Posts tagged w/ Podcast

Podcast: Buying Airfare

Posted by Rachel
Oct
30
2009

Since many of you will need to use Portuguese for travel, we are doing a second air travel podcast, this time to help you learn how to buy airfare, which can be a bit tricky by phone.

Click here to listen to the podcast!
Olá. Queria comprar uma passagem para Fortaleza.
Gostaria de sair de Guarulhos, em São Paulo.
A ida será no dia 3 de Dezembro, e a volta será no dia 10.
A que horas é o voo? É melhor que seja de manhã.
Prefiro um assento na janela, se tiver.
Quanto custa? Vai ser trezentos reais sem taxas?
Tem que pagar mais para despachar as malas? Tá bom, obrigado.

This means, “Hello. I’d like to buy a ticket to Fortaleza.” “Olá” is a formal way to say hello, as opposed to “oi” which is a bit more informal. When you use “querer” (to want) in the past imperfect, this means “I’d like” or “I want.” “Passagem” is a ticket that involves travel, like a plane ticket or train ticket. Though “para” has multiple meanings, in this case, it means “to.”

Here, the speaker says, “I’d like to leave from Guarulhos in São Paulo.” Using “gostar” (to like) in the conditional tense is a more formal way to say “I’d like.” “Sair” is leave, and stays in the infinitive since it directly follows a conjugated verb. Guarulhos is an airport in the city of São Paulo.

This means, “The departure date will be December 3rd, and the return date will be the 10th.” When we say “passagem de ida e volta,” this means a round trip ticket. Therefore, when we split up the two words, “ida” is the first leg of the trip, departing, and “volta” is the return, the second leg of the trip. When you list a date in Portuguese, you preface the number with “no dia” (the day of). Here, we use the future simple tense, by simply adding an á to “ser” (to be).

Next, the speaker says, “What time is the flight? It’s better if it’s in the morning.” To say “what time is…” we say “a que horas é” or “são” depending on the noun that follows. Note that because of the recent accent changes to the Portuguese language, “voo” (flight) no longer has an accent. “É melhor” (it’s best if, it’s better if” is a great way to indicate a preference or state an opinion. Here, we use the subjunctive of “ser” (to be) since we are expressing a desire or request. “De manhã” is “in the morning.”

This means, “I prefer a window seat, if there is one.” “Preferir” means to prefer, and “assento na janela” is “window seat.” We use the future subjunctive tense of “ter” here, since there is uncertainty about whether or not something exists or will happen.

The speaker says, “How much does it cost? It’s 300 reais without taxes?” “Quanto custa” is one of the simpler ways to ask how much something costs. Note that “real” in the plural is “reais.” “Taxa” is tax, though “imposto” is another way to say tax.

Finally, this means, “Do you have to pay more to check luggage? Ok, thanks.” “Despachar” is check when we’re talking about air travel. “As malas” are bags, or luggage. As we’ve reviewed before, “tá bom” means OK, or fine.

Stay tuned next week for the BYKI list!

 
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Podcast: Cleaning Up

Posted by Rachel
Sep
30
2009

Today, we’re going to learn how to talk about cleaning in Portuguese.

Click here to listen to the podcast!

Vamos limpar o nosso apartamento.
Pode pegar a vassoura?
Irei buscar o aspirador.
Temos que esfregar o chão da cozinha.
Lave os vidros, por favor.
Vou lavar a louça.
Até que em fim, tudo está limpinho!

This means “Let’s clean our apartment.” When you want to indicate a demand without using the subjunctive, and when referring to yourself and others, you can simply use “vamos” plus the infinitive verb. Here, we say “vamos limpar” which means “let’s clean.” Note that the grammatically correct way to use the possessive is by putting “the” before “our” to become “o nosso.”

Next, the speaker says: “Can you grab the broom?” “Pegar” is a very useful verb that means to grab, get or take (as in to take the bus). Here, we use it to mean grab or go get. “Vassoura” is broom. Though it’s not grammatically 100% correct, you can also add a “para mim” at the end of this phrase to mean “Can you get the broom for me?” Keep in mind that spoken Portuguese doesn’t always match written Portuguese in terms of grammatical correctness.

This means “I’ll look for the vacuum cleaner.” Here, we use the future tense, by adding “ei” to “ir” (to go), which becomes “I will.” When used before the infinitive “buscar” (to look for), it becomes “I’ll look for.” Without an infinitive, it would simply be “I will go,” but the meaning changes with the addition of the second verb. Note that “aspirador” is vacuum.

