Oporto, the Best European Destination in 2012

   

The Portuguese city of Oporto has been voted Best European Destination in 2012, competing against  20 stunning European cities like Vienna, Dubrovnik and Prague.

If you are still thinking of a fantastic place to visit this summer, give it a go in this fantastic city that features much more than its world famous Port Wine: come visit the stunning  Historical Centre designated World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO, the Museums, enchanting parks and gardens, fashion boutiques by national and international designers... Porto gives you a bit of everything. 

Located along the Douro river estuary in northern Portugal, Porto is one of the oldest European centres, and registered as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996. Its settlement dates back many centuries, when it was an outpost of the Roman Empire. Its Latin name, Portus Cale,  has been referred to as the origin for the name "Portugal," based on transliteration and oral evolution from Latin. In Portuguese the name of the city is spelled with a definite article as "o Porto" (English:  the port).   (source: wikipedia)

Oporto was followed in the voting ranks by Vienna (Austria), Dubrovnik (Croatia) and Prague (Czech Republic), in second, third and fourth places respectively. Brussels (Belgium) made mid-table at fifth, followed by Berlin (Germany), Budapest (Hungary) and Lisbon (Portugal) in sixth, seventh and eight places, respectively.  Rounding off the top ten are Florence (Italy) and last but not least, Edinburgh (Scotland).    

"Portugal is in fact the only country to feature twice on the top ten Best Destination list, with its capital city, Lisbon, coming in eighth." - Portugal News

To visit Oporto, you can fly directly from London (see prices here) or if you prefer a longer holiday (and interesting too!), flying to Lisbon and from there, taking the comboio (train) to Oporto or a domestic flight.  Or, best of all, rent a car and drive all way to the north, until you reach the city. The route from Lisbon to Oporto has 318 kilometres, but you can always stop midway in Coimbra, another enchanting city in Portugal and enjoy a couple of days there.   On your way back, you can fly from Oporto back to your hometown.  

Porto is not a cheap place to visit, but it is not as expensive as Paris or Rome, you can buy a hop on/hop off ticket on a yellow bus to go sightseeing, there is also the Porto Card that gives you free access and discount on attractions. In the official tourism page of Oporto, you can also buy sightseeing tours from 45 Euros, including lunch and tour.  You can also find more information on river cruises in this site and in here. 

Of course Porto is a very well prepared city for tourism and you will not find it difficult to get around over there if you only speak English, however, it is always more pleasant to travel around Portugal when you can speak some Portuguese.  Be it for the freedom it gives as you will feel more confident to venture yourself into the countryside and the out-of-map pretty villages and also for the deeper experience you can have when trying to absorb their culture. 

Don't forget that you can learn Portuguese for your next trip to Portugal in  here. 

Brazilian Culture in 2012 London Olympics Festival

With the exciting London 2012 Festival, you will be able to enjoy some of the best of contemporary Brazilian culture and creative productions. The celebration will happen from 21st June to 9th September 2012.

The sterling culmination of Cultural Olympiad will create opportunities for all  Brazilian artists. Thus, it will create relationships with established as well as emerging British artists.   The Brazilian program during the festival features "Rio Occupation in London", Carnival Collaborations, Gilberto Gil and Back2 Black, Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival and Grupo Galpao.

 Seb Coe, chair of London 2012 Organising Committee said, 

“People around the UK, in Brazil and right across the world will be able to enjoy the results of this vision during the London 2012 Festival, in the build up to Rio 2016 and beyond.”

The Secretary of State for Culture of Rio de Janeiro, Adriana Rattes said, “The London 2012 Festival and Rio Occupation London will (...) create a platform on the world stage for the best work of artists emerging in Rio, bringing to life the Olympic spirit through our artists and creating a legacy for Rio 2016.”

For those who are looking for more information and latest updates on 2012 London Olympics, just log on to www.londonolympicstickets.com  Register to our sign up section and you would be provided with emails and newsletters related to 2012 London Olympics! To catch the glorious event at fullest, you must book online advance 2012 London Olympics Tickets at best prices.

Source:  http://www.free-press-release.com/news-brazilian-culture-in-2012-london-olympics-festival-1332742676.html

The Portuguese Language Museum is 6 years old!

The Portuguese Language Museum opened its doors to the public on March 21, 2006.   In its sixth year of operation, more than 2.5 million people have visited the area, making from this site one of the most visited museums in Brazil and South America.   

Antônio Carlos Sartini, the Museum director, disclosed the plans for the celebration of its 6th anniversary to the press and reminded all the fans of the Museum that the main reason for the successful life of the museum is the dedication of a highly skilled team of language specialists  and a close relationship with the Department of Culture in São Paulo. 

But what is there to be seen in a language museum?  

According to Mr Sartini, the Portuguese Language Museum is NOT a museum of the Portuguese grammar,  neither it is a museum starring the spelling of the words in this language.   Sartini defends his thoughts on theme: grammar and spelling should be taught in the schools, not in a museum.   The museum goes much further than that:  it features historical issues, sociological, anthropological, it touches the cultural identity related to our language etc.  

