Posts in June 2008

Brazil in the Business News

Posted by admin
Jun
30
2008

Last week, Merrill Lynch and Cap Gemini released a list of the countries with the largest increase in the number of millionaires, and Brazil came in at number three, after China and India. This was due to the booming economy, which in the last year grew 5.4%, while Bovespa, the São Paulo stock market, grew 43%. The total number of millionaires in Brazil, those people possessing financial assets of US$1 million or more, rose from 120,000 to 143,000, an increase of nearly twenty percent. 

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Experts point to several factors that have brought about the surging economy. Last year, commodities in the areas of agriculture, mining, and industry boomed, while exports increased, especially in raw materials and energy. The service industry has also greatly expanded. In addition, Brazil is the number one ethanol exporter in the world.

The report highlighted the importance of developing countries in the global economy, since overall economic growth worldwide was 5.1% last year, largely due to emerging markets.

 
Posted under Brazilian News
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The Festival of Saint Peter

Posted by admin
Jun
29
2008

In Brazil, the Festival of Saint Peter, known as o Dia de São Pedro in Portuguese, is celebrated each year in late June. Saint Peter is the saint of fishermen, who have boat processions on the sea to honor the saint and to ask for protection and better catches. 

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.

 
Posted under Holidays
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Podcast: Making an appointment

Posted by admin
Jun
26
2008

Click to hear the Podcast!

Today, we’re going to learn how to make an appointment. The important thing to remember is that in Portuguese, we frequently use the verb form of “appointment” instead of the noun like we do in English. In Portuguese, this verb is marcar. We use this verb when making an appointment, a date, or a meeting, and add different nouns depending on the context.
  

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Boa tarde.
Por favor, gostaria de marcar uma consulta com o dentista.
É para a limpeza dos dentes.
Estou disponível na segunda-feira e na 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 na segunda-feira e na 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!

 
Posted under BYKI Web List, Podcast
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Brazilian Profile: Clarisse Zeitel

Posted by admin
Jun
25
2008

Clarisse Zeitel is not a star, per se. She appears every week as a dancer on the popular weekend variety show “Caldeirão do Huck,” along with another dozen or so women. But recently, she became a local celebrity because of her brain and not because of her good looks. 

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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.

 
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The Latest Brazilian Plastic Surgery Trend

Posted by admin
Jun
24
2008

Brazil is known for being one of the world capitals of plastic surgery, and visitors from all over go to Brazil for the cosmetic procedures that cost less than in their home countries. Brazilians also frequently get plastic surgery, and can pay in installments for any procedure, like a face lift or liposuction. The latest trend in Brazilian cosmetic surgery, however, is a bit unusual. 
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The latest craze is the female calf implant, meant to create more sculpted legs. Known as as panturrilhas in Portuguese, calves are now the focus of some Brazilian women, with a fifty percent increase in this surgical procedure in the past two years. These women are paying R$7,000 to have surgeons place silicone in their legs, and then have to wait two months to fully recover.

Typically, the women who get this surgery are older than thirty, though women as old as sixty are getting the implants, since some of them have taken up dancing and want to feel more secure about the appearance of their legs. After getting the surgery, women report having more self-confidence, and buying shorter skirters and dresses to show off their new calves. Doctors recommend that after the surgery, women should avoid violent sports, like soccer and
martial arts, since a severe hit could cause deformities in the
silicone.

To read more about the procedure in Portuguese, click here.

 
Posted under Culture
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