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The verbs Pedir and Perguntar cause a lot of trouble to learners of Portuguese. I hope to put an end to your questions today :) And at the end of the lesson I will give you a very useful tip about the verb “Perguntar”. READ MORE>

I’ve been away from Brazilian life for half a year now. Every time I have been away from Brazil for a short period, it seems like my last trip was a hundred years ago. I think this is because Brazil is a place that has to be lived and felt in order to be understood. Once you’re away from it, it’s like having woken up from a dream and only remembering bits and pieces. READ MORE>

The Juazeiro/Petrolina wine grape-growing belt has close to 25,000 acres of vineyards. It’s one of the only regions in the world with 2 to 3 harvests per year (as opposed to the usual, single harvest). The grape economy generates more than 30,000 direct jobs in the Sertão, where 50% of the rural workers union leadership of Petrolina (Pernambuco) are women. In certain functions they make up 70% of the manual labor workforce. The principal jobs given to them are the “raleio” and the “pinicado”, two techniques used in the thinning of the grape bunches during their development. The most delicate activities rely upon them, women that are helping to transform the lives of their families. READ MORE>

Growing up with a handicapped brother, I learned at a young age all the basics of ASL (American Sign Language). His handicap was such that he was free to do what he wanted at home which usually consisted of looking at magazines, dancing, saying mostly unintelligible things while talking to himself and, every so often, pinching people. My other brothers and I not only used basic ASL with him but also with each other when we were in public. The most usual case was when we were bored in the presence of others and wanted to leave, we’d make the sign for "let's go" (which consists of both index fingers circling around each other). READ MORE>

I recently posted  the pictures below on our Facebook page. Dar-se bem is a common idiomatic expression in Brazilian Portuguese. It has two different translations to English, and for each meaning, a different preposition is used. I am sure that this will be useful to all learners of Portuguese.

Notice that the verb is used with the reflexive pronoun in these expressions. READ MORE>

(a shot of the TV Folha newsroom)

Like all fans of Street Smart Brazil, I really love hearing Brazilian Portuguese, and I also love finding new ways to hear it. With the Internet these days, doing so is not so hard but finding a sustained listening experience isn’t always as easy. Over the years, I’ve come across a few means of finding a fix for my needs and I’d like to share them with you. READ MORE>

 
(exotic fruits, etc, from the Amazon)

In the 15th century, Europeans were trying to find a route to India in order to take part in the valuable spice trade. By the 16th century, though, the Americas had already been discovered and, with it, a way to secure other kinds of exotic items. The Portuguese exploration of the mighty Amazon region opened up a whole new area of trade with what became known as “drogas do sertão”, only they weren’t necessarily drugs and they weren’t exactly from the sertão (used today to refer to the semi-arid region of Northeastern Brazil). READ MORE>

In Part 1 of Portuguese Life, I spoke of a variety of differences between Brazilian and Continental Portuguese. Despite the fact that I’m about to reach the two-month mark, I still have yet to get accustomed to the accent here. While walking in a park yesterday I realized that one of the main difficulties is that in Europe one hears many languages spoken in the major cities, and Lisbon is no different. When I’m out and about and I hear other people speaking another language (other than English, which in itself is rare), it takes about 10 seconds or more for my ears to realize it’s actually Portuguese. In those initial 10 seconds, it might as well be anything from Russian to French. READ MORE>

As I was winding down my run the other day, I passed by a juice bar that had recently opened for business. I don’t remember seeing any juice bars like this one when I first moved to Belo Horizonte two years ago, but now it seems like they are on every corner. I’m pretty happy about this because it increases the amount of healthy snacking options available. Before the rise of juice bars in BH the only snacking options available were salgados, and if you didn’t want to eat a fried snack then you were out of luck. READ MORE>

I was a bit uncertain about discussing prison politics and policies, as it can be a rather depressing topic, but I wanted to find a way to do it. Below, you’ll find three interesting facts about Brazil’s prison system. READ MORE>