Fabio at English This Way reminded me of a common problem that non-native Portuguese speakers run into while in Brazil. In terms of the verbs ‘ir’ (to go) and ‘vir’ (to come), Americans see them as interchangable while Brazilians don’t.
Example
In English – “I’m coming to your house right now” (Right)
In Portuguese (but translated back, it means) – “I’m going to your house right now”
Inglês – “Eu estou vindo para sua casa agora” (Wrong)
Português – “Eu estou indo para sua casa agora” (Right)
In Brazil, you can’t go to a place by coming there, you can only go there by going. Likewise, someone can only come to you, you can’t come to them. Questions?
While meandering around the net, I came across the written account of a well-connected English woman named Maria Graham who published a book in London in 1824 called “Journal of a voyage to Brazil, and residence there, during part of the years 1821, 1822, 1823″ which is 335 pages and can be found online in its entirety here. If you enjoy 19th century literature and if you are curious about how Brazil was in the later years of the Portuguese colony, this book is for you. Of course, you’d have to read it online although no need for squinting as there are options for enlarging each page.
(Laranjeiras in Rio, 1821 – by Maria Graham)
Maria Graham
Maria Graham (later to be known as Maria Calcott) was an accomplished author of travel narratives and children’s books as well as an illustrator. Having grown up in a military family, she traveled through India with her father and later through Italy with her husband, also a military man. With her husband, she continued on to Chile, and later as a widow, to Brazil where she tutored the Princess Donna Maria of the newly independent Brazil. For each of her travels, she wrote a book and each one details for the first time in the English language (in most cases) the rise of the nations through which she traveled.
The phrase is “Eu não sei, eu não quero saber e eu tenho raiva de quem sabe!” (I don’t know, I don’t want to know and I’m angry at who does know!). I’d say it kind of shares the same meaning as the phrase “I just don’t really want to hear about it” in English. Correct me if you have a better translation! ; )
The other week, I mentioned the great book I picked up called 1808, on the Portuguese Royal Family’s escape to Rio de Janeiro. This morning, I found a video summary on Youtube given by the author and its running time is about 30-something minutes (in 4 parts). So for those of you who are more visually-oriented, it’s quite interesting!
Between the US and Brazil, the educational system has many differences and while that would be interesting to go over (I’ll save that for a future post), I’m going to concentrate on some of the terms in Portuguese for university students.
Universidade – University
Faculdade – College (ie, College of Liberal Arts)
Colégio – Elementary, Middle or High School (it doesn’t mean ‘college’)
Escola – School (a general term)
Curso – The degree you are studying
Cursar – The verb to explain the term above
Matrícula – Tuition
Semestre – Semester
Bacharelado – Baccalaureate
Graduação – Undergraduate
Pós-graduação – Graduate
Formar-se – To graduate
Ser formado/a em – To have graduated in
Universitário/a – University student
Aluno/a – Student
Matéria – Course or Subject
Aula – Class
Sala – Classroom
Nota – Grade
Tirar 10 – To get an A (0-10, not letter-based)
Colar – To cheat
Last night, before seeing Lenine play live at the Book Fair, I went to see a friend of a friend at a book stand inside the Hangar. His name is Wagner and he not only seems like a great guy but he works for a great company, Solar do Leitor, here in Belém.
What makes Solar do Leitor different from other run-of-the-mill bookstores? They are selective with their inventory. What I mean by that is they don’t sell best-sellers just to make a buck and also they take care in only having in stock the kinds of literature that can really teach you something about the world.
If you are in Belém and want to check them out, here is their address (also on their site above), phone and email.
Solar do Leitor
Trav. dos Tupinambás, 431
Batista Campos
66033-815
Belém – Pará
(91) 3087 9684
livraria.bc@solardoleitor.com.br
Hi folks, I received a message from Street Smart Brazil (which I wrote about last year, and which receives some of the most click-throughs from my site) with the news that they’ve totally redone their Portuguese learning site and that it’s better than ever! Here’s the message below!
I am so excited to share the news with you: Street Smart Brazil’s new website is up! We are fully 2.0. The new features include:
A totally new look – o site está lindo!
A “Meet the Team” page where you can meet our expert instructors
Information on our Skype lessons and how Street Smart Brazil makes distant learning personal
An integrated blog with video lessons and tips on the Portuguese language and the Brazilian culture
An updated store with books, movies, music, and Street Smart Brazil merchandise
One of the largest literary fairs in the country is in Belém at the Hangar (Center of Conventions & Amazonian Fairs) starting tomorrow November 6th, 2009 and lasting 10 days. In accordance with Brazil’s Year of France, the Book Fair will be the official closing event which promoted French culture in Brazil and several notable French authors will be in attendance. The 13th edition of the Fair will include 176 stands and the participation of 112 expositions (57 of which are national and 55 being regional). Over half a million people are expected and R$25 million is expected to exchange hands, in accordance with last years numbers.
The event will also include Literary Meetings with the likes of Ariano Suassuna, Emir Sader, Moacir Scliar, Zeca Caramago, Frei Betto, Zuenir Ventura, Laurentino Gomes, Cristovam Tezza and Sérgio Nogueira. Each event will happen at 8PM in the auditorium on the 2nd floor. Also, pocket shows with musical guests Lenine (the 6th) and João Bosco (the 14th) are scheduled.
Entrance is free and the Hangar is open from 10AM to 10PM everyday. The Hangar is located at Av. Dr. Freitas, S/N (Sem Número meaning no number).
The clip below deals with the image of the Brazilian woman and in this case, the carioca and how that image is presented in a sexual manner to foreigners. It reached the point where postcards and other images which were of a sexual nature were prohibited from being sold in Rio. I remember being in Rio and watching a debate on the matter on a news show and while I’m supportive of the right to express yourself how you want, there are limits, of course. To promote the women in Rio as sex fiends or anything of the sort is not right. I personally know many Brazilian women and none of them are hypersexual in the way they are portrayed to the rest of the world.
As for the tourist book they refer to in the news piece, I’ve seen it and took a look through it. There were corrections I would have made to the content and I do remember taking note of the page on Brazilian women. Secondly, I wouldn’t write a short colorful book explaining Brazilian culture to a foreigner as it is a complex subject to being with. When writing about where to go or what to do, that’s fine…as long as you aren’t saying “the women in this club are easier” (well, I suppose if you are talking about Help Discoteca, then it would be factual).
To sum it up, I think if you fall for some surface article or book that says certain women are easier than others, you are probably lacking more than a few brain cells. And if you are going to say “but look at what they wear (on the beach, on the street, etc)”, I will tell you that Brazil is a hot and humid country and if you lived in Alaska, I’m sure you’d do the opposite and wear sweaters and jackets.
That being said, I absolutely love the Brazilian woman, only my love is a reflection of the culture they grow up within, and not some false notion that I pulled out of thin air.
