Brazil Live Blog - A Slice of Brazilian Life
Gil e Jorge – Ogum Xangô
July 28th, 2010On a night in 1975 Gilberto Gil and Jorge Ben sat down with their acoustic guitars and emanated a musical pearl: “Gil e Jorge” (aka: “Ogum Xangô”). This is not an iconic album that changed the landscape of Brazilian music, nor is it a polished recording that met commercial success. It is an archive of a moment of raw, uninhibited musical expression that allows us to peak into a private moment between the two Brazilian legends.
The appeal of this mythical 12-hour jam session turned double LP lies in its informality, improvisation and experimentation. Gil and Ben let their guards down and literally “play” with their music the way a child plays with its toys. Notes are sung off key. Lyrics come out in tongue (Gil was on a different planet on this evening). Lines are repeated over and over. Songs “drag” on for over 10 minutes. Yet, in the end, these imperfections are what make this album so special.
Check out Quem mandou (Pé na estrada) below to get a little dose of what the album has in store.
Mal? Mau? Mao?
July 23rd, 2010
A mistake that people learning Portuguese often make is confusing the written versions of the words Mau and Mal. Those with a hankering for writing about 20th Century politics might even get those words confused with the Chinese communist leader Mao (Zedong). Phonetically they all sound the same (rhymes with “cow”). However, each has a distinct meaning. Let’s take a look.
Mau is an adjective, meaning “bad”, which is used to describe a masculine noun:
Ele tem mau hálito!
He has bad breath!
Este é um mau momento para pedir um empréstimo ao banco.
This is a bad time to ask the bank for a loan.
Be careful, however. Remember Mau is only to describe masculine nouns. For feminine nouns, Mau transforms into Má:
Ele teve uma má experiência durante a viagem
He had a bad experience on his trip
Ela é uma má pessoa
She is a bad person
Now it’s time for the other culprit for our problems: Mal. Mal can be used as an adverb, meaning “badly” or “poorly”. It’s antonym is Bem, or “well”. Thus, it describes a verb and not a noun. The good thing about Mal is that it has just one form to describe all verbs:
O time jogou mal no último campeonato.
The team played poorly in the last championship.
Eu me senti mal durante a festa.
I felt badly during the party.
Mal can also be used as a noun, meaning an assortment of things associated with the word “bad”: evil, harm, hurt, sickness, wrong, wrongdoing, etc.
As for Chairman Mao, you can learn more here.
O Menino Maluquinho
July 14th, 2010
Ask a Brazilian about their favorite childhood book and many will say O Menino Maluquinho (The Nutty Boy). Written by the Brazilian author and cartoonist Ziraldo in 1980, the book follows the antics of a mischievous boy, who could be compared to a Brazilian version of Calvin (from the famous American comic strip Calvin and Hobbes).
The book has sold over 2.5 million copies and has made its way into comic strips, TV, movies and even plays.
So why should you care about a kid’s book?
First off, it’s an entertaining read. But more importantly, for Portuguese beginners, the book is a great way to learn. It’s fun, written on an elementary level and full of illustrations. At Portuguese Live, we often recommend it to our students. And by the way, you can read it for free online!
Read O Menino Maluquinho online here.
(Click on the rocket icon on the bottom to turn the page)
Also, be sure to check out the rest of the Menino Maluquinho site. It has tons of material to engage beginning Portuguese students.
Let us know what you think!
Tudo v. Todo
July 13th, 2010
Amongst beginning Portuguese speakers, there is always some confusion about the difference between Tudo and Todo. Below are four important points to help you distinguish between these two similar Portuguese words.
1. Tudo means “everything”. It is a pronoun that never changes gender. Sounds simple, right? Just see the example below:
Filho, você tem que comer tudo.
Son, you have to eat everything.
Ele acha que sabe tudo!
He thinks he knows everything!
2. The difficulty comes when we toss in the word Todo. Todo is an adjective used to describe a noun. It means “each” or “every”. As you probably know, adjectives in Portuguese have gender. So if Todo is describing a feminine noun, it becomes Toda. See examples below:
Eu viajo para o Brasil todo ano.
I travel to Brazil every year.
Toda semana ela vem me visitar.
Each week she comes to visit me.
3. Think you got it? Well, there is a little more to learn. When Todo is followed by “o” as in “Todo o mês”, it takes on another meaning: “the whole ___” or “the entire____”. As before, it changes gender depending on which noun it describes. Check it out in action below:
Meu celular está ligado todo o dia.*
My cell phone is turned on the whole day.
Eu tenho que estudar toda a semana!
I have to study the entire week!
*Remember dia is a masculine noun despite ending in “a”
4. One more to go! So the last example looked at “Todo o ____”. But what happens when the noun is plural? Good question! So lets transform todo o dia to the plural todos os dias to see what happens. As in the example above, todo o dia means “the whole day”. However, the plural form, todos os dias, means “every day”, which is derived from the literal translation “all the days”. So let’s transform the examples from #3 above to plural and see what happens:
Meu celular está ligado todo os dias dias.
