Sing Happy Birthday in Portuguese again... this time with the help of a cuuuuuute dog!

After seeing my post on singing happy birthday in Portuguese, the owner of a gorgeous golden retriever contacted me for help on the song. They wanted to send a video of happy birthday to the puppy's cousin in São Paulo in Portuguese! (Isn't it fun to be a blogger? How else would I get fun messages like these! ).

Unfortunately, I was away and that e-mail address was a little messed up, so I didn't see the note until it was too late... but it looks like they didn't need me anyway! Here is Golden dog's productions awesome video:



Or you can see it on their You Tube channel, here. (thanks for the video, Simon and Simon's owner!)

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!