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Brazilian Music: The female forró group Clã Brasil
Recently, I discovered a female group of forró musicians, who are also sisters, called Clã Brasil. They come from João Pessoa in Brazil’s northeast and play the more traditional “pé-de-serra” style of...
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Learn Portuguese: How Brazilian Kids Say It
I was recently reminded of some concepts that are familiar to Brazilian children and reminiscent of things American kids also know. Being that they both speak different languages, the concepts below...
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Brazilian Portuguese: Idiomatic Portuguese to Express Flexibility
In Brazil, each day can be an adventure and it’s important to remain flexible in order to best approach or react to what might come your way. In Brazilian Portuguese, there’s a phrase for referring to...
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Brazil's "Crab-Spider"
Being that we just celebrated Halloween, I thought it’d be a good time to introduce you to the Brazilian tarântula, known in Brazil as the caranguejeira (after caranguejo, or crab, due to its size and...
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Brazilian Portuguese Vocabulary: Small Health Problems
We’re all familiar with what a “dor de cabeça” (headache) is, both the phrase and the way it feels to have one, but other unwanted things sometimes occur to us or to people we come across in our...
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Learn Colloquial Portuguese: Showing your Surprise in Brazilian Portuguese
There are two common exclamations in Brazilian Portuguese that refer to the Virgin Mary. Both phrases are said in moments of surprise and both can be shortened several times over. Let’s take a look....
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Brazilian Music: A Study on Music and Class
A new study by IBOPE, the national agency for statistics, is out in Brazil and it shows what percentage of poll responders listen to the same types of music. Perhaps more interesting than that, it ties...
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Informal Brazilian Portuguese: Saying Far Away
Years ago, I was watching the Brazilian film "O Caminho das Nuvens" (aka The Middle of the World) when I heard the phrase “é chão” used for the first time. I stopped the film and rewound it to make...
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Idiomatic Expression in Portuguese: Saia Justa
If you’ve ever been in a bind, a jam or a tight spot that has left you embarrassed, in Brazil they’d say you were in a “tight skirt” (embarrassing in itself, if you’re a male). Well, that’s the direct...
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Brazilian Culture: Got Ginga?
If you’ve practiced capoeira, you may have heard of ginga. It’s the base move from which all others are made, you know, that back and forth, side-to-side, swinging motion you see whenever someone...
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Brazilian Portuguese Vocabulary: Mess
There’s an article making the rounds about how “messy kids learn quicker” and I noticed it in a Brazilian newspaper online with the title “Crianças bagunceiras aprendem mais rápido”. The word...
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Brazilian Portuguese Vocabulary: Spotlight
There are two words in Portuguese that refer to the spotlight, one mainly being the physical manifestation of the object (though, not always) and the second having more to do with being in the...
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Brazilian Portuguese Vocabulary: Only & Alone
Online, I saw someone ask the question recently about the differences between three words in Brazilian Portuguese, all of them carry the meaning of “only” in English. The words are só, somente and...
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A Brazilian documentary on happiness: The Higher Self
Late last month, I heard about a new Brazilian documentary called Higher Self, or Eu Maior, and when looking for it online, to my surprise, I found it immediately on Youtube. More than that, the...
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Learning Portuguese: The Brazilian Connection
When I first decided I was serious about learning Brazilian Portuguese and about Brazil, I did all the things I always mention (look for grammar books, films and music) yet I seemed to always leave out...
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Brazilian Portuguese Vocabulary: Bend & Fold
Continuing the recent posts on vocabulary, I thought I’d share a few different ways of expressing bending and folding in Brazilian Portuguese. The definitions, followed by examples, are below. READ...
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Brazilian Portuguese Vocabulary: Mira & Alvo
Today I want to talk about the difference between mira and alvo, two words related to weapons but also used figuratively. The dictionary says:mira means sight (crosshairs), aim, or markalvo means...
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Brazil, Up Close
The Western world has gone Brazil-crazy in recent years and I’ve never been quite sure how I feel about it (even though I'm certified Brazil-crazy myself). If we're talking linguistically, where more...
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Resources for the Brazilian Portuguese word-lovers
Linguaphile - a lover of languages and words (Logophile, however, is strictly a word lover)As a self-described linguaphile, I enjoy finding out new and interesting words and their origins, a propensity...
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Short Brazilian documentaries - My new addiction
One of my newest addictions is finding and watching short documentaries on Brazilian subjects. There are many times when I am amazed at how much can be stuffed into a 10 or 20 minute short film. By...
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