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Am I fluent in Portuguese yet?

October 12, 2015November 17, 2023 By James Hall

What is fluency? What does it take to be fluent in Portuguese? When exactly will that happen? Boa pergunta. When I first came here… I was obsessed with asking every single foreigner I came across in Brazil: So, how long it did it take you to get fluent in Portuguese? Looking back, so many of…

(1) Portuguese Learning Tips

Como foi?

October 2, 2015November 21, 2024 By Raquel Semantica

Most Portuguese courses start by teaching the future tense (using IR). Como vai? That’s because it’s the simplest thing to learn. But in the… real world you want to be able to talk about what happened a few minutes ago; what happened yesterday, and so on. And, this is NO BIG DEAL to do. You…

(2) Beginning Portuguese

O que que você fez?

September 23, 2015November 21, 2024 By James Hall

Que-que-que-que-que… That’s the sound of Brazilian Portuguese. Just as we have the word it and that in almost all of our sentences, so Portuguese… has que. And sometimes it sounds as if that’s all they’re saying: que que que. Brazilians have the habit of swallowing the words on either side of the que. But the…

(3) Intermediate Portuguese

Sem Noção: Moto Lotada

September 8, 2015November 21, 2024 By James Hall

This clip caught my attention. It’s a soft news piece. Except for the intro, it’s spoken clearly and not too fast. The vocabulary is… really core also. Once you get past the intro it’s perfect for training your ear (intermediate-advanced level). We use a lot of video (quase 100%) in our course, but we generally…

(4) Advanced Portuguese

Colocar in Portuguese

August 29, 2015November 21, 2024 By James Hall

On my second trip down here to Rio de Janeiro, I realized that it might actually be a good idea to learn some Portuguese. My temporary girlfriend at the moment was sure she could get me up to speed. COLOCAR is one of the cornerstone verbs to get down as a beginner, and she was…

(3) Intermediate Portuguese

Faxineira sem noção

August 16, 2015September 29, 2021 By James Hall

We use a lot of video (quase 100%) in our course, but we avoid anything that ‘s from a TV or the movies. The… vast majority are just too fast and full of irrelevant vocabulary. If you do want to try a Brazilian movie, make sure you watch like this. But this clip caught my…

(4) Advanced Portuguese

Já in Portuguese

July 8, 2015November 21, 2024 By James Hall

zzZZahhh is how it’s pronounced. Brazilians love to use this adverb. You will hear it all_the_time. That’s because there are many different ways they… use it. Já in Portuguese can mean many different things. Let’s look at the most common. The first thing you need to know, is that it always keeps the core meaning…

(3) Intermediate Portuguese

Num Corpo Só

May 31, 2015November 21, 2024 By James Hall

You already know that learning a Portuguese song helps your language learning. But, did you know that it in-fact, super-charges you? It does. Images… & music sets your brain in a highly stimulated state — and that makes it record what is happening in a uniquely powerful way. Here is a fantastic song by Maria…

(3) Intermediate Portuguese

Upon: ao

May 1, 2015November 21, 2024 By James Hall

You’re already using “ao” to say at the or, to the, but it has another entirely different meaning when used together with a verb… in the infinitive. When I first started hearing people say this I didn’t even notice t since it’s just an “ow” before a verb. I thought it was some weird slang….

(4) Advanced Portuguese

the Conditional in Portuguese

April 16, 2015November 21, 2024 By James Hall

Forming the Conditional in Portuguese is the English equivalent of would or could. To a language instructor, this tense is known as “the future… of the preterite”. We just call it, THE CONDITIONAL. Use it whenever you want to say would or could in the FUTURE (only). It’s not used for the past as we…

(4) Advanced Portuguese

Saying MOST in Portuguese

March 18, 2015November 21, 2024 By Raquel Semantica

Saying most in Portuguese isn’t that obvious. The confusion comes from the fact that in English, we use most to talk about two different… things: – NUMBER: Most of time it’s rainy. – DEGREE: I like rainy weather the most. In Portuguese these are expressed in different ways, depending on the context. When talking about…

(3) Intermediate Portuguese

The NEW strong US Dollar and Brazil.

