www.almanaquebrasil.com.br

I recently checked out this website. It claims to be an almanac of Brazilian popular culture. It certainly has a lot of content on many strange and interesting aspects of Brazilian people and life. For example, I discovered that there are parts of Brazil with their own currency – a measure designed to keep money in the local economy. I also read an article about an incredible British lady called Margaret Mee who spent years cataloguing flowers in the Amazon, and so on…

Anyway, short, pithy, well-written Portugese articles are here.

Vagalume gap fill (or how to learn Portuguese through pop songs)

There’s a very cool website called Vagalume in Brazil which has lyrics for thousands of songs, both from Brazil and internationally. But Vagalume excels where other similar sites might fall down… it often includes the music video to watch at the same time AND it has a snazzy function called “Aprenda” which hides a random selection of the lyrics. Your job is to listen to the song and write them back in – then check your answers at the end to see how you did.

English teachers love this website because it provides ready made examples of “gap fill” activities but there’s no reason you couldn’t use it for learning Portuguese. Just pick a Brazilian band or singer (such as Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Ivete Sangalo or whoever), click “Aprenda”, play the video and try and fill in the missing gaps.

Here’s a link to the top 100 most popular artists. Scroll down, find a Brazilian name and see what you think of the music… http://vagalume.uol.com.br/top_artistas.html

(ps. The site also has some good interviews, games and other resources – all useful for people learning Brazilian Portuguese)

Nobel Peace Prize winners

As a break from all the stories of financial krakatowa, here’s an article about the recent winners of the Nobel Peace Prize. This year’s winner was announced last week with the Finnish ex-president Martti Ahtisaari taking the honour for his conflict resolution work in different parts of the world. Globo’s run-down of past winners is interesting. Click here to access the article. As usual, I’ve included a short quiz to test your comprehension. No word help this time though!

Quiz questions

1) Which two winners were awarded prizes principally for their work with the environment?
2) Which winners won awards for their work in reconciling people of their own nation with a neighbouring enemy?
3) Which winners idea was exported to 58 countries?
4) Which two candidates are highlighted for their work with human rights?
5) How many other UN Secretary Generals have their been before Annan?
6) Which TWO organisations are winners of the Nobel Prize in the list?
7) How is “The Good Friday Agreement” translated into Portuguese in the article?

Retro Venus Williams

Venus Williams recently won Wimbledon for the 5th time. The BBC Brasil website posted 5 photos from a book about her, in which she is photographed in black and white in “olden days” tennis gear.

Click here to see the pictures, (the link should be on the right hand side of the page), look at the pictures and read the short text accompanying each one. See if you can answer these short multiple choice questions about what you read. This is a very short reading, 5 minutes maximum and there are 5 short multiple choice questions below to check for comprehension.

A short glossary of words from the commentary to the pictures

alma = soul
assinitura = signature
discursos = speeches
por acoso = by chance
radicar = to settle / to take root
torneio = tournament
visão = vision

5 Multiple-Choice Questions

1) The artist who took the photos is from…
A South Africa / B London / C New York

2) The commentary talks about Venus’ elegance under pressure under which picture?
A 2 / B 3 / C 4

3) Some photos were inspired by Josephine Baker who is a 1940s…
A singer / B tennis player / C actress

4) How many Wimbledons does the commentary say Venus has won?
A 4 / B 5 / C 6

5) The artist met Venus Williams for the first time in
A 1994 / B 2004 / C 2008