Posts under "BYKI Web List"

BYKI List: Introductions

Posted by Rachel No Comments
Sep 1 2009

Today, we’re going to take a look at the BYKI list for yesterday’s podcast.

Click here to access the BYKI List!

In case you’re new to Portuguese blog, BYKI is an excellent program that you can use for free in the basic version to make vocabulary and phrase lists, adding sound clips, videos, and photos to help your memorize the words.

Here’s how you can practice with today’s list. Click on the link above and start at the first card:

You can listen to the Portuguese pronunciation, and practice saying the phrase out loud. Match the Portuguese words and translation to the English ones.

Next, you can download the free BYKI Express for access to more lists and a desktop program to access your lists. You can also download the paid version, BYKI Deluxe, for access to great activities to practice each list, like Concentration and Four Square, and the ability to upload lists to your iPod.

Podcast: Haggling in Portuguese

Posted by Rachel No Comments
Jul 31 2009

For today’s podcast, we’re going to talk about haggling and asking for prices while shopping.

Check out the podcast here, and the BYKI list here!

Quanto é a pulseira?
Posso ver os brincos? Quanto custam?
Cinquenta reais? Obrigado, mas não gostei.
E o anel? Quanto tá?
Não quero nada, valeu.
Bom, levo a pulseira por cinco reais.
Tem uma sacola? É um presente.

First of all, it’s important to remember that you can’t haggle just anywhere in Brazil. Your best bet is at fairs and public markets, like Rio’s Hippie Fair, for example. Sometimes, if you pretend not to want anything after you’ve found out the prices, they will lower them for you.

“How much is the bracelet?” Pulseira is bracelet, and a good way to remember that is by thinking of taking your pulse on your wrist. Quanto é is one way to ask how much something costs. It literally translates to “How much is it?”

This means, “Can I see the earrings? How much do they cost?” Quanto custa means how much does it cost, and when the subject is plural, it becomes custam. Poder ver means to be able to see, so when you want to ask to see something, you say Posso ver…in the first person, present tense. Brincos are earrings. The verb brincar, though unrelated, means to play, so it’s fun to associate earrings as something that plays on your ears.

Here, the speaker says, “Fifty reais? Thank you, but I don’t like them.” In Portuguese, fifty is cinquenta. After the accent rules changed, the u no longer has an umlaut. The real is used as currency in Brazil, but when you pluralize a noun that ends in -al, it becomes -ais in the plural. Even though we use the past simple tense here with gostar (to like), we express a present sentiment—I don’t like them. Don’t forget that when a male says thank you, it’s obrigado, and when a woman says it, it’s obrigada.

Next, this means, “What about the ring? How much is that?” With a simple “and” (e) we mean “What about.” Anel, a masculine noun, is ring. Quanto tá (short for está) is a slangy way to ask about the price.

The speaker says, “I don’t want anything, thanks.” To say anything, in this case we use nada (which literally means nothing). The first person present of querer (to want) is quero. This is the grammatically correct way to say it, but the slangy version would be Quero nada não, by inverting the order. Valeu is a slangy way to say thanks, though mostly young people use it.

This means, “Alright, I’ll take the bracelet for five reais.” When we start a sentence with bom, it means alright, or ok. Levar means to take, so here we conjugate it in the present simple tense. The difference between por and para is very tricky, but in this case, since we are referring to price, we use por.

Finally, this means, “Do you have a bag? It’s a gift.” Sacola refers to a plastic bag, the type you get at a store or supermarket when you buy something. Note that you don’t have to use você (you) before tem; it is understood as part of the conjugation. Gift is presente.

Podcast: Air Travel

Posted by Rachel No Comments
Jun 30 2009

Today, we’re going to discuss air travel on the podcast.

Click here for the podcast, and click here for the BYKI list.

Fui ao aeroporto às 16:00 horas.

Fiz o check-in, passei pela imigração e pela segurança.

Depois, esperei no portão.

Embarquei no avião e achei o meu assento.

A aeromoça trouxe o jantar e depois fiquei dormindo.

Quando cheguei ao aeroporto, passei pela imigração de novo e pela alfândega.

Finalmente, fui pegar minhas malas na esteira de bagagens.

First, the speaker says, “I went to the airport at 4PM.” Note that in Brazil, they use military time, so 4PM translates as 16:00. The past simple of ir (to go) is fui in the first person. When we talk about time, we put a grave accent on the as (at), before the number. We also must put horas (hours) after the number when we talk about time. Also note that the preposition for “to” in “to the airport” is ao (since airport is a masculine noun and joins with the a, which is “to”).

This means: “I checked in (or went to check in) and went through immigration and security.” The past simple of fazer (to make/do) is fiz in the first person, which is an irregular verb, and the past simple of passar (to pass/go through) is passei in the first person, which is a regular verb. In Portuguese, check-in is the same as in English, but you pronounce it with a Portuguese accent and use it with fazer (to do). Immigration is imigração, and security is segurança. Don’t forget the preposition here, which is por, which changes to pela, due to the feminine nouns.

Here, the speaker says, “Then I waited at the gate.” Depois means after, or then. The past simple of esperar (to wait) is esperei in the first person, and is a regular verb. Gate is portão, and is masculine, despite the fact that porta (door), a related word, is feminine. Here, the preposition is em, but becomes no, since it precedes a masculine noun.

