travel 1 - coerll coerll the university of texas at austin 24 conversa brasileira travel 1: hanging...

Travel 1: Hanging out at Breakfast 1 http://coerll.utexas.edu/brazilpod/cob/lesson.php?p=03

2013 COERLL The University of Texas at Austin

24

Conversa Brasileira Travel 1: Hanging out at Breakfast 1

As Gilberto Gil sings, “O Rio de Janeiro continua lindo.” And that is the topic of discussion for Denise and Valentino as they chat at the breakfast table. The newspaper has an article on the violence in Rio, but Denise and Valentino just aren’t buying it. Nowadays São Paulo seems to have its share too. So our two Paulistas come to the defense of Rio de Janeiro. And São Paulo doesn’t have Corcovado, Pão de Açúcar, or Maracanã. It all makes for a nice Conversa Brasileira.

DENISE: Uh, olha só que absurdo aqui... tá desencorajando as pessoas a viajarem pro Rio ! por conta da violência..

Uh, look at how absurd this is... it’s discouraging people from traveling to Rio because of the crime...

VALENTINO: Ah não, outra vez essa história....

Oh, no! Not that same story again... DENISE: De novo...

Again...

VALENTINO: ... que o Rio é violento...

... that Rio is unsafe... DENISE: É, que droga... toda hora! "

Oh, man ... every time!

VALENTINO: Essa é uma grande confusão, # porque o Rio de Janeiro é uma cidade completamente turística, tem...

This is a big misconception, because Rio de Janeiro is a tourist’s city, it has...

DENISE: Olha que... puh...

Look how... puh...

VALENTINO: ... excelentes pontos, é uma cidade bonita...

... there are excellent tourist spots, it’s a beautiful city...

DENISE: É lógico! E essa coisa de que o crime tá no Rio, o crime tá no Rio... o crime tá, infelizmente, em quase todas as cidades, mas principalmente as cidades grandes do Brasil... Clearly! And that idea that all the crime is in Rio, that all the crime is in Rio... the crime is, unfortunately, in basically all cities, but mainly in the big cities of Brazil...

2013 COERLL

The University of Texas at Austin

25

Travel 1: Hanging out at Breakfast 1

Conversa Brasileira

VALENTINO: Claro! Of course!

DENISE: Mas... e também não é assim, né? Quer dizer, você vê a... a Zona Sul... $ But... it’s not really like that! I mean, you see the Southern region, for example...

VALENTINO: É verdade...It’s true...

DENISE: ... é muito bem policiada... ... is under police control...

VALENTINO: Você pode andar tranquilamente por lá à noite, % de dia... You can walk around safely at night, in the day...

DENISE: Uh, uh... Uh, uh...

VALENTINO: ... qualquer hora que não tem, não tem problema... ... anytime of the day, they don’t have a problem...


VALENTINO: ... com violência na Zona Sul... ... with crime in the Southern region...

DENISE: Claro! Lembra da última vez que a gente foi? & Clearly! Do you remember the last time we went?

VALENTINO: Sim... Yes...

DENISE: A gente levou as crianças e... puxa, a gente teve um tempo... We took the children and... my goodness, we had...

VALENTINO: ... caminhamos pela praia sem nenhum problema. ... we walked on the beach without any problems.

DENISE: ... super legal... é verdade! ... a great time... it’s true!

VALENTINO: Eh, mas essa é uma tradição já da imprensa, né? Eh... o Rio de Janeiro é violento, tome cuidado, e nós sabemos que isso acontece em São Paulo, Campinas – que você conhece –, outras cidades... Yeah, that’s a habit the media has, huh? Rio is dangerous, you have to be careful, and we know that that happens in São Paulo, Campinas – as you are aware –, other cities...


26


DENISE: Ah, você lembra daquela pesquisa que a gente viu? Ah... na proporção número de habitantes/número de crime, que Campinas tá na frente...

' Ah, do you remember that survey that we saw? Campinas has the highest per capita crime rate...

VALENTINO: Pois é... True...

DENISE: ... do Rio, de São Paulo... ... more than Rio, more than São Paulo...

VALENTINO: ... mais, mais violenta que Rio, São Paulo... ... it’s more dangerous than Rio or São Paulo...

DENISE: ... e isso não tá na mídia... ... and this is not in the media...

VALENTINO: E não é uma cidade... And Campinas is not a city...

DENISE: ... que droga! ... my goodness!

VALENTINO: ... tão grande como o Rio... ... as big as Rio...


VALENTINO: Agora... o Rio de Janeiro compensa, né? Aqueles pontos maravilhosos, o centro da cidade, Corcovado, ( Pão de Açúcar, quer dizer... Oh, but Rio is worth it, is it not? All those wonderful sites, downtown, Corcovado, Sugar Loaf Mountain, I mean...

DENISE: Ah... aquilo é bárbaro... ) Ah... that city is amazing...

VALENTINO: ... eu adoro o Maracanã... * ... I love Maracanã...

DENISE: ... aquela vista do Cristo Redentor... ah, não tem coisa mais linda... ... that view of Christ the Redeemer... ah, there’s nothing more beautiful...

VALENTINO: Sem dúvida! E depois, excelentes restaurantes, teatros... Without a doubt! And then, there are excellent restaurants, theaters...


2013 COERLL


27


Conversa Brasileira

VALENTINO: ... uma vida cultural fantástica... 11 ... a rich culture...

DENISE: Os botecos todos... 12 All the bars...

