Grammar Lesson 20: This Just Isn’t Spanish, Adapting to Handicapped
Oh man, where did this word come from? After a whole series of lessons in pronunciation and grammar and now we learn a whole bunch of words where Spanish and Portuguese are totally different. If Tá Falado is supposed to show learners the similarities between these two languages, well, this lesson just won’t do that. Today Michelle and Valdo give as words like embora, ainda, rapaz, jeito, cedo, and tomara.
It is true that Spanish and Portuguese are similar in many ways. However, today we look at the words that are not similar at all.
PODCAST LINK: Grammar Lesson 20
Great podcast! Saudade is another one of those words that doesn’t really exist in Spanish.
Comment by Andres — December 11, 2007 @ 3:39 pm
Agreed, and not only that, all Portuguese speakers know that “saudade” is their special word that nobody else has!!!
Orlando
Comment by orkelm — December 11, 2007 @ 3:47 pm
Hi guys. Another great podcast.
Comment by Luis Eduardo — December 17, 2007 @ 9:09 am
What is the word that the guy says it’s like brazil’s word??
Comment by Pedro — December 18, 2007 @ 4:13 am
Oi Pedro,
I believe Valdo mentioned that “saudade” is Brazil’s unique word. It means something like homesick, nostalgia, longing for something. It is used in sentences like “Eu tenho saudades dos dias quando era criança na Bahia” (I really have a “suadade” for the days when I was a kid in Bahia.)
Orlando
Comment by orkelm — December 18, 2007 @ 9:27 am
saudade doesn’t exist in italian either..so many interesing differences between italian and brazilian portuguese, we should do a new podcast ;)
thanks for all the help in my attempt to learn brazilian!
Comment by Carlotta — January 5, 2008 @ 12:40 pm
Carlotta,
Hi, that got me wondering, how do you express the idea of saudade in Italian?
Orlando
Comment by orkelm — January 5, 2008 @ 5:40 pm
Dear Orlando
we use the word “nostalgia”.. as in “nostalgia di casa”. But saudade seems like a more powerful word to me.
Also, we can use “nostalgia” for things and concepts, but not for people.
I can’t say “ho nostalgia di te”, I have to use the verb “to miss”=mancare, and it would be “mi manchi”.
Hope it makes sense! eheh
Best
Carlotta
Comment by Carlotta — January 7, 2008 @ 3:33 pm
Hi,
One of the versions for the word saudade, and my favorite one, is that the word was used to translate the feeling of travellers’ families and friends by the time when Portuguese explorers were going to their long adventurous on the sea. Then it is more than missing someone, because at that time there were more chances that those leaving would never go back. We made it banal later on, of course, but the original idea was very strong.
Best,
Selma
Comment by Selma — January 9, 2008 @ 12:43 pm
Actually, the word “saudade” is not just Brazilian - it exists as a fundamental concept in Portuguese musical culture, especially in fado. The meaning, though, remains the same in every Portuguese-speaking (or “Lusophone) country.
Comment by Robert Simon — January 9, 2008 @ 1:13 pm
Selma,
Excellent comment, almost poetic! Agreed, the banal meaning today has taken away from the stronger meaning that you have described so well.
Orlando
Comment by orkelm — January 9, 2008 @ 5:52 pm
“saudade” is very different from nostalgia. Nostalgia, by definition is yearning and regretting something in the past. But “saudade” can concern, past, present, and future things. The only other language that has a word like that, I believe, is German; the word “Sehnsucht”. They always wrongly translate it in french as “nostalgie”. I guess “yearning” is the nearest word.
Comment by balthasar — January 17, 2008 @ 10:42 am
“Preto” is a new world for me, we do not have that word in spanish, I like this word specially for my pretinha , mi negrita
Comment by Pablo — January 18, 2008 @ 6:28 pm
Thank you guys you are great
Comment by Pablo — January 18, 2008 @ 6:30 pm
Tanto tempo sem novo podcast? Estou com saudades!!!
Comment by Andy — January 23, 2008 @ 12:35 pm
Andy, (and everyone else),
True, we haven’t had new podcast lessons for a while. We now have over 20 of both the pronunciation and the grammar lessons. Currently we’re working on a new project that we’re calling “Conversa Brasileira” which will focus on the interaction between people when they talk. So, chances are that we won’t be adding more Ta Falado lessons in the near future, but keep your eyes on Conversa Brasileira.
We can’t wait to get back to you,
Orlando
Comment by orkelm — January 23, 2008 @ 2:22 pm
This is really such a great learning tool. I had been teaching myself Portuguese on my own and this podcast was so much help. Now that I actually have a class in school, I’m very ahead of the rest of my peers!
Although, I’m wondering if you will every talk about yodization of vowels such in the words arroz and mas.
Comment by danny — February 18, 2008 @ 10:49 pm
Estimados:
Estou estudando Português e o podcast é muito bom. Sou argentino. Tenho una dúvida com a pronúncia do verbo pôr. Ha alguma diferença entre põe (3° pessoa singular) e põem (3° pessoa plural)? Eu acho que não. Obrigado.
