Why Study Portuguese?

- Portuguese is the sixth-most widely spoken language in the world, spoken by over 200 million people, well ahead of German (10th), French (11th), and Italian (15th).

- There are over 1.3 million native speakers of Portuguese living in the United States. Portuguese is the official language of eight countries including Brazil, Portugal, and Mozambique, and an unofficial language in numerous linguistic islands in China and India.

- Brazil is the 5th-largest country in the world with the 8th-largest economy. The state of São Paulo has the largest industrial zone in Latin America. With more than 170 million people, Brazil has a mass consumer market. The US is Brazil's largest trading partner.

- Because few Americans speak Portuguese, proficiency in the language is a highly marketable business skill.

- Since it is so important and so rarely studied, knowledge of Portuguese is a very marketable skill, especially in commerce and banking.

- Speaking Portuguese can made you a more attractive candidate for a full-time job.

- Although business students, for example, can operate in English in a large
number of countries, a deeper understanding of the cultures there
would enhance their performance as employees or entrepreneurs.
Interactions and negotiations in English may be possible, but there is
nothing like knowing the local language to become aware of the nuances
and the sensitivities involved in everyday life or work situations.

- Acquiring another language makes students better problem solvers, unleashing their
ability to identify problems, enriching the ways in which they search and process information, and making them aware of issues and perspectives that they would otherwise ignore.

- Language learning is a powerful way of appreciating and respecting the diversity of the
world.

- English proficiency may have become a necessary qualification for employment at most
multinational organizations, but it is certainly not sufficient to pursue a successful professional career in an international context.

- Learning a language exercises the mind and enriches the spirit. It is a fundamentally humbling process by which students learn that their culture and way of expressing it are relative, not absolute. That perspective makes them more open to other points of view, and more likely to avoid one-size-fits-all solutions to the problems of the world.

Dever de Casa para Segunda, dia 3 de Agosto

Dear Students. The lecture with Dr. Frechione was very interesting and we learned a lot about Brazil.
Check out some other information Dr. Frechione sent me this morning responding to some of your questions on Carandiru and Hectare right here in our blog.

Because of the lecture, we didn't look over the new material for this week. We will work on it next week. Please also study the colors (livro) and do the exercises 2b, c, d and e from your CT (páginas 21, 22 e 23).

But we had time to spend a few minutes on reviewing verbo ESTAR:

Como você está hoje?

Estou (tô) bem, cansado, alegre, ótimo, um pouco doente, feliz, triste, chateado, exausto, atrasado, com fome, com sede, com frio, com calor, etc.

About Lecture: Candiru, Hectare

As promised to your class, here is some info I was supposed to investigate.

1. Candiru (English and Portuguese) or candirú (Spanish), also known as canero or toothpick fish, are a number of genera of parasitic freshwater catfish in the family Trichomycteridae; all are native to the Amazon River. Although some candiru species have been known to grow to a size of 6 inches (~15 cm) in length, others are considerably smaller. These smaller species are known for an alleged tendency to invade and parasitize the human urethra; however, despite ethnological reports dating back to the late 19th century ^[1], the first documented case of a candiru parasitizing a human did not occur until 1997.

Although lurid anecdotes of attacks of humans abound, there is only one documented case of a candiru attack on a human.^[8] Nonetheless, there was a case in which the victim claimed that the fish jumped while he was urinating thigh deep.^[9] They are also probably not attracted to pure urine.^[4] It is believed that they are able to enter a human urethra only when it is expanded during urination.^[9] A traditional treatment for those affected involves the use of two plants, the jagua or jenipapo plant (Genipa americana) and the Buitach apple which are inserted (or their extract in the case of tight spaces) into the affected area. It is thought that these two plants together will kill and then dislodge the fish.^[10] Surgery to the affected region is the medical standard of care for those who have been attacked.^[

2. A hectare is common measure of land area used in Latin America. 1 hectare = 2.47 acres; for comparative purposes, an American football field (including the end zones) = 1.32 acres. An American football field (including the end zones) is 120 yards long and 53.3 yards wide or 360 x 160 feet. So, an American football field is a bit larger than a hectare, but it should provide something to visualize.

Dever de Casa para Segunda, dia 27 de Julho

Oi Pessoal,


Esta Segunda-feira temos um convidado especial do Centro de Estudos Latino Americanos (Dr. John Frechione) para falar sobre o Brasil.
This Monday we have a special guest from the Center for Latin American Studies (Dr. John Frechione) to talk about Brasil.

O dever de casa para Segunda feira é:

- ESTUDAR: Livro pág. 25, 26 (1. A, B), 27 – 31 (2. A, B, C, D)
- LIVRO: EX. A, B e C
-CT: pág. 19, ex. 1 a
-CT: pág. 20, 21, ex. 2 a.

Até Segunda!!

Lilly

Dica de Português!

Hi Everyone.

