Author: Luciana Lage

I'm Luciana, the founder of Street Smart Brazil. I am thrilled to assist you on your journey to speaking Portuguese. Having taught Brazilian Portuguese for over ten years, I am deeply passionate about helping individuals forge deeper connections, both personally with their loved ones and professionally in their work environments, through learning my beautiful language. My aim is to inspire my clients to speak fluently and naturally, enabling them to express themselves authentically in Portuguese. What drives me is the profound way in which we connect through language and culture.

12 Surprising Brazilian Expressions with Levar and Dar

Brazilian Expressions with Levar and Dar - Portuguese lesson

In Brazil, you can “take a cake” without eating anything. You can “take an outside” without going outdoors. And a soccer team can “take a beating” without anyone getting into a fight. Confused? Today, you’ll learn 12 Brazilian expressions in six pairs, using the verbs levar and dar. They’re common in everyday conversations, but translating […]

Conhecer in Portuguese: Meet, Know, or Visit?

How do you say this in Portuguese? “I met Anna yesterday.” Would you say “Eu conheci Anna ontem” or “Eu encontrei Anna ontem”? Both translate as “I met Anna” but they tell completely different stories. If Anna was introduced to you for the first time yesterday, you’d say: Eu conheci Anna ontem. But if you already […]

Cara in Portuguese: Two Meanings You Need to Know

Think CARA just means “face” or “dude” in Portuguese? Check out these great ways to use the word CARA in Portuguese. Using Cara to Say What Someone or Something Looks Like Você está com cara de sono hoje. (You look sleepy today.) Tá com cara que vai chover. (It looks like it’s going to rain.) […]

Why Do Brazilians Travel in Mayonnaise? 5 Brazilian Expressions Explained

5 Brazilian Portuguese Expressions That Make No Sense in English

Brazilian Portuguese has some expressions that sound completely crazy when you translate them literally into English. For example, what would you think if a Brazilian told you to “take your little horse out of the rain”? Or said that someone was “traveling in the mayonnaise”? These are expressions we actually use in Brazil, and today […]

Double negatives in Portuguese: How to use Nada, Ninguém, Nenhum

Have you noticed that in Portuguese we use two negatives in the same sentence? I want to show you how to use double negatives in Portuguese to speak not only naturally, but also correctly.

Six Brazilian Expressions that Go Beyond Translation

Literal translation works… until it doesn’t. As you move beyond the basics of Portuguese, you start to notice that familiar ideas aren’t always expressed the way you’d expect. In this lesson, I’m sharing six Brazilian expressions we use all the time to talk about common situations. These expressions don’t translate neatly from English because the […]