Portuguese: 4th easiest language to learn?

What makes a language easy?  A simple and logical grammar engineering?  The number of words?  Pronunciation?  Similarities between the new language and your native language?  

Does it depend on what native language the student speaks?   So, for Spanish speakers, learning Portuguese is easier than it may be when learning English?  Is this true? 

The Editor of linguim.com  listed Portuguese as the 4th easiest language to be learned by an English speaker.   


Although there is no hard evidence provided by the editor to support this claim, his/her thoughts on the theme are very interesting:  

"Portuguese is yet another romance language that shares similarities with English, yet contains fewer prepositions. However, Portuguese prepositions do not always mimic their English counterparts, so a slight learning curve is in store. Learning to pronounce Portuguese words is usually easy for English speakers; however some of the vowel sounds may take some getting used to. In many languages learning how to ask a question in proper context is difficult, but posing a question in Portuguese is as easy as speaking the words. Individuals that have already learned some Spanish may find it even easier to learn Portuguese.  Most people rank Portuguese as easier to learn than French, but not as easy as Italian or Spanish. It is important to note that there are two very different variations of Portuguese – Brazilian and European. Of the languages on this list, Portuguese shares the most similarities with Spanish, but most agree that Portuguese pronunciations are more difficult."

One thing I tell my students when they start taking Portuguese Lessons with me is that once they feel comfortable with the Portuguese language, they will notice that most of the words in Spanish will not seem so unknown.

Spanish and Portuguese are "sister" languages,  although Portuguese pronunciation swings more towards French and Catalan whereas Spanish pronunciation will be closer to Italian language.    Portuguese has a wider number of phonemes (the sound units in a language) than Spanish does, therefore, it is easier for a Portuguese speaker to understand a Spanish speaker than vice-versa.   


Doubt it?  


So ask a native Spanish speaker to say this pair: "meu avô; minha avó"  and then, ask a native Portuguese speaker to do the same.  Can you spot the difference?   If the Spanish speaker likes football, ask him/her to say the name of the best footballer in all times.   No, not Maradona!  It is Pelé!   ;p  Now ask a Portuguese speaker.  Pay attention to how the "é", in Pelé, will be pronounced.   These are just some quick examples, of course. 




Spanish and Portuguese also share loads of similar words, the cognates, but with different meaning, the famous false-cognates, or, "false friends": 
My favourite false-friend is the word: "esquisito"  ---  The most common meaning of Esquisito in Portuguese is "weird", "strange" , in Spanish (written - exquisito) it means "excellent", "delicious".   So you can imagine what a confusion it is if you decide to compliment the food your Portuguese host has prepared to you by saying: "Oh, que exquisito!"


Check some false-cognates Portuguese -Spanish below:  


                        Portuguese                                                 Spanish

Ninho: bird nest

Niño: child, boy

Engraçado: funny, gracious

Engrasado: greasy

Borracha: eraser(rubber)

Borracha: drunk

Esquisito: rare, weird, strange	Exquisito: excellent, delicious
Fechar:to close, shut	Fechar: to write the date
Ganância: ambition	Ganancia: profit, earning
Oi: Hi	Hoy: today
Latido: the "barking" of a dog	Latido: heart beat
Ligar:to call on the phone, to link, match	Ligar: to flirt
Logro: cheat	Logro: success
Mala: valise.	Mala: má.
Oficina: mechanics, garage	Oficina: office
Osso: bones	Oso: bear
Polvo: octopus	Polvo: dust
Prender: to deter, arrest	Prender: to lit
Rato: mouse	Rato: short period of time
Reto: straight (no curves)	Reto: challenge
Risco: danger	Risco: cliff
Saco: Purse, Sack, Bag	Saco: jacket (with a tie)
Salada:salad	Salada: salty
Solo: ground, earth, soil	Solo: alone, on your own
Taça: special glass for wines	Tasa: tax

Source: http://transportuguese.com/blog_traducao/algumas-diferencas-entre-o-espanhol-e-o-portugues/

Can you identify some English words in there as well?  Like, "salad" for salada, in Portuguese? So now you know that "salada" means salty, in Spanish.  


Next post, I will explore a little bit the differences between European and Brazilian Portuguese. Don't miss it! :)  


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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.  

What is a "samba de enredo" about? Carnival time!

Carnival is approaching rapidly and the cities where the event is celebrated are rushing to get everything ready on time!

Carnival in Rio and other cities is a serious business and preparation begins right after the Carnival season finishes, after all, organizing a 4,000+ parade formed by amateur dancers and choreographers, and the making up of a theme song, costumes, floating cars, drummers is not something that can be put on hold until the last minute.  
On this Carnival season, I am going to publish some articles on the theme, portraying not only the famous Carnival of Rio de Janeiro, but also the many forms of Carnival celebrations that happen in Brazil and in other parts of the world.  

To start with, how about some new "Carnival-related" words for our vocabulary? We start with the word SAMBA DE ENREDO and in the next articles you will meet other important vocabulary for the Carnival season.  