"The great contribution that the museum brings to us is the issue of our self-esteem, the question of recognizing the rich culture, the traditions of our people reflected in our language and in our diversity" 

The Museum site:  Estação da Luz

   

There were two main reasons for choosing the Estação da Luz, in São Paulo to house the Museum: the building, a stunning historic nineteenth century, and the city of Sao Paulo, a city that has the largest population of Portuguese speakers in the world.

The Portuguese Language Museum has an area corresponding to 4333.62 m2 and the exhibition is split in 03 floors:

First Floor:

The east wing of the first floor contains a room dedicated to temporary exhibitions. The west wing, where the administration and the education sector of the museum is located, has a classroom for 50 people and a digital space that can serve up to 20 people.

Second Floor:a) Large Gallery: a screen measuring 106 metres in extension with simultaneous projections of films that show the Portuguese language in daily life and the history of its users;b) Crosswords: stations dedicated to the influences of languages ​​and peoples who have contributed to shape the Portuguese spoken in Brazil and other stations dedicated to the Portuguese spoken in other Lusophone countries;

c) Time Line:  An interactive resource where visitors can learn more about the history of the Portuguese;d) Alley of Words: An etymological (the origin of the words) interactive game that allows visitors to play with the creation of words, knowing its origins and meanings;

e) History of the Estação da Luz:  Panels that show some of the history of the headquarters building of the station and the restoration work performed before the implementation of the Portuguese Language Museum.f) Map of dialects: From a large map of Brazil, the visitor can choose a location and enjoy (seeing and hearing) the different sounds and accents and "dialects"  that the Portuguese language has acquired in Brazil.

Third-Floor:a) Auditorium: Screening of a 10-minute film about the origins of Portuguese spoken in Brazil;

Museum Shop

b) The Language Quarter:  A type of "language planetarium", composed by images and audio. An anthology of literature created in the Portuguese Language, curated by José Miguel and Arthur Wisnik Nestrovski.4)-Lifts:     The elevators in the building play also an important role in the exhibition, they allow a full view of the 16 metres tall sculpture "Tree of Words",  created by Rafic Farah.  In this sculpture visitors will find words of several languages ​​that have contributed to the formation of the Portuguese language and the Portuguese spoken in Brazil, the sculpture also features Portuguese words and the representation of objects and animals. Moreover, inside the elevator, visitors can hear a kind of mantra, composed by Arnaldo Antunes,  repeating non stop the words "language" and "word"  in several languages. 

To know more about the museum, visit their website here.
To Learn Portuguese Language, click here.  

Brazilian Portuguese - the best language to learn?

This week, Helen Joyce, "The Economist" magazine correspondent in São Paulo, Brazil, wrote an article about how Brazilian Portuguese is "the" language to learn.   Do you agree with her? 


São Paulo is a huge city, opened 24 hours, 7 days a week, in there you meet people from all regions of the country, the city was made up by immigrants from many parts of the world.   Nowadays - just like in a distant past,  Portuguese is not the only language heard on its streets.   Last time I visited my hometown, in 2010, I could hear English, Spanish, French, Dutch...   


Helen Joyce praises the language and the country for its size, natural resources, people and present financial situation.  The latter, according to her, is already a good reason to start your course on Portuguese language.  


Joyce says: 

"You won’t need a new alphabet or much new grammar, though you may find the language addicted to declensions and unduly fond of the subjunctive. You’ll learn hundreds of words without effort (azul means blue, verde means green) and be able to guess entire sentences (O sistema bancário é muito forte: the banking system is very strong). With new pronunciation and a few new words you’ll get around in Portugal and parts of Africa. If you speak Spanish, French or Italian, you’ll find half the work is already done — and if not, why not try? With Portuguese under your belt you’ll fly along".

Of course Joyce's views about the language "per se" are simplistic, but her approach to language learning is fantastic.    One can easily feel her intention to compare Brazilian Portuguese to its BRIC's counterparts: Russian, Mandarin, Hindi...   For an English speaker, it is quite obvious that learning Portuguese will be more straight-forward than learning those other languages, due to their Indo-European  root, English's Latin influences and, of course, the western culture both languages carry.    


From some years on, I have noticed during my daily routine as a Portuguese teacher that more people are choosing Portuguese as their second language than ever;  be it for personal or professional reasons.    I could observe that some of them even start learning the language as a tool to stand out professionally, as more and more multinational companies are doing business with Brazil, opening offices in there, buying shares, investing etc.   


On the other hand, I also have students who learn European Portuguese, and this is also a "hit" as many English  own beach properties in Portugal or Madeira and also, because many marry Portuguese partners.  I love the sound of European Portuguese and I am addicted to Lisbon.   Teaching European Portuguese is completely different from teaching the Brazilian variety.  As Helen Joyce highlights, the sounds and vocabulary do play an important part in distinguishing one type of Portuguese from the other.   But the differences go further. phrases are built in different ways, they certainly have a distinct "tempero".  


Click here to read Helen Joyce's full article and don't forget to vote for the language you think is "the"one to learn! 


And if you want to give this language a go, check my website: www.PortugueseOnDemand.co.uk for further information on how to study it from home or in your company.