This means: “I boarded the plane and found my seat.” Embarcar means to board or to embark, and in the past simple, first person tense, it becomes embarquei. Note that here, the c changes to a qu, since you can’t achieve the “kay” sound with a ce, and must change it to a q. Achar (to find) becomes achei in the past simple, first person. Avião is airplane, and assento is seat.

Here, he says: “The flight attendant brought dinner and then I fell asleep.” Aeromoça means stewardess, or flight attendant. O jantar means dinner, which can also be a janta. Trazer (to bring) is irregular, and in the first person, past simple becomes trouxe (don’t forget the x, which has an s sound). Ficar (to stay/become) in the past simple, first person becomes fiquei. Note that again, we must change the c to a qu to achieve the “kay” sound. Ficar dormindo means to fall asleep.

This means, “When I arrived at the airport, I went through immigration again, and through customs.” Chegar, to arrive, becomes cheguei in the first person, past simple. Again, we use a (to) as the preposition, which becomes ao because of the subsequent masculine noun. Here, we have to add a u to achieve the hard g sound. De novo is “again.” Alfândega is customs. Again, we use passar (to pass/go through) with por, which becomes pela because of the feminine nouns.

Here, the speaker says, “Finally, I picked up (or got) my bags at baggage claim.” Finalmente is finally, and mala is suitcase or bag. In this case, my becomes minhas, since we have a plural, feminine noun. Pegar is to pick up, or get. Esteira de bagagens is the actual belt on which the luggage comes, but we can translate it as baggage claim.

Using BYKI as a Language Tool

Posted by Rachel No Comments
Jun 29 2009

As you may have noticed, every month the Portuguese podcast comes with a BYKI list, which includes vocabulary lists in Portuguese, English translations of the phrases, photos, and voice recordings. You can test your knowledge by reviewing and then taking a test to see if you remembered the meanings. There are also a variety of activities available, including tests like multiple choice and fill in the blanks, as well as games like word whirl and concentration. You can keep track of what you’ve learned and your reviewed lists.

BYKI is a unique way to help memorize vocabulary and learn new words. On Transparent.com, there are two types available. The first type is free, which allows you access to vocabulary lists in 74 languages to learn, practice, and memorize words. The deluxe version allows you access to more lists, to create your own lists, to record your voice, and to upload lists to your iPod.

On Portuguese Blog, you’ll find a list of the latest uploaded lists in Portuguese on the far right column, as well as a featured BYKI list each month with the podcast. Anyone can listen to them!

Check out a preview of tomorrow’s podcast with the airplane travel BYKI list here.

Podcast: Talking about the movies

Posted by Rachel 3 Comments
Apr 30 2009

Click here to listen to today’s podcast! Movie Podcast

UPDATE: Here’s the temporary link to the podcast. Sorry about the problem–we’re working on fixing it.

Check out the BYKI list!

Today, we’re going to talk about movies.

Eu gosto muito de filme.
Estou acostumado a ver filmes de ação ou de drama.
Mas de vez em quando, experimento assistir algo diferente.
Fui ao cinema ontem, e assisti um filme muito interessante.
Vi um documentário sobre o aquecimento global.
Antes do filme, vi vários trailers bons do mesmo tipo.
Agora queria ver mais filmes assim.

In Portuguese, movie is filme. Here, the speaker says, “I really like movies.” Note that although the noun is used in the singular, it is used to describe the plural. Gostar de means to like.

This means “I usually see action movies or drama.” Estar acostumado a means to be used to doing something, but it can also be translated as usually doing something (i.e. estou acostumado a acordar cedo – I’m used to getting up early). Note that ação is action. Some other genres include comedia (comedy), romance (romance), and infantil (for kids).

“But once in awhile, I try watching something different.” De vez em quando means once in awhile, or sometimes, and assistir means to watch, like a movie, TV show, or soccer game. Experimentar means to try, when we’re discussing doing something for the first time, or trying on clothes (for example: Experimentei a camisa, mas ficou grande –I tried on the shirt, but it was too big). We would use provar for other cases, like tasting new food (i.e. Provei a feijoada ontem e gostei – I tried feijoada yesterday and liked it).

Here, the speaker says, “I went to the movies yesterday, and I watched a really interesting film.” Cinema, which is a masculine noun, means the movies. Note that we say ao cinema (to the movies), since we are using ir (to go) and must include the article (o), which is combined with a (to). Ontem is yesterday.

This means, “I saw a documentary about global warming.” Documentário is documentary, and aquecimento global is global warming. Note that ver in the first person, simple past tense is vi.

“Before the movie, I saw several good previews for similar movies.” Like in English, we say trailer for preview. Mesmo tipo means the same type, or similar. Note that when we say before (antes), we must add de, which in this case becomes do, since we have a masculine noun after it (filme). If it were a feminine noun, it would become da (like antes da apresentação).

Finally, this means “Now I want to see more movies like this.” When you use querer in the past imperfect tense (queria), it expresses a desire to do something in the future, so it could be translated as “I want” or “I’d like.” It’s similar to the conditional of gostar (gostaria – I’d like) Assim means “like this” or “similar.”

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