I thought that this website may be of some help:

www.easyportuguese.com

Dever de Casa para Segunda, dia 20 de Julho

Oi Pessoal,

We had a very good class tonight! We went over the nouns and its genders in Portuguese. We also talked about the preposition DE and how we use it. We will see more of that next class. We corrected the homework from "livro" and "caderno de trabalho" and we saw another part of the documentary about Brazil.
Next Monday we will be in room 4217, cross the hall and inside CLAS. We will also have a special guest to talk about the geography of Brazil. Don't miss it, it will be great!

Até Segunda!

Lilly

HOMEWORK:
-O que é o vestibular e cursinho? (Livro, pág. 6 = respostas orais e em ingles)
-ESTUDAR PG 10 E 11 (PREPOSICAO DE), e pág. 13, 14, 15 (Verbo "SER" A, B, C)
Livro: Exercicio A e B Pratica Oral, pág. 14
CT: exerc 3 a e 5 a

If you have the old edition of the book (borrowed from Pitt) the pages are a bit different. Go by the subjects and letters.

Dicas de Beleza (Jornal O Globo)

Hi Guys!

A good source of Brazilian news is the newspaper "O Globo".
You can get a variety of news when you subscribe, with no cost, to this website:

http://oglobo.globo.com/

For example, here is an article in the "Beauty" section about how to keep your skin and hair healthy in the winter. That's right: it is winter in Brazil now :-)

See you on Monday!

Oi Pessoal!

Uma boa fonte para as notícias sobre o Brasil é o jornal "O Globo".
Você pode obter uma variedade de notícias quando você fizer uma assinatura gratuita nesse website:

http://oglobo.globo.com/

Por exemplo, aqui está um artigo na seção de "Beleza" sobre como manter a pele e os cabelos saudáveis no inverno. Isso mesmo: é inverno no Brasil agora :-)

http://oglobo.globo.com/vivermelhor/mulher/mat/2009/07/07/cuidados-adequados-ajudam-manter-pele-os-cabelos-saudaveis-no-inverno-756688014.asp


Até Segunda!!

Lilly

Dever de Casa para Segunda, dia 13 de Julho

Oi Pessoal,

Today we went over the handout with the alphabet and we practiced the words in the back. We learned the days of the week and we went over the Definite articles (the= o, a, os, as) and Indefinite articles (a, an = um, uma, uns, umas).
We also watched part of a documentary about Brazil and next week we will see the rest.
The homework is still the same (Livro) and exercicio 1 in the Caderno de Trabalho.

Até semana que vem!

Lilly

Americana, São Paulo - Brasil

Americana, São Paulo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 / -22.73944; -47.33167

Americana
Flag Coat of arms
Location in the São Paulo state.
Americana Location in the São Paulo state.
 / -22.73861; -47.33111
Country	Brazil
Region	Southeast
State	São Paulo
Government
- Mayor	Erich Hetzl Júnior (PDT)
Area
- Total	133.630 km2 (51.6 sq mi)
Elevation	545 m (1,788 ft)
Population (2007)[1]
- Total	199.094
- Density	1.525/km2 (3.9/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC-3 (UTC-3)
HDI (2000)	0.840 – high
Website	Americana website

Americana is a city (município) located in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. As of the year 2000, Americana had around 203,000 inhabitants.

The original settlement evolved around the local railway station, founded in 1875, and the development of a cotton weaving factory in a nearby farm.

After 1866, several Confederate refugees from the American Civil War settled in the region. Among them, there was William Hutchinson Norris, a senator from Alabama. Due to Italian immigration at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, only some 10 percent of the current population are of Confederado descent and about a dozen English-speaking families remain in the area.

About 300 of the Confederados are members of the Fraternidade Descendência Americana (Fraternity of American Descendants). They meet quarterly at the Campo Cemetery.

The city was known as Vila dos Americanos (American' Village) until 1904, when it belonged to the city of Santa Bárbara d'Oeste. It became a district in 1924 and a municipality in 1953.

Americana has several museums and tourist attractions, including the Pedagogic Historical Museum and the Contemporary Art Museum.

Rio Branco Esporte Clube, founded in 1913, is the football (soccer) club of the city. The team plays their home matches at Estádio Décio Vitta, which has a maximum capacity of 15,000 people.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americana,_S%C3%A3o_Paulo

"Para comemorar o 4 de Julho, os rapazes usam uniformes cinzentos do Exército Confederado e as meninas se vestem como Scarlett O'Hara, a heroina em E o Vento Levou." (from the book Brazil Lingua e Cultura)

Receita de Beijinho de Coco

Beijinho de Coco

1 pacote de coco ralado (seco)
1/2 xícara de água quente
1 1/2 xícara de açúcar
2 gemas
1 colher de sopa de farinha de trigo
1/2 xícara de chá de leite

Hidrate o coco ralado com a água quente. Dissolva a farinha de trigo no leite morno até dissolver bem. Leve todos os ingredientes ao fogo, numa panela, mexendo sempre, até que apareça o fundo. Depois de frio, enrole e passe em açúcar granulado.