VALENTINO: Olha... Look...


VALENTINO: Faz quanto tempo que a gente não vai pro Rio, hein? � How long has it been since we’ve gone to Rio, huh?

DENISE: Pois é... eu acho que... It’s... I think that...

VALENTINO: Próximo fim de semana? Should we go next weekend?

DENISE: Oh! Muito bom! Oh, perfect!

VALENTINO: OK, combinado. � OK, it’s done.


28


1. Tá desencorajando as pessoas a viajarem pro Rio Certain verbs in Portuguese require the use of a given preposition. In this case note that the preposition a that goes with the verb desencorajar even though that would not necessarily be logical in English. This is similar to gostar de and pensar em. Learners simply need to learn the prepositions that go with a given verb.

2. Que droga… toda hora! The Brazilian version of “what a drag” is literally rendered “what a drug” even though it doesn’t have anything to do with drugs per se. Notice also that toda hora, which would literally be “every hour” takes on the meaning of “all the time.”

3. Essa é uma grande confusão Notice that in this case the word confusão “confusion” actually takes on a meaning something more like “misconception” or “mistake.” English speakers do not use the word “confusion” for a mistake or a misconception, but it has more of a meaning of being bewildered or unclear.

2013 COERLL


29


Conversa Brasileira

4. Zona Sul Zona Sul refers to the beach area around Ipanema, Leblon, and Copacabana that have some of the most famous tourist sites in Rio de Janeiro. In general Brazilians do not refer to the north, south, east, and west sides of Rio, but the Zona Sul is an exception.

5. Você pode andar tranquilamente por lá à noite. Here the word tranquilamente (tranquilly, calmly) really takes on the meaning of being without any problem, or safely. It is a good example of a Portuguese word that has a similar equivalent in English, the difference being that it is a common word in Portuguese, but not really a daily word in the speech of native speakers of English. Notice also the use of por lá meaning “along there.” Many times the word por takes on the meaning of “along” or “through.”

6. Lembra da última vez a gente foi? The verb lembrar can have a confusing mix of reflexive endings and prepositions. Generally the verb “to remember” is lembrar-se and takes the preposition de, e.g., Ele se lembrou da canção. “He remembered the music.” Without the se, the non-reflexive version of lembrar means “to remind” and it doesn’t have the preposition de, e.g., Lembra-me o que ele disse. “Remind me what he said.” However, in everyday usage it is common to drop se even when lembrar means to remember. This is what Denise said in this sentence.

7. violência/crime - Que Campinas tá na frente Here Denise is talking about the statistics regarding violence in Brazil, stating that per capita Campinas is actually ahead of Rio. In Portuguese this is rendered with Campinas está na frente. “Campinas is in the front” might be said more naturally as “ahead.”


30


8. Corcovado, Pão de Açúcar Two of the most famous landmarks in Rio are Corcovado and Pão de Açúcar “Sugarloaf”. Corcovado means “hunchback” and refers to the shape of the mountain that rises over 2,000 feet and has at its peak the 125-foot statue of Cristo Redentor “Christ the Redeemer.” The tram ride to the top of Corcovado provides the most spectacular views of the city. At the mouth of Guanabara Bay are two other peaks that make up Pão de Açúcar, which are visited by cable car. This 1,300-foot peak provides especially fantastic views of Rio at sunset.

9. Aquilo é bárbaro If you translate this literally, one would say that this is “barbarous.” You would be hard pressed to think of the English word “barbarous” with positive connotations, but in Portuguese bárbaro often has a positive meaning, something like great or fantastic.

10. Eu adoro o Maracanã This sentence is a good example to show that Brazilians generally reserve the verb amar “to love” when referring to people. They prefer to use the verb adorar when talking about other things that they love. Basically Valentino is stating that he loves Maracanã, the most famous soccer stadium in Brazil. Flamengo, Fluminense, Botafogo, and Vasco da Gama often play there. When originally built almost 200,000 fans could sit there. However, nowadays they have replaced the benches with seats and Maracanã holds around 88,000 people.

11. Uma vida cultural fantástica This phrase is a good example of adjective placement in Portuguese. Limiting adjectives go after the noun. Here, for example, of all the types of vida, we are limiting things to the vida cultural. And of all of the vida cultural that exist, we are limiting it to the vida cultural fantástica. Each adjective limits vida a little more.

2013 COERLL


31


Conversa Brasileira

12. Os botecos todos Rio really does have interesting bars and nightclubs. On one end there are the famous music and dancing venues such as Rio Cenarium in Lapa and on the other end there are the traditional corner stores, such as those that are in Santa Teresa. Besides the word boteco, you will often hear Cariocas talk about the botequim, bar, and barzinho, but they may actually be different words for the same type of location.

13. Faz quanto tempo que a gente não vai pro Rio, hein? Time expressions in Portuguese are very different from those in English. To say how long something has NOT been happening, Brazilians use the following pattern: Faz TIME PERIOD que não ACTION. For example, Faz 3 anos que não vamos pro Rio “We haven’t gone to Rio for 3 years.” In this example we don’t know the time period, and so that is where quanto tempo substitutes for the time period. It is almost like saying, in essence, “It makes how long that we haven’t gone to Rio?”

14. OK, combinado The word combinado literally means, “combined” but Brazilians use it to convey they idea that something has been arranged or coordinated. That is why we translated it as “OK, it’s done.”


32


travel 1 - coerll coerll the university of texas at austin 24 conversa brasileira travel 1: hanging...

Documents