Let's keep in mind that vocabulary learning is not only learning a bunch of words and their usage, but mainly, to learn what the word mean in cultural/historical/social aspects.  This is how we can increase rapidly the number of vocabulary we are able to study and not to forget, a common complaint students make.  

Here we go:

Samba-enredo or samba de enredo – the Samba Theme, they help to understand the theme, so they have to be clear, poetic and show good taste.

But what is all the fuss about it?  And why is it so important for a carnival parade?

Each school parading in Rio or São Paulo competitions must present a "samba de enredo" and one of the things the judges take into account when marking the scores for each presentation is the participants engagement with the song.  Everyone must sing the theme.  When the samba de enredo is ready, by the middle of the year, the schools launch the tune in CDs so that people can buy it and rehearse the song.  It must be catchy, with repetitive chorus, easily memorable and 


The samba de enredo is chosen at the beginning of each year by the carnavalesco (professional who is responsible for the production of the parade of the samba school he works for) and the president of the samba school.
They create a blurb that explains the topic of the parade and  the samba de enredo must be made based on it​​.   They also plan the order of the floating cars during the parade and the different sections, according to the number of people.   The dispute to choose the song for the samba de enredo usually happens at the school grounds and a evaluation panel is assembled to evaluate each song presented by the samba writers. The panel is composed by "old school" carnival experts, older "carnavalescos" and important people from the community where the school is inserted.  

The parades of samba schools in Rio Carnival has immortalized songs that all Brazilians know to sing.  Neguinho da Beija-Flor, a renowned samba composer, says:  a good samba de enredo is responsible for 70% of the successful performance of a school."

The school receives a large number of different compositions of samba songs. They are selected and performed several times on "decision day", at the school for the jury and the community to define which one stirs the audience. The one to win is the one that most excites the crowd!


Based on articles from the following websites:
http://www.sesctv.org.br/destaque.cfm?id=5992&destaque_id=4
http://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/rio-entertainment/rio%E2%80%99s-carnival-glossary/
http://www.homesinrio.com/carnival-in-rio.htm

Bossa Nova Day! Meet the girl from Ipanema

On January the 25th, Brazil celebrates the beautiful and magical rhythm of Bossa Nova.   Do you know what Bossa Nova is?  


I  bet you have already heard the song "The Girl from Ipanema", and now that even the "Girl from Candem" has recorded her unique version of this Bossa classic, Bossa Nova is still surely in good hands! 


In Brazil, to do something with "bossa" is to do it with particular charm and natural flair, as in an innate ability.    In 1932, Noel Rosa used the word in a samba, which went "O samba, a prontidão e outras bossas / São nossas coisas, são coisas nossas" ("The samba, the readiness and otherbossas / Are our things, are things from us"). 


As yet, the exact origin of the term "bossa nova" remains uncertain. What is certain is that the term "bossa" was used to refer to any new "trend" or "fashionable wave" within the artistic beach-culture of late 1950s Rio de Janeiro. The term finally became known and widely used to refer to a new music style, a fusion of samba and jazz, when the now famous creators of "bossa nova" referred to their new style of work as "a bossa nova", as in "the new thing."  (adapted from Wikipedia) 

This music style originated on the 50's,  in the wealthy neighborhoods that sprouted along the beaches of the city of Rio de Janeiro and both its music and lyrics were composed by middle and upper-class musicians and marketed to the same economic group. For this reason, bossa nova was criticized by some for emphasizing a carefree way of living that little resembled the life of most Brazilians, the great majority of which belonged to the working class.

Indeed, bossa nova compositions often spoke of love, the beach, and beautiful women and seemed to be a depiction of the author's bohemian life rather than a tale of Brazilians' daily struggles as usually happened with samba, a music genre popular among the working class. "The Girl from Ipanema," which became popular outside of Brazil both in its original Portuguese form and in translation, is a perfect example of a bossa nova song.  (adapted from eassortment article) 

The Ministry of Culture team recognizes the historical value and contribution of the genre in the composition of national identity. It considers that the new commemorative day will contribute to the institutional goal of recognition, promotion and protection of Brazilian culture, and render homage to a great icon of the music of the country.

Bossa nova was born in Brazil in the late 50's, as a new way of playing and singing the samba, a soft and minimalist way. Over the years, it became one of the Brazilian musical movement known all over the world, associated with names such as João Gilberto, Vinicius de Moraes, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Luiz Bonfa.

Some music critics highlight the influence of American jazz from the postwar period, as one of the influences of this new way of composing and singing in Brazil. An embryo of the movement were the meetings of musicians from middle class, in the southern Rio, especially in the apartment of the singer Nara Leão this meeting, the group of friends gathered to hear and make music. Among the participants were Billy Blanco, Carlos Lyra, Roberto Menescal, Sergio Ricardo, Chico Feitosa, Joao Gilberto, Luis Carlos Vines, Ronaldo Boscoli, among others.  (adapted from article published on Ministry of Culture website)


Did you know that the "Girl from Ipanema" who inspired the composers really exists?  