My cell phone is turned on every day.
Eu tenho que estudar todas as semanas!
I have to study every week!
*Something look familiar? If you did not catch it, examples #2 and #4 mean the same thing: You’ll remember todo dia (without the “o”) means “every day”. Well, so does todos os dias. So now you have two ways to say the same thing!
Sounding Brazilian: “para” becomes “pra”
July 10th, 2010
Brazilians like to shorten words at any chance they get. Learning a few of these instances can make your spoken Portuguese sound more authentic. One of the most common occurrences of this “trimming” of the language is with the word para.
As you probably know, para can mean a few things: “to”, “for” or “in order to”. Frequently in spoken Portuguese, Brazilians will turn para into something even easier: pra (pronounced “pdah”). After all, why use two syllables when you can do it with one?
Parabens pra você.
Happy birthday to you.
Eu trabalho pra ganhar dinheiro.
I work in order to earn money.
Now Brazilians will take this a step further when an article (“o” or “a”) follows the word para (ex: …para a praia, …para o jogo). In spoken Portuguese, they will just incorporate the article into the end of the word pra making it either pra or pro. This is similar to informal contractions used in spoken English like “gonna” or “woulda”.
So when para is followed by the feminine “a”, the article “a” just incorporates into the word pra. This happens because the end of pra and the article “a” blend together when spoken. When para is followed by the article “o”, it becomes pro. See the examples below of what it would sound like in spoken Portuguese:
Vou para a praia > Vou pra praia
Ele vai para a igreja > Ele vai pra igreja
A gente vai para o Rio de Janeiro > A gente vai pro Rio de Janeiro
Vou para o cinema > Vou pro cinema
Check out this earlier post about the shortening of the word você.
Feliz aniversário São Paulo!
July 9th, 2010Today ushered in the 456 birthday of São Paulo, South America’s largest city. In honor of this event, we would like to share with you a video of the song “São, São Paulo” written by the brilliant Tropicalista Tom Zé in 1968.
Check out the lyrics of “São, São Paulo”
Ok, we tried. But we couldn’t leave you with music about our beloved São Paulo without including the ethereal “Sampa”, written by the MPB legend Caetano Veloso.
“Sampa” is a nickname for São Paulo oftentimes used by locals.
MUSIC: A pimentinha
March 19th, 2010This week Elis Regina, one of the most important female Brazilian singers of the 20th century, would have been 65 years old. Known as “a pimentinha” (“the little pepper”) for her fiery attitude, she found fame in her early twenties with her interpretations of boss nova classics and would later delve into more popular Brazilian music. She left us at age 36 due to a drug and alcohol induced overdose.
Here is a video and lyrics to a beautiful rendition of “Como Nossos Pais” by Elis.
Como Nossos Pais
(Belchior)
Não quero lhe falar,
Meu grande amor,
Das coisas que aprendi
Nos discos…
Quero lhe contar como eu vivi
E tudo o que aconteceu comigo
Viver é melhor que sonhar
Eu sei que o amor
É uma coisa boa
Mas também sei
Que qualquer canto
É menor do que a vida
De qualquer pessoa…
Por isso cuidado meu bem
Há perigo na esquina
Eles venceram e o sinal
Está fechado prá nós
Que somos jovens…
Para abraçar seu irmão
E beijar sua menina na rua
É que se fez o seu braço,
O seu lábio e a sua voz…
Você me pergunta
Pela minha paixão
Digo que estou encantada
Como uma nova invenção
Eu vou ficar nesta cidade
Não vou voltar pro sertão
Pois vejo vir vindo no vento
Cheiro de nova estação
Eu sei de tudo na ferida viva
Do meu coração…
Já faz tempo
Eu vi você na rua
Cabelo ao vento
Gente jovem reunida
Na parede da memória
Essa lembrança
É o quadro que dói mais…
Minha dor é perceber
Que apesar de termos
Feito tudo o que fizemos
Ainda somos os mesmos
E vivemos
Ainda somos os mesmos
E vivemos
Como os nossos pais…
Nossos ídolos
Ainda são os mesmos
E as aparências
Não enganam não
Você diz que depois deles
Não apareceu mais ninguém
Você pode até dizer
Que eu tô por fora
Ou então
Que eu tô inventando…
Mas é você
Que ama o passado
E que não vê
É você
Que ama o passado
E que não vê
Que o novo sempre vem…
Hoje eu sei
Que quem me deu a idéia
De uma nova consciência
E juventude
Tá em casa
Guardado por Deus
Contando vil metal…
Minha dor é perceber
Que apesar de termos
Feito tudo, tudo,
Tudo o que fizemos
Nós ainda somos
Os mesmos e vivemos
Ainda somos
Os mesmos e vivemos
Ainda somos
Os mesmos e vivemos
Como os nossos pais…
CULTURE: Ordem e Progresso
March 7th, 2010
Did you know the largest flag in the world that is hoisted on a regular basis is the Brazilian flag? The bandeira, or flag, is flown over Praça dos Três Poderes square in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil. It is said that the flag weighs nearly 1300 pounds with dimensions of 230 x 330 feet. In other words, it is about the size of a soccer field!