Hernán
Comment by Hernan Caire — February 19, 2008 @ 4:59 pm
Hernan,
Great observation and question. And the answer is that there is no difference in the pronunciation of ‘põe’ and ‘põem’, They are both the same.
Orlando
Comment by orkelm — February 19, 2008 @ 5:18 pm
Hi Orlando…
I just downloaded the tá falado podcasts, which I admit I had been purposely “avoiding” to some degree prior to today, because I assumed they were aimed more at native Spanish speakers than those who speak English. After listening to one on iTunes, though, I decided there were things to be learned there for anyone studying Portuguese.
Now I read that you probably won’t be making any more of these podcasts in the forseeable future, but I admit you’ve piqued my curiosity with your comment about “conversa brasileira”.
Can you give us any more hints about the content, and when we might expect to start seeing these podcasts being released?
While not yet fluent in Brazilian Portuguese (although it is my dream to one day be), I’m far from a beginning student, and the lack of materials out there for more advanced students of Portuguese outside of a university setting is a source of constant frustration for me. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed listening to your audio files of native Brazilians speaking on various topics in their native language, and anything else that you provide will, I’m sure, be of the highest quality.
Hopefully these new podcasts will contain something that will help non-beginner “self-learners” such as myself (especially those of us who, owing to where we live, have no access to formal lessons or universities with programs in Portuguese) to further our learning of this beautiful language.
Valeu!
Comment by Marlene — February 26, 2008 @ 1:14 pm
Thanks Marlene,
OK, Conversa Brasileira will be made up of short video clips of Brazilians interacting in a whole bunch of different settings. (For example we just recorded a scene where two dog lovers meet in the park and talk about their dogs–it was a great filming session and the dog totally cooperated.) From there, think of the “director’s commentaries” that go with DVDs, that is what we are doing. Students will be able to review the video clips with or without subtitles and translations, and then they’ll be able to review the clips with different audio tracks: grammar focus, language usage focus, social/cultural focus. We aren’t quite ready yet, but hopefully we’ll have samples in a couple of months. In the meantime, check out my Portuguese Communication Exercises for more advanced review of Brazilians talking:
http://www.laits.utexas.edu/orkelm/ppe/intro.html
Orlando
Comment by orkelm — February 26, 2008 @ 1:41 pm
Orlando…
Perhaps I wasn’t very clear the first time, but your “Portuguese Communication Exercises for more advanced review of Brazilians talking” is exactly what I was referring to when I said “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed listening to your audio files of native Brazilians speaking on various topics in their native language”. I found these files some time ago, and have thoroughly enjoyed all that they offer. :)
I’ll look forward to your new venture, and hope that we won’t have to wait too long for it to be available.
Good luck, and thanks!
Marlene
Comment by Marlene — March 4, 2008 @ 1:02 pm
where did tá falado go???
Comment by Giovanni — March 6, 2008 @ 9:01 pm
Great podcast, fiquei muito triste quando me informaram que o podcast acabou. Sin embargo espero con ansias su próximo proyecto y les deseo mucha suerte. Greetings from Venezuela.
Comment by Robert — March 9, 2008 @ 11:41 am
I have been listening and following these lessons because I have decided that I want to learn Portuguese, and I am finding Portuguese a fascinating and beautiful language. My interest peaked because my company is introducing machines to the Brazilian market and there is a push for manuals in Portuguese. I am also fluent in Spanish and another Romance language, French. I am finding that in some contexts, although not very many, French is more useful for learning Portuguese than Spanish. Perhaps the biggest example is the pronunciation of many “r” sounds–it is closer to the French pronunciation than the Spanish. Also French is helpful when it comes to nasal sounds, although Portuguese has nasal sounds that are not found in French. I do find that I can carry most of my French and Spanish grammar into Portuguese, but there are always those exceptions that I will have to learn. One of my biggest strugglesd is that I can read Portuguese, but often not understand spoken Portuguese (especially European Portuguese).
Kudos for Orlando, Valdo, Michelle, and Jose Luis. Please keep it up.
Comment by Curtis — March 10, 2008 @ 9:40 am
By speaking 5 language I never noticed the difference bewteen Spanish Portugues and Italian.But by listening to the podcast I notice the difference …Alot of you think why didn’t I notice the differrence I was born speaking them inc.French and English.
Comment by Baker — March 13, 2008 @ 5:48 pm
I love your show or is it lessons? I hope you will continue to add to the collection. For me it has been a godsend. I spend my days speaking mi pobre Espanol con mis patientes and a noite falo portuguese con mynha noiva, and my poor American brain was getting tan confundido that I no sabia que idioma estaba hablando. But your show saved the day, helping my brain sort out the difference between the languages. Thank you. Gracias. Obligado.
Lenny
Comment by Leonard — May 2, 2008 @ 10:39 am
Great job!!
I love the series. My favorite parts is where you talk about the source or history of words. I love that stuff…
I picked up Portugues for Dummies. There is a section of the roots of the words. Ubatuba, for example comes from the natives of Brasil.
I would like to suggest more, por favor..
Comment by Steve — May 9, 2008 @ 6:46 pm