Dar-se bem: To get along well & To do well
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.
Portuguese Vocabulary: Interesting Names of Body Parts in Brazilian Portuguese
The other day, someone I know was talking about their head, more specifically, their scalp, and I realized off the top of my head (…get it?) I didn't know the word for it in Portuguese. For lack of actually knowing it, I made up the word escalpo (which is actually correct, scientifically-speaking). The popular name, however, is couro cabeludo, or rather "hairy leather". Why it would be called that is a bit of a head scratcher, but I suppose it's more or less understandable.
A Sneak Peek at Our New Logo
I wish I had kept pictures of our first website, back in 2008. It was a simple website and I loved it so much.
It was a big deal for me to decide to stop teaching elsewhere and start my own Portuguese language school. I owe the inspiration to do so to my client Blake who kept telling me time and time again that I needed to have my own teaching practice.
Learn Portuguese: Oops, there's no accent there!
Even after a decade since I picked up my first Brazilian Portuguese grammar book, I still wonder about the placement of an accent here or there. Online, there’s tons of blogs and sites in Portuguese that talk about the spelling reform from a few years back, and all the rules that accompanied it. A lot of that information concerns (mostly) accute accents and whether the word is paroxytone or proparoxytone, etc (linguistic terms regarding syllable stress).
Brazilian Culture: Accents Galore in Brazil
(It says there are many accents in Brazil thus everyone should respect each others)
One thing that has always surprised me about Brazil is the number of accents one can find from region to region and state to state. It often feels obligatory, among Brazilians, to mention certain regionalisms when being introduced in a social setting to someone from elsewhere in Brazil. The differences especially enter the conversation when it's found out that someone is from Southern Brazil, Rio, Bahia and, at times, São Paulo.
Learn Portuguese: How to say "Any Questions?" in Portuguese
Very often literal translation from English to Portuguese or from Portuguese to English is not the best way to say what you want. Here is a good example:
- Alguma dúvida?
Literally, this question translates to: “Any doubt? But in the classroom setting it is the Portuguese equivalent to “Any questions?”