Here, the speaker says: “We have to mop the kitchen floor.” “Ter” is “to have” so when we put “que” after the conjugation in the simple present tense, it becomes “We have to.” “Esfregar” means to mop, but can also mean to scrub. “Chão” is floor, or ground, and “cozinha” is kitchen.

This means “Please wash the windows.” Note that here, we use the subjunctive tense of “lavar” (to wash), by changing the “a” to an “e” from the simple present tense. “Vidros” in this context means windows, though it can also mean “glass.”

Here, the speaker says: “I’m going to wash the dishes.”  Though not as proper as “irei,” you can use the present tense of “ir” (to go) to describe the future, so “Vou lavar” means “I’m going to wash.” Note that “lavar a  louça” is the expression that means “wash the dishes,” though “louça” is the word for sink. Literally translated, this would mean “wash the sink.”

This means, “Finally, everything is nice and clean!” “Até que em fim” is a great expression that means “finally.” Literally, it could be translated as “Until at last!” “Tudo” is everything. “Limpo” is clean, but when you add the diminutive (inho), it adds a positive or endearing little twist to the adjective. In this case, the best way to translate it would be “nice and clean.”

Stay tuned tomorrow for the BYKI list!

 
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Podcast: Introductions

Posted by Rachel
Aug
31
2009

Today, we’re going to learn different ways to introduce yourself based on various skill levels in Portuguese. Each set of phrases is in order of difficulty, from least to most difficult. These are approximations in terms of level, but the idea is to show that you can say the same thing in a number of different ways, while some are simpler or more complicated than others.

To listen to the podcast, click here.

Beginner: Oi, tudo bem? Tudo bom.
Low Intermediate: Meu nome é João. Muito prazer.
Intermediate: Qual é o seu nome? O meu é João.
High Intermediate: Como você se chama? Me chamo João.
Advanced: Gostaria de me apresentar. Sou João.
Proficient: Pode me chamar de João. Ė um prazer em conhecé-lo.

First, we have the most basic. Sometimes, when meeting someone for the first time, being introduced by someone else, you may not need to say more than this. Especially if your Portuguese is basic and someone is doing the talking, (i.e. “This is Charles. Charles, this is Sidney.”), you can get away with a simple question or response. “Oi, tudo bom?” means “Hey, how’s it going?” or “Hi, how are you?” The proper response is “Tudo bom,” which means “Good,” or “Fine.”

The most straightforward introduction is this one, and is recommended for most situations. Here, to introduce himself, the speaker says, “My name is João. Nice to meet you.” All you have to do is plug your name in after “Meu nome é” (my name is). “Muito prazer” literally means “it’s a pleasure” but translated, means “Nice to meet you” or “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Next, this is how you go about asking someone’s name: “Qual é o seu nome?” (What is your name?) Don’t worry about the “qual,” which means “which;” in context, it means “what.” If you want to supply your name after asking the question, one way to do it is the following: “Mine is João.” Here, you say “O meu é,” which literally translates to, “Mine is…”

A slightly more formal way to ask for someone’s name, and the more similar form to Spanish is using chamar-se (to call oneself).  This term is used in certain parts of Brazil, like in Minas Gerais. To ask for someone’s name with this verb, you say, “Como você se chama?” (How are you called, literally – what is your name, translated). To answer this question in the same format, you say “Me chamo” – literally, “I am called…” and translated, “I’m…”

Moving on to some more complicated verb conjugations—and a more formal tone—we have the following  phrase, which means “I’d like to introduce myself.” (Gostaria de me apresentar) Here, we conjugate gostar (to like) in the conditional, and tack on apresentar-se (to introduce oneself). Don’t forget the de, which is the preposition for the infinitive verb. One of the simplest ways to introduce yourself is to use ser (to be) in the present tense. Here, the speaker says, “I am João.” (Sou João.)

Finally, we arrive at the most complex phrases.  This means, “You can call me João.  It’s a pleasure to meet you.” The first phrase is fairly straight-forward: “Pode me chamar de…” literally translates as “you can call me as.” Next, we have a very good expression to use in a formal situation.  “Ė um prazer” means “it’s a pleasure,” and can be used on its own as well. With the second part of the phrase, you have to pay attention to the person or people you’re introducing yourself to. If it’s a man, the conjunction is lo (masculine). If it’s a woman, it becomes la, and if it’s a group of people, it becomes los. If it’s all women, it becomes las.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the BYKI list!

 
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Podcast: Haggling in Portuguese

Posted by Rachel
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.

 
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Podcast: Extreme Sports

Posted by Rachel
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.

 
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