Brazilian Portuguese
Why Portuguese is the Best Language for Music
Is it random luck that so many of the world’s great songs are in Portuguese, or does the language itself have something to do with it?
Go to Brazil Just for the Dancing — How, What, & Where: Complete Planning Tips
I’ve been going to Brazil frequently for more than a decade. When people ask why I keep going back, I invariably give my very top reason (of the many possible): to go dancing. There are calculated to be upwards of 300 styles of Brazilian music and they are just fantastic—not surprising since Portuguese is the …
Brazilian vs. European Portuguese: Key Differences to Learn in Grammar and Vocabulary
I’ve been speaking Brazilian Portuguese regularly for more than a decade, but have recently been spending more time in Lisbon and so I’ve had to make some adaptations for the European version of the language. So this will be my thorough guide to the differences to note between the two varieties; it’s especially intended for …
For Gringões: 20 Minutes to Feigning Fluent Brazilian Portuguese
As part of the our Fluent in 20 Minutes, this post provides EVERYTHING you need to participate in conversations with Brazilians, whether or not you have any idea what anyone is saying. Why learn (a bit of) Portuguese? Well, there’s good evidence that this language has the best music, and then there are other aspects of Brazilians …
How to Search Multiple Definitions and Translations in a Single Click — for Language Learning and Translating
One of the annoying, charming things about language is that definitions are squishy; there’s no one perfect definition. Each speaker of the language will have a slightly different idea of what “bread” tastes and looks like, for instance, or about whether a “soirée” is classier or tackier or more passé than a “party”. This is …
Brazilians even have their own finger snap
The Brazilian finger snap is just one of the countless gestures integral to communication in Brazil, and never taught in any Portuguese class. The estalo brasileiro, or Brazilian snap, is used to indicate speed; sometimes it’s used to (rather rudely) tell someone to pick up the pace. On a drunken night on a break from …
The 25 Most Important Gestures in Brazilian Portuguese
You can’t speak Portuguese without moving your hands. And, as you might expect from a people with their own style of kissing, Brazilians have a grand repertoire of unique gestures. Among them: “big fat liar”, “this person’s quality stuff”, and “in the hood”.
The Most Annoying & Useless Shit Brazilians Say
I just got back from my sixth extended stay in my beloved Brazil, and this time I kept careful notes on the most annoying phrases one hears in this lush, goofy land of samba rock, beaches, and murder. Does listing such uniquely Brazilian language misuse serve any purpose? Probably not, other than to help me …