As you know, the Brazilian flag is comprised of green, yellow, blue and white. The green background symbolizes the lush forests of Brazil, while the yellow diamond represents the country’s mineral wealth. The blue circle in the center represents the sky and the 27 stars represent different constellations that can be seen from Brazil. Finally, a white band with the country’s motto Ordem e Progresso (Order and Progress) crosses the blue sky in the middle the flag.
CULTURE: Carnaval… Rio or Salvador?
February 15th, 2010
As those living in the Northern hemisphere toil their way through the long winter, Brazilians and tourists alike have been living it up in Brazil at one of the most famous parties on earth: Carnaval Brasileiro. Starting on Saturday and ending on tomorrow, which is the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday (“Fat Tuesday”, anyone?), carnaval is a true expression of Brazil.
Despite the fervor that sweeps over the país tropical during carnaval, it is celebrated distinctly throughout the country. We are just going to touch upon the two most famous carnaval celebrations to give you some insight into the differences.
Rio de Janeiro – Escolas de Samba
Rio’s carnaval is famous for its escolas de samba (samba schools) that parade through the sambódromo (stadium dedicated to samba parades) in a competition based on criteria ranging from costumes and theme to quality of music and flow of traffic. Members of each escola prepare for months as do locals and tourists who shell out large amounts of cash to catch a glimpse of the closed spectacle. Elaborately decorated floats illustrate a theme of each escola, while enormous percussion sections pulse a samba beat. Hundreds of members of each escola wear intricate costumes while singing their song on repeat as they samba their way to the finish line in hope of winning over the judges. This is the carnaval typically associated with Brazil.
Salvador de Bahia – Trios Eléctricos
In contrast to Rio’s fame for its exclusive escolas de samba parades, Salvador is renown for its carnaval de rua (or street carnival). The signature of this carnaval is the trio eléctrico, which is stage mounted on a truck where musicians play while cruising through the streets of Salvador. Throngs of people hit the streets in blocos (blocks of people that follow a particular band on a trio eléctrico) to dance and sing to their favorite musicians, which is dominated by axé, a super sticky and energetic Afro-Brazilian pop from Salvador. There is no preparation needed or judges watching you here; however, if you want to be part of a bloco you’ll have to purchase a coveted T-shirt to follow in tow.
Obviously these are two very cursory glances that touch on the most distinctive features of the carnavals of Rio and Salvador. It must be said that you can find carnaval de rua in Rio, while the carnaval in Salvador has much more than just trios eléctricos. Furthermore, there is much more to the Brazilian carnaval than just Rio or Salvador. Find the one that’s best for you! … and let us know about it!
LANGUAGE: Por que “segunda feira”?
February 10th, 2010
Why in the world are the days of the week in Portuguese named the way they are?
Sunday – Domingo
Monday – Segunda-feira
Tuesday – Terça-feira
Wednesday – Quarta-feira
Thursday – Quinta-feira
Friday – Sexta-feira
Saturday – Sábado
“Second-fair”, “Third-Fair”, “Fourth-Fair”… it must have something to do with open air markets since that’s what feira means, right? Well, not exactly. Unlike in the romance languages Spanish, Italian and French where the days of the week are based upon pagan gods, the days of the week in Portuguese are based upon Catholic tradition.
First let’s take a look at other Romance languages (minus Romanian). Lunes, Lundedí, Lundi, which mean “Monday” in Spanish, Italian and French respectively, are derived from the latin word for moon, which is luna. In other words, they lterally mean “moon day”. (Hmm… I wonder where “Monday” comes from?) The only days of the week not dedicated to pagan gods in those languages are weekend days, which are biblical references.
So how did Portuguese stray off the beaten path? In the early fourth Century the Roman emperor Constantine made Christianity the state religion. In turn the pope abolished the traditional method of naming days of the week after pagan gods. Thus, days of the week were converted into ordinal numbers followed by feria, which meant “work day” in Latin (this translated into feira in Portuguese. The second day of the week, Monday, became secunda feria, which meant second day of the week, which was also a work day (feria)… the remaining days of the week followed suit. Eventually that pope died, however, and all languages with the exception of Portuguese returned to their traditional way of naming days.
So that’s why Portuguese uses ordinal numbers to describe weekdays. Got it?