March 11, 2015April 24, 2024 By James Hall

*Obviously things have changed since this was posted. The current exchange rate is even better. The latest USD > BRL exchange: What it all… means. If you haven’t been following the latest financial news about Brazil, you might be surprised to hear the US Dollar is once again, king of the land here in Brazil….

(2) Beginning Portuguese

Physical descriptions in Portuguese

February 13, 2015November 21, 2024 By Raquel Semantica

It seemed so strange to me to first hear people being referred to as: the white guy, that fat girl, the tall one. Maybe… we’re too socially correct in the US or just more sensitive (cautious?) — but we don’t casually call people by their physical attributes, especially if it’s potentially unflattering or offensive. But…

(3) Intermediate Portuguese

to wish, in Portuguese

January 19, 2015November 21, 2024 By James Hall

TO WISH FOR / THAT / TO in Portuguese I thought something was wrong with my dictionary when I couldn’t find the Portuguese verb… to wish for. Such a basic thing. It’s as if there were no verb for to want. Maybe wishing is an innately American thing. Or perhaps Brazilians are just content and…

(4) Advanced Portuguese

Chega in Portuguese

December 7, 2014November 21, 2024 By James Hall

Some verbs have very different meanings in the context of specific situations. Here we see a Brazilian favorite: CHEGA! – in action. ~Enjoy. FELIPE… O que você achou? CLAUDIA Oi? * Brazilians use “oi” to say “what”. FELIPE Do filme. O que você achou? JOSH Você viu esse ator no outro filme? CLAUDIA Oi? FELIPE…

(3) Intermediate Portuguese

Você viu?

November 26, 2014November 21, 2024 By James Hall

From the video learning course, INTENSIVO. To ask “did you see…” or, “have you seen…” use VER (to see). Like this: Você viu Gabriela? ➜ Have you seen Gabriela? Você viu o jogo? ➜ Did you see the game? O que você viu lá? ➜ What did you see there? Você já viu tudo? ➜…

(3) Intermediate Portuguese

Learning Portuguese with subtitles

November 20, 2014February 7, 2023 By James Hall

I hear from so many people that are either (a) unable to wean themselves from using subtitles, or (b) not taking advantage of the… power of subtitles. There is actually a specific process for Learning Portuguese with subtitles, and it’s not that obvious. Using movies, tv shows and YouTube to teach you the language is…

(1) Portuguese Learning Tips

Traveling safely in Brazil

November 14, 2014October 7, 2021 By James Hall

Wallace asks: “Eu gostei muito de esse blog acerca de etiqueta no Brasil! Você pode escrever um blog sobre de como viajar com segurança… no Brasil? Por exemplo, como os turistas devem vestir-se, onde não devem ir, e como usar o ônibus e o metrô de uma maneira segura. Eu planejo visitar Rio de Janeiro…

(2) Beginning Portuguese

Portuguese Sentences: great openers 2 (intermediates)

October 31, 2014February 15, 2023 By James Hall

In the previous post I presented some really solid, but basic conversation starters. Now it’s time for some Portuguese Sentences that are also very… common, but more complex. These are for the intermediate-advanced level learner. Vamos nessa. Just as the previous post, these sentences are linked to Google translate, and if you click the speaker…

(3) Intermediate Portuguese

Portuguese Sentences: great openers

October 24, 2014October 8, 2021 By James Hall

If you’ve already got some of the basics down and are looking for ways to get into a conversation, I’m going to give you… a list of very common Portuguese sentences that you can use as openers. These are all simple, yet powerful and: interesting openers. This list will give you some great openers and…

