Posts in June 2007

Brazilian Radio on the Internet

Posted by admin

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click on the image to hear the live broadcast!

MPB, Música Popular Brasileira, is a sort of ’super-genre’ of music that has it’s roots in the post-Bossa Nova era of the mid- to late-60’s. MPB encompasses many different styles of music, ranging from those with jazzy bossa-nova influences to rock and pop music very similar to that found in North America.

Generally MPB signifies any style of music that is relatively current and recognized as, frankly, widely popular and distinctly Brazilian. I suppose MPB is a pretty good moniker indeed.

MPB FM, a radio station broadcasting out of Rio de Janeiro (where else!?), serves as a fantastic soundtrack to the ‘cidade maravilhosa’ …

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Instant Messaging in Portuguese

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Is there anything more important? It’s funny that in this day and age one of the most practical modes of language communication is not only not taught in school, but most adults are completely unaware it even exists. Luckily I’m here to shed some light on the all-important dialect: IM!

Some quick terms to get you going:

BYKI Web list
     </
Kkkkk Laughing out loud

Rsrsrs Lol

Vc You

Cd Where are/is (cadê)

Oq, q, oke, o q What (O que, que)

pq Why (por que)

Tbm, tb Also (também)

td Everything (tudo)

tc Chat (teclar)
Blz Great, “Word” (Beleza)

Aki Here (aqui)

Be sure to check out the BYKI Web list
that I’ve made for these terms!

I’ve been IM-ing a lot more lately in Portuguese, and I think you could really get by with a few hundred word vocabulary, certainly on the speaking side.

Phonetic typing can take some getting used to, especially since people IM with varying degrees of accuracy. Common

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Sounds of Samba - Repenique

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The repenique is a common Brazilian drum that is part of the ‘batucada’ as well as the larger samba school ensembles. It is a high-pitched tom drum (as opposed to the ‘caixa’ or snare drum) and adds a crucial element to the oceanic samba sound.

Typically, the repenique is played with a stick in one hand (usually the right one) and no stick in the left. The left hand plays the drum as well, but with fingers instead. The stick can produce a powerful rim shot and the bare hand provides both the ability to muffle the sound and also produces a mellower striking tone.

Watch the video… it speaks for itself.

 

Fantastic Brazilian Portguese Podcast

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brportuguesepodcast is run by two Mineiros (Brazilians from Minas Gerais) and provides some terrific content for free! Check it out…

 

iGoogle Gadget for Portuguese Blog

Posted by admin

For those of you who use iGoogle, the Google custom homepage, I’ve written a gadget that displays this blog. It uses the same stylesheet as the blog itself, and has some simple but effective preference functionality.

Add to Google

There you go, enjoy!

Additionally, you can add it to your webpage through gadget syndication; we’d love it if you’d give it a try.

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