Category Archives: Brazilian culture

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O Código de Ipanema

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The word code is 

código.

To say QR code it’s: código QR. ‘QR code’ is that new square mosaic black & white pattern that’s starting to appear everywhere — magazines, products and now — the sidewalk in Ipanema (Rio de Janeiro). They are taking over old-fashioned barcodes because they can be read by smartphones and link to things like websites.

These QR códigos were installed >> foram instalados << 
in the sidewalk >> na calçada << along the beach >> 
ao longo da praia. 
They will help tourists >> Eles vão ajudar os turistas << 
learn about the history >> aprender sobre a história << 
of the area >> da região. 
In fact, >> de fato << they are installing these codes >> 
eles estão instalando esses códigos << all over the city >> na cidade toda!

Read more about this.

sabrina

Pelo amor de Deus!

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Check out this headline from today’s paper:

Sabrina Sato: ‘Estou muito feliz pela vitória da Vila’

She (Sabrina Sato) is saying that she’s very happy for the victory of Vila (Vila Isabel – the samba school that won the grand prize just now).

So, pela >> for the?

Let’s break this down:

> por is the preposition that can mean by, through or for.

> When por is followed by o or a, it gets contracted like this:

por+ o= pelo; por+ a= pela;

Você já viajou pelo Brasil?
Eu vou vialjar para o Brasil pela primeira vez agora.
Vamos pela orla - é mais rápido!
13

Behind the scenes Carnaval — os bastidores

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The way to say ‘backstage’ or, ‘behind the scenes’ in Portuguese is, os bastidores.

Use it like this:

We went behind-the-scenes at the show! >> Visitamos os bastidores do show!
The video shows the behind-the-scenes of political power >> O vídeo mostra os 
bastidores do poder politico.
I hope we can get some behind-the-scenes coverage of carnaval! >> Espero que 
consegamos os bastidores do carnaval!
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A Porta-Bandeira

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As escolas de samba desfilam com três ou quatro casais de 
porta-bandeira, mas apenas o primeiro deles é avaliado.

So, there’s usually one couple that is the standout that takes the first position. The movements of the porta-bandeira – always a couple, are always stunning.

Look at how ‘deles’ is used here.

Deles = de + eles == of them

So the sentence is saying ‘…just the first of them (of the couples) is evaluated.’

Let’s see another example of dele :

Você conhece o pai dele?

And with ela it’s de + ela = dela:

Você gosta do cabelo dela?

And the plural them, eles used in our first sentence above. Notice that it’s a man + a woman, You know that this is, by default ‘eles’ (masculino), right?! It would be delas only if we were talking about two or more women! 

  Learn more about the preposition de in Series 1

bloco

Carnaval 2013 – os blocos de rua

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O carnaval de rua da cidade do Rio de Janeiro terá quase 600 blocos que desfilarão por toda a cidade.

Notice the use of the future tense (technically called the ‘future indicative’) here — in bold. This form is rarely spoken, but often written (this sentence from an online article). If you don’t care (yet) about the written language, skip it until you are. But already moving ahead in your studies it’s time to learn the few but very common instances of this tense that are actually spoken. When they are, it’s usually to add lots of emphasis like we might say : I shall be there.

They are:

ESTAR

Commonly said:

Eu estarei lá! (I will be there!)

FAZER

Commonly said:

O governo terá que se modernizar para ficar mais eficiente. 

Eu farei tudo logo!

IR

Irei com você. (I will go with you.)

There is an aulinha of this form on YouTube here:

As for the Blocos de Rua — these are parades in the street during carnaval that are the real roots of carnaval: Revelers in fantasias, dancing and drinking to a single song, over and over and over…

Muito bom! tudo-bem-punctuation

reveillon_paulista

2013 está chegando!

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What do you say to a Brazilian about the new year?

First off, you have to wish them a happy new year,

Feliz ano novo.  That was easy.

Then, wish them all the best and lots of success, good health and etc like this:

Eu te desejo* muito sucesso e saúde nesse ano novo.

Or to just be general and cover all the bases: Tudo de bom para você nesse ano novo.

Don’t forget to mention the family:

E para toda sua familia também.

* desejar is really the key verb here. In this context it’s equal to: to wish (someone).

After all that, be sure and ask them where they are going and what they’re doing on new year’s eve:

Onde você vai passar a virada do ano?
O que você vai fazer no ano novo?

The term “a virada” is often used to talk about new year’s eve — it literally means, “the turnover” or “turnaround” (comeback). It’s also the name of the new language learning series from Semantica — coming soon neste novo ano!

Qual é a forma de pagamento?

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Easy low monthly payments.

We all know this language. It must be totally confusing for a foreigner to hear something like,

90 days is the same as CASH.

Brazil has it’s own vocabulary. Let’s learn the important ones:

When paying for something, this question is almost always part if the transaction:

“Dinheiro ou cartão?”

If the answer is ‘cartão’ the next question is always: “crédito ou débito?”

‘Débito’ is direct-deposit or, an ATM card.

If you’re buying something big — like a pair of jeans (um, a pair of tennis shoes can set you back several hundred dollars here) another set of questions will be presented by the seller. Everyone finances bigger payments into monthly payments — they do not always put them on a credit card. This is because most of the stores offer special lower interest rates if you use their payment plan. Okay, so here’s what you need to know:

Pagamando a vista means CASH IN FULL, NOW. You should always ask for a discount if paying up front (~5%)

Pagamento parcelado means PAYING IN MONTHLY INSTALLMENTS. A sentence like: parcelamos em até 12 vezes  means that the store will finance your purchase up to 12 months. The verb here is PARCELAR.

> Na Lojas Americans, além dos descontos, os clientes vão poder parcelar em até 24X no Cartão Extra.