(2) Beginning Portuguese

The Present Progressive

October 23, 2014November 21, 2024 By Raquel Semantica

Use the Present Progressive it to talk about things that are happening right now! Think of it as progress in the present: working, shopping,… talking, studying. The Present Progressive is roughly equivalent to the ing ending in English. It’s easy to learn. There are no irregular verbs in this tense! Even more good news: the…

(2) Beginning Portuguese

SER and ESTAR

October 13, 2014November 21, 2024 By Raquel Semantica

Previously, we looked at how to use the portuguese verb SER. Now let’s look at the differences between SER and ESTAR. Ser Ser is… for intrinsic, somewhat permanent characteristics. Meu nome é Raquel. My name is (permanently/always) Raquel. Eu sou brasileira. I am (permanently/always) Brazilian. Ele é casado. He is (somewhat permanently) married. Estar Estar…

(2) Beginning Portuguese

Etiquette in Brazil

September 29, 2014October 6, 2021 By James Hall

Get comfortable with the double-cheek kiss. Brazilians are much more liberal with body touching and personal space than Americans. This is generally a very… cool thing. You will often see even younger boys holding hands as a sign of friendship. Women do the two-kiss greeting. But beware. Don’t automatically go in for the air-kiss on…

(2) Beginning Portuguese

Comprehensible Input

September 14, 2014November 21, 2024 By James Hall

Stephen Krashen presented his Theory of Second Language Acquisition back in the 1980′s. His work has been very influential and stood the test of… time. It’s also heavily influenced our approach, the Semantica Method. Dr. Krashen, in his very popular little book Foreign Language Education the Easy Way says: “We acquire language in only one…

(1) Portuguese Learning Tips

Countries and Nationalities in Portuguese

September 1, 2014March 30, 2021 By Raquel Semantica

I always struggled with the pronunciation of these. It made me feel pretty ignorant. Brazilians automatically expect foreigners to magically know how to say… these (reasons unknown!). Countries and Nationalities in Portuguese: spoken by a native! From the video learning course, INTENSIVO.

(3) Intermediate Portuguese

Somewhere, anywhere, nowhere in Portuguese

August 29, 2014November 21, 2024 By James Hall

As a beginner you can use expressions like, não tem, and nada to express nothingness. But to say somewhere, anywhere, nowhere in Portuguese properly,… it takes a little practice. These are not very obvious. How would you say for example, Let’s eat somewhere; Sit anywhere you like; or, She has nowhere to go -? Somewhere…

(3) Intermediate Portuguese

Portuguese verb FICAR

August 19, 2014November 21, 2024 By James Hall

The Portuguese verb FICAR is mainly used to express: to remain/stay, become & to be located. to remain/stay: » I’m going to stay here. to become: » It’s getting late. to be located: » Where’s the bank located? ficar in the present tense to remain, stay, become ficar I stay eu fic o you/he/she stay(s)…

(3) Intermediate Portuguese

Shopping in Brazil: Eu levo

August 14, 2014September 27, 2021 By James Hall

You’ve just entered a clothing store in Brazil. Most likely, one of the sales clerks on the floor will immediately rush over to meet… you. It will usually be someone your opposite sex. The clerk will try to be your instant friend and ask you where you are from and try to say whatever english…

(3) Intermediate Portuguese

O que você está fazendo?

August 9, 2014November 21, 2024 By James Hall

Let’s explore the different ways we can talk about what’s going on, what someone is doing, what you do, I do, others do. FAZER… Which of course becomes FAZENDO (the gerund) when you want to say DOING. O que você está fazendo? ➜ What are you doing? Now let’s ask someone WHAT THEY DO, for…

(2) Beginning Portuguese

Qual filme é?

August 1, 2014July 1, 2023 By Raquel Semantica

The last place on earth you’ll find a video rental store is in Brazil. Here, they still thrive yet no one actually knows why. Perhaps it’s because they are such great places to hook-up. You only need to ask the question: Qual filme é? From the video learning course, INTENSIVO. CLAUDIA Aqui tem algum filme…

(3) Intermediate Portuguese

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