According to IPEA, o Instituto de Pesquica Econômica Aplicada (the Institute of Applied Economic Research), Brazil's level of socioeconomic inequality has fallen this past year due to increases in minimum wage and better social programs. In the six metropolitan areas studied, the wealthiest residents had wages 23.5 times higher than the poorest residents, a decrease from 27.3 times higher in 2003. The study shows that the poorest sector of the population experienced a 22% increase in salary in the past five years, while the wealthiest sector experienced only 4.9%.
The Gini index, a measure used to show economic inequality worldwide, is decreasing in Brazil. The index uses a scale of 0 to 1, 1 being the most unequal and 0 being the least unequal. In 2007, Brazil's Gini index fell to 0.509 from 0.54 in 2002. This is the lowest the Gini has been in Brazil since 1960, and inequality is expected to fall further still to 0.49 in 2010.
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So, actually, the word "actually" in Portuguese would be em realidade or na verdade. For example:
Vamos ao cinema. Você quer ver esse filme de ação, né?
Na verdade, quero ver esse filme de romance.
Let's go to the movies. You want to see that action movie, don't you?
Actually, I want to see that romantic movie.
However, in Portuguese, atualmente, the literal translation of actually, means currently, lately or nowadays.
Atualmente estou trabalhando muito. I've been working a lot lately.
Atualmente ele é o gerente da loja. He's currently the store manager.
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In Salvador, Bahia, the celebration begins with a large party in Pelourinho, the old city, complete with traditional music and dances. Fishermen provide offerings to São Pedro and to Iemanjá, the goddess of the sea, in small boats off the coast.
In the Baía de Guanabara, in Rio de Janeiro, the procession attracts 90,000 people annually and lasts four days. The fishermen elaborately decorate their boats to honor the saint, and a panel of judges choses the most originally decorated boat.
Below is video footage of the procession in Rio this year.
Boa tarde.
Por favor, gostaria de marcar uma consulta com o dentista.
É para a limpeza dos dentes.
Estou disponível a segunda-feira e a quinta-feira.
Posso ir de manhã, ou depois das cinco da tarde.
Tá bom. Segunda-feira às nove horas estarei ai.
Obrigado.
In Portuguese, it is more polite to say good afternoon or good morning instead of a simple “hi.” In this case, we say good afternoon.
Por favor, gostaria de marcar uma consulta com o dentista means, “I would like to make an appointment with the dentist, please.” Note that we put “please” at the beginning, and that we use the conditional tense of “to like” to make the request. Marcar uma consulta is make an appointment.
When making an appointment, it’s important to be specific. Here, the speaker explains that “it’s for a teeth cleaning.” É para a limpeza dos dentes.
“Available” in Portuguese is disponível. Remember to use estar, the temporary form of “to be” with this adjective. Also, when mentioning days of the week, we use the article first: a segunda-feira e a quinta-feira. Altogether, the sentence means: I’m available on Monday and Thursday. Estou disponível a segunda-feira e a quinta-feira.
Posso ir de manhã, ou depois das cinco da tarde means “I can go in the morning or after 5pm.” The phrase “in the morning” translates as de manhã. Remember that AM and PM aren’t used in Portuguese, and that Brazilians use military time, so it’s important to be specific when talking about the part of the day you want to make the appointment for.
Tá bom is short for está bom which means “OK.” It’s common for Brazilians to shorten está to tá in many cases. Segunda-feira às nove horas estarei ai means “I’ll be there on Monday at nine.” The order is different in Portuguese, which is literally “Monday at nine I will be there.” Note that we use the future tense (estarei).
“Thanks” is obrigado. When a female says thank you, she changes the last letter to “a,” making it obrigada.
And don't forget...click here for the the BYKI vocabulary list!
Clarisse is a law student at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, where she will graduate in July, and is also the latest winner of an UNESCO essay contest. She just returned from Paris, where the awards ceremony was held, to honor the top five contestants. Clarisse's essay, "Como vencer a pobreza e a desigualdade," (How to overcome poverty and inequality) beat 50,000 other entries from Brazil.
Even though Clarisse's current job title is "variety show dancer," her dream is to become a public defender after she finishes law school. She says she is often stereotyped, since people are often surprised to find out that she has both beauty and brains.
To watch the Globo special about Clarisse, click here.
Another highlight of the celebration was the participation of the Japanese crown prince Naruhito, who is currently traveling throughout Brazil in honor of the centennial. He was in the parade in the Sambodrome and also gave a brief speech, promising to work with the Japanese and Japanese descendant communities in Brazil, which encompass some 300,000 people. On Monday, the Prince arrived in Belo Horizonte, after traveling to Paraná and Brasília.
Paulo was born in 1969 in São Paulo, and grew up in Riberão Preto. He is the son of Polish immigrants who wound up accidentally in Brazil, thinking it was Argentina. His interest in the performing arts began early, and he trained as a pianist, violinist, and ballet dancer.
As a teenager, he won a scholarship to study dance in Poland, but a knee injury prevented him from continuing his dance career. He began singing instead, and performed in a Polish chorus. Later, he made his professional opera debut in 1997 at age 28. He has performed all over the world, in thirty roles in sixty productions from Spain to New York.
But it wasn't until 2008 that he made his Broadway debut, winning the role of Emile de Becque in the revival of "South Pacific," which received rave reviews. During his Tony acceptance speech, he sent a birthday wish to his mother, and said he was proud to play a character who "opposes war and fights for love."
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