Posts tagged with "BYKI"

Podcast: Extreme Sports

Posted by Rachel No Comments
May 29 2009

This week, we’re going to talk about extreme sports.

Check out the podcast here [extremesportsfull], and the BYKI list here.

Eu adoro fazer esportes radicais.
Já voei de asa-delta no Rio de Janeiro.
Também fiz parapente, e gostei muito.
Sei surfar, mas não sou muito bom.
Gosto de fazer trekking.
Eu costumo escalar e já subi o Pão de Acucar.
Um dia, gostaria de fazer paraquedismo!

Here, the speaker says: “I love doing extreme sports.” Esporte radical is an extreme sport. But when we have a noun that ends in “al,” it changes to “ais” in the plural, so more than one extreme sport is esportes radiciais.  And don’t forget that adorar means to enjoy or love something.

This means, “I’ve gone hang gliding in Rio de Janeiro.”  Voar de asa-delta means to go hang gliding, since asa-delta is the actual contraption you use, while voar means to fly. When we use já (already) with the past simple tense, we can translate it in English to the present perfect tense: have done something, since it’s something that happened in the past.

“I’ve also gone paragliding, and I liked it a lot.” Parapente is a hang glider, and here we use it with a simple fazer (to do). Put together, this means to go hang gliding. Gostar, as we know, means to like, and in the past simple tense we conjugate it with an ei at the end (gostei). Here, we translate muito as “a lot.”

This means, “I know how to surf, but I’m not very good at it.” Surfar is to surf, and the verb we use to refer to knowing how to do something is saber.  Não muito bom means not very good.

Here, the speaker says, “I like trekking,” or “I like to go trekking.” Trekking is like hiking, but a lot more intense, often for several days in rough terrain. Don’t forget that when we use gostar (to like) with a verb, we must use de as the preposition before the verb (gostar de fazer).

“I frequently go rock climbing, and I’ve climbed the Sugarloaf.” Costumar means to do something frequently or to be used to doing something. Here, we translate it as “frequently,” though it can be different depending on the context. Again, we translate já and the simple past (subi) into the present perfect: I have climbed. Sugarloaf is a famous mountain in Rio de Janeiro and one of the city’s best rock climbing areas.

This means, “One day, I’d like to go skydiving!” Fazer paraquedismo means to go skydiving, while paraquedismo is the actual sport. When referring to a desire (I’d like), we use the conditional tense of gostar, which is gostaria. Again, since we are using gostar with a verb, we must add de as the preposition.

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.”

Podcast: Getting in Touch

Posted by Rachel No Comments
Mar 31 2009

Today is Podcast Day! Check out the podcast here: CommunicationsPodcast

Also be sure to check out the BYKI list.

Today, we’re going to learn about the terms used to discuss communication and getting in touch.

Estou tentando entrar em contato com o Marcelo.
Já liguei para a casa dele, mas ninguém está atendendo.
Ele me deu o número de seu celular, mas não anotei.
Não adianta mandar email, se ele não está em casa.
Já escrevi para ele no Orkut, mas ele não deve ter visto.
Se eu tivesse o número dele, mandaria um SMS.
Preciso avisá-lo sobre o jogo, é urgente.

Entrar em contato com means “to get in touch with.” Tentar means to try. All together, this means, “I’m trying to get in touch with Marcelo.” Note that when we refer specifically to a person using his name, we use the article, which in this case is masculine [o], since we are referring to a man. If we were to translate this literally, we would say, “with the Marcelo.”

This means “I already called his house, but no one is picking up.” Ligar means to call, and atender means to pick up or answer the phone. Note that ninguém means no one, and dele is the possessive for his. Also note that we use the progressive tense like we would in English to say that no one is answering the phone.

Here, the speaker says: “He gave me his cell phone number, but I didn’t write it down.” Anotar is to write down. Celular is cell phone. Note that we say the number of his cell phone (o número de seu celular), and that in this case, we use seu for the possessive of “his.”

Adiantar> is a very useful verb that means to help or to be worth it to do something. To get an idea of how it is used, here’s an example: Não adianta voltar para o escritório, porque já está fechado. There’s no use in going back to the office, because it’s already closed. In this case, it is used to say “It won’t do any good to send an email if he’s not home.” Estar em casa means to be at home. Mandar email means to send email. Remember that PDAs are very expensive in Brazil and fewer people have Blackberrys and Iphones than in the US.

This means, “I wrote to him on Orkut, but he must not have seen it.” Orkut is the most popular social networking site in Brazil, and an overwhelming number of people use it. There’s a part similar to a Facebook wall, called scraps, where people leave each other messages to communicate. Note that we often use já when using the simple past, even if we don’t always translate it as “already” and make it implicit in the past tense, as we do here. In this case, we use dever (to should/must), to mean “he must not have seen it.”

In this sentence, we use the conditional tense. Here, the speaker says: “If I had his number, I’d send him a text message.” Mandar is to send. An SMS is a text message, and stands for serviço de mensagens curtas. They are also referred to as torpedos SMS and mensagens de texto. Text messages are a very common way of getting in touch with someone in Brazil, since cell phone calls are very expensive and text messaging is considerably cheaper.

This means: “I need to tell him about the game, it’s important.” Precisar is to need, and avisar is to warn or to tell. Here, we say “tell him” and have to use a contraction, in which we cut off the “r” in the infinitive, add a dash, and a lo (since it is a male we are referring to). Urgente means important or urgent.

Podcast: Discussing Preferences

Posted by Rachel No Comments
Dec 31 2008

Music Preference Podcast: Click here!

This week, we’re going to learn how to discuss preferences, using music as an example. Make sure you check out the BYKI list when you’re done listening!

The word adorar (adore) is used to describe something you really like, whether it’s a person or a thing. In this case it means, “I love to listen to music.”

In Portuguese, we use the word prefer more than we might in English, especially when talking about things we like. Here, the speaker says: “I prefer rock and MPB.” Note that MPB is música popular brasileira, or Brazilian pop music. Also, we use the word acostumado (accustomed to) when discussing things we do regularly, and we can use it in this instance to describe something we often do because we enjoy it. One way we could translate this part of the phrase is “I frequently listen to Latin music.”

There’s always the straightforward gostar (to like) when talking about preference. Here, we say, “I also really like reggae and hip hop.” Don’t forget that the verb gostar always has a de on the end, like “gosto de reggae.”

A useful negative verb to talk about preferences is detestar (to detest). Here, the speaker says, “I can’t stand sertanejo and forró.” Note that sertanejo is a type of Brazilian music akin to American country music, and forró is a type of traditional music from the Northeast of Brazil that uses accordions and percussion.

Odiar (to hate) is a strong negative word and should be used carefully. Aliás can mean a number of things, including “as a matter of fact,” “in fact,” “plus,” “nevertheless,” or “incidentally.” Here, the speaker says, “Plus, I hate pagode.” Pagode is a subgenre of samba that is often played in a circle, like samba groups.

The phrase “não gosto muito” is quite useful when discussing preference, because it denotes that you don’t like something but without being too negative. The speaker says, “I don’t really like axé, but my girlfriend likes it.” Note that axé is a typical Brazilian music from Bahia with very upbeat, pop –like tunes.

De vez em quando means once in awhile. This means, “Once in awhile, I listen to samba and bossa nova.” Note that samba is a masculine noun (o samba) and bossa nova is feminine (a bossa nova). Both are types of Brazilian music born in Rio de Janeiro.

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