Yes, her name is Helô Pinheiro, she was just seventeen and she would stroll past the popular Veloso bar-café, not just to the Ipanema beach ("each day when she walks to the sea"), but in the everyday course of her life. She would sometimes enter the bar to buy cigarettes for her mother and leave to the sound of wolf-whistles. 


In the winter of 1962, the composers watched the girl pass by the bar, and it is easy to imagine why they noticed her—Helô was a 173-cm (five-foot eight-inch) brunette, and she attracted the attention of many of the bar patrons. Since the song became popular, she has become a celebrity.  [adapted from wikipedia)

Helô Pinheiro at 17 years old

Here you can appreciate photos of Helô Pinheiro when she was just a "passer by" in Ipanema Beach and how she looks today.  Still very pretty!  



  

Villa-Lobos - Bringing the forest to the Opera

Heitor Villa-Lobos, Brazilian composer and conductor, died in Rio de Janeiro on November 17, 1959. 


He was largely responsible for the creation of a peculiar Brazilian language in classical music.  He is considered the greatest exponent of musical modernism in Brazil and Latin America, composing works that highlight the spirit of nationalism and incorporates elements of folk songs, popular and indigenous inspiration.

Raul Villa-Lobos, the composer's father, an official of the National Library and amateur musician, taught him the first steps, adapting a guitar so that the small Hector learn to play cello. At age of 12, he began playing cello in theaters, cafes and balls. Later, he became interested in intense musicality of "chorões", representatives of the best popular music of Rio de Janeiro.   Having a restless temperament, Villa-Lobos undertook journeys into the interior of Brazil, absorbing all the Brazilian musical universe. In 1913 he married the pianist Lucilia Guimarães.


The international impact of his work was felt especially in France and in the United States, evidenced by the extensive obituary that The New York Times dedicated to him.  Villa-Lobos had no children.

                            "Trenzinho Caipira"a composition by Heitor Villa Lobos and integral part of the "Bachianas Brasileiras No. 2". The music is characterized by the imitation of the motion of a locomotive using the instruments of the orchestra.

The first compositions of Villa-Lobos bear the mark of European styles from the turn of the 19th to the 20th century, being mainly influenced by Wagner, Puccini, by French Romantic school of Cesar Frank and the impressionists Debussy and Ravel.

Dances in African features (1914), however, begins to move away from the European manner, and to discover their own language, which became established in the Amazon and Uirapuru ballets (1917). 

In the creative audacity of the year 1920, which produced the serenades, the Choros, Studies Cirandas for guitar and piano, followed by a neo-Baroque period, whose flagship was the exquisite nine Bachianas Brasileiras (1930-1945), for different instrumental.  In his work, the conductor combined indifferently all styles and all genres, without hesitation introducing typically Brazilian musical materials  in typical forms of Western classical music, a procedure that led him to approach, in the same work, Bach and more exotic instruments.

"Music owes to this great genius not only the master pieces he created, but more importantly, his courageous attitude to oppose the so-called modern music. Villa Lobos followed the precepts of the  true music, enriching it and marking it embedded in his strong personality. (...) he will remain as one of the greatest personalities of his time and one of the greatest glories of his country"  

(Pablo Casals, cellist genius).


(adapted from the article published at OperaMundi website, in 2011)

Unemployed young people emigrate to Brazil

Adapted from the article published in O Estado de São Paulo newspaper, in November 2011.  Click here to read the original, in Portuguese.


SÃO PAULO - The Brazilian economy growth has increased the interest  among foreign young people in search of an international professional experience.  Especially in South America, a temporary contract work in Brazil - the region's largest economy - is seen as a complement that can make all the difference in the curriculum.



The number of young foreigners who came to Brazil through the global network  AIESEC  increased by 50% between 2009 and 2010 - from 299 to 447. Among the nations that send young people into the country is Colombia, United States, Peru and Mexico. "I've decided to attend college in Brazil because it is the power of South America," says  Carlos Adrian Nuñez, 24 from Peru, who now lives in the city of Lauro de Freitas (BA).
Nuñez works at the  Master Glasses, eyewear manufacturer that is interested in expanding their business to South America, the company has partnered with AIESEC and selected students  from Colombia, Argentina and Peru to come and work for them. "They come up with innovative ideas," said Carlos Souza, president of the company.
Nuñez's case, however, is special. While other foreigners only work in temporary contracts with Master Glasses - the company makes 50 thousand pair of glasses a month and has sales of    R$ 36 million per year, the Peruvian student  was invited to stay.   Souza applied for a work visa that will guarantee more two years of permanence to the exchange student. "He brought a quality mindset to the company. Now, with exports, I need someone who speaks Spanish and ensure the quality of the product in other countries."
Adding the exchange period plus the new employment contract, Nuñez will have about four years of professional experience in the country "This will be a very strong differential point on my resume," he explains.


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It is very important to add to this article that although the country has become a land of opportunities for those who want to work and have a degree, one must learn to speak Portuguese.   Most companies will NOT hire candidates who cannot speak the country's language.   I have met many excellent professionals (Europeans and North Americans) who could not find a job in Brazil's biggest financial centre - São Paulo, due to their poor language skills.  Language is essential.