for free!... The downside is that these sites are often put up by well intentioned speakers/ learners who may not know much about language teaching, so the content and pedagogy may be all over the place. Unlike teach yourself books and computer software, these are often not well organized into lessons... so I recommend doing 3 in combination with 1, 2 or a teacher (but you could definitely get started now, while you wait for your book to arrive!).

4. Try one of the lessons on YouTube.

As with the websites mentioned in 3, there is a lot of material teaching Portuguese available for free... though here things are really messy! Search for "Portuguese Lesson" and similar term and you will find some potentially funny and other bizarre stuff, as well as lessons. Content and quality varies a lot and, as far as I have seen, tends not to be structured enough to be your main source of learning for a long time... but you can certainly use it to complement your learning or to get started right now! Here are a couple of videos that you may try.

5. Sign Up for a Podcast.

A couple of my students swear by this method (and I can actually see that they have learnt a lot this way!). There seem to be a couple great podcasts out there, mostly free and available immediately! Some of them do offer some structured lessons and are presented in the context of conversations, similar to the basic organization that you often find in self-paced teach yourself books and learning software that I have been mentioning. BrazilianPodClass and BrazilianPortuguesePod seem worth a try.

Now you can just pick one of these 5 and finally start!

P.s.: Let me know how you go (even using your newly acquired Portuguese if you want!).

Practice Portuguese with Some Great Videos

The University of Texas has made available some excellent videos for Portuguese exercises. The videos show little snipets of Portuguese speakers discussing various topics, covering all levels. Here are some suggestions of how you may use them:

1. Choose a video according to your level. Don't expect to understand everything, especially if you are a beginner. (If you have just started, they may be a little too hard... you can try some of the resources here for a while first).
   
2. Watch the video a couple of times, without reading the transcription.
3. Quickly summarize what you understood, in Portuguese if possible (say it out loud, if you can or just in your mind if you are in public and that is too embarrassing).
4. Listen to the video again, this time reading the transcription at the same time.
5. If you understand most of the main ideas of the video, now pay attention to some of the words that you didn't understand. Look up some of them in a dictionary, or ask your Portuguese teacher.

This is a great thing to do every once in a while between lessons to imrpove your comprehension and vocabulary.

Divirta-se!

Bem-vindos!!! (= Welcome!)

What to expect from PortugueseTips

This blog is intended for learners of Portuguese as a second language who want to add to their learning with some regular quick facts, tips, links, new words etc. Posts won't be necessarily lessons every time. The idea is that you can come back here (which will be easy if you subscribe to the rss feed :-)) a couple of times a week and feel that you've learnt a little something new. Some of the posts will be aimed at beginners, some, may be aimed at an advanced level and written in Portuguese (I'll make sure to tag them appropriately), but there will be something for everybody.

Why come here (rather than just doing portuguese lessons)?

Chances are that, even if you have studied a lot of Portuguese, you will find something here that you just didn't get the chance to come across in a lesson. For example (I may tell you some slangs da hora (= cool) that I may hear from my cool Brazilian friends, point you to a nice site or cover things not to say to your girlfriend's parents or in a business transaction... Plus, if you have lessons say, once a week (as many of my students do), you can keep Portuguese a little be more active in the in between.

About me

My name is Ananda Lima, often confused with Adriana Lima because of our very similar names, physical appearance and Portuguese teaching abilities. ... ok, maybe she is prettier... but I think at least I am a better teacher! :-) ... I was born and bred in Brasília (the capital of Brazil) and I have been teaching language and linguistics (as a private tutor or in different schools) for over 10 years now (only because I started early! :-)). I also have a background in linguistics, and have done research on Portuguese grammar. I teach private lessons in New York City and online. (What about you? What brings you here? Feel free to introduce yourself in the comments).

Now that you are in, let's get started!