BRAZILIAN INDIANS

Five hundred years of exposure to disease, violence and dispossession wiped out the vast majority of this indigenous population. Today, there are around 650,000 Indians in Brazil in over 200 tribes, who live scattered across the country.

                                        

Between them they speak a huge number of languages; 110 of the tribal languages of Brazil have fewer than 400 speakers. Brazil’s tribes range in size from the Guarani and Yanomami, who number tens of thousands, to tribes such as the Akuntsu and Kanoê, who number only a few dozen.

How do they live?

Brazil’s tribal peoples live in a wide range of environments – tropical forests, grassland, scrub forest and semi-desert – and have a wide range of ways of life.

Their experience of contact with European invaders and their descendants also varies widely: some, such as the Guarani in the south, have been in contact with white people for 500 years; others encountered them far more recently; and some tribes are effectively uncontacted – the majority of the world’s uncontacted tribes, probably more than 50, live in Brazil.

Most tribes live by a mixture of hunting, gathering, and growing plants for food, medicine and to make everyday objects. Probably only the uncontacted Awá and Maku are completely nomadic, living entirely by hunting and gathering in the Amazon.

    

What problems do they face?

In the 500 years since Europeans arrived in Brazil, the tribal peoples there have experienced genocide on a huge scale, and the loss of much of their land.

Today, their land is still taken over for ranches or industrial projects, or invaded by miners and settlers – and they are still being killed, whether by diseases encountered when their lands are invaded, by starvation as they are driven from their hunting grounds, or by the hitmen who are employed by ranchers and ‘landowners’ to keep Indians away.

                                                             
    There remains an endemic racism towards Indians in Brazil that makes all this possible – in law they are still considered minors. The most important thing for tribal peoples in Brazil is control over their lands – Brazil is one of only two South American countries that does not recognise tribal land ownership.

If Brazil’s tribes were recognised as the owners of their land, it would give them some real protection against the individuals and businesses that take over their land, destroying their livelihood and often destroying them.

                                                       

                                               

VERBS - SECOND CONJUGATION

The second conjugation regular verb:  er and ir  comer (to eat).
eu como	nós comemos
você come	vocês comem
ele/ela come	eles/elas comem

escrever (to write).
eu escrevo	nós escrevemos
você escreve	vocês escrevem
ele/ela escreve	eles/elas escrevem

The second  conjugation regular verb:  ir assistir (to attend; to watch)
eu assisto	nós assistimos
você assiste	vocês assistem
ele/ela assiste	eles/elas assistem

VERBS - FIRST CONJUGATION

Verbs are often described as 'doing words', in that they signify some form of action. Although this is true, there are some verbs that do not relate to obvious actions.


First Conjugation Verbs
To help you consolidate this, here is another conjugation of a verb – given in both English and Portuguese.  The Portuguese verb ‘pensar’ means ‘to think’, and because it ends with ‘ar’, it is a first conjugation verb.
English:  To think-pensar                      to work-trabalhar
I think                                           I work              
you  think                                      you work              
he, she, it  thinks                            he, she, it works            
we think                                        we work                                    
you think                                       you work
they think                                      they  work


eu penso                                        eu trabalho
você pensa                                     você trabalha
ele/ela pensa                                            ele/ela trabalha
nós pensamos                                          nós trabalhamos
vocês pensam                                          vocês trabalham
eles/elas pensam                                    eles/elas trabalham                           


Note that the endings of the conjugations are the same as the previous example.  The Portuguese verbs trabalhar and pensar are both regular verbs of the first conjugation (ie. they are regular, and end in ‘ar’), so the endings attached to the stem (in the case of pensar, the stem is ‘pens’) are the same.  All regular verbs that end in ‘ar’ will follow exactly the same pattern.  The stem is always the infinitive minus the last 2 letters (well, nearly always – I’ll explain the exceptions in a minute), and the endings will always be as above.

Even though in Portuguese the verb form changes for each 'person', and in English it changes for the third person singular, there are some letters which are always there – for example, in Portuguese, all of the forms of 'trabalhar ' start with the letters 'trabalh'.  This portion of the word is known as the 'stem' – and for regular verbs, it remains the same regardless of the conjugation or tense.  Irregular verbs however, can change radically (in which case they are referred to as ‘radical-changing’ or ‘stem-changing’ verbs) – the different forms might not bear any resemblance to each other!


Almost all infinitives in Portuguese end with either 'ar', 'er', or 'ir' – even for irregular verbs.  The most common ending is 'ar', and the least common is 'ir'.  These different types of verb are categorised:  'ar' verbs are referred to as 'the first conjugation', 'er' verbs are 'the second conjugation', and 'ir' verbs are the 'third conjugation'. 

A handful of verbs have an infinitive ending with ‘or’ (eg. pôr, compor), but these are so rare that they do not qualify for a category of their own.  They have evolved from 2^nd conjugation verbs (‘pôr’) so they are still classed as belonging to the 2^nd conjugation.

GRAMMAR

Nouns and Articles

A noun is an identifier, so just check if  the word identifies what something or someone is.  The thing identified by a noun can be tangible – like ‘chair’, ‘door’, ‘car’, ‘book’; or it can be abstract – like ‘thought’, ‘desire’, ‘mystery’, ‘effort’. 

Sometimes, an identifier can consist of more than one word (eg. ‘beer bottle’, ‘car door’), in which case the group of words that make up the identifier is known as a ‘noun phrase’.

Nouns can always be preceded by the definite or indefinite article (ie. the word ‘the’ or ‘a(n)’ or 'some'), so if it does not make sense to use ‘the’ or ‘a’ before the word, it is likely not a noun.  For example, take the word ‘went’ – it does not make sense to say ‘the went’, so ‘went’ is not a noun.  Whereas, ‘the concept’ does make sense, so ‘concept’ is a noun.

Proper nouns are similar in that they act as identifiers, it’s just that they define a particular instance of a noun – ie. names (eg. Fred, Panasonic, Tuesday, London).  Proper nouns always start with a capital letter in English (and are not allowed in Scrabble!), so they are usually easy to identify.

In Portuguese, nouns are either masculine or feminine.  Unless you have studied another language before, this may seem a little odd because in English we only apply gender to people or animals unless speaking rhetorically. 

The distinction as to which nouns are masculine and which are feminine is fairly arbitrary, but as a general rule, if the word ends with ‘a’ or ‘ção’ (equivalent to the English ending 'tion') or ‘ade’ or ‘gem’, it is usually feminine, and if it ends with an ‘o’, or ‘l’, or ‘r’ or ‘á’, it is usually masculine.  Other endings can be masculine or feminine, and you just have to learn them as you come across them.

So what?  Well, definite and indefinite articles, as well as adjectives have to ‘agree’ with the noun to which they relate – both in terms of gender, and plurality.  What does this mean in practise?  There are 4 (count ‘em!) Portuguese words for ‘the’.  The one you use depends on whether the noun is masculine or feminine, and whether you are referring to one or more than one item.

The Portuguese definite article:
o	‘the’ – masculine singular
os	‘the’ – masculine plural
a	‘the’ – feminine singular
as	‘the’ – feminine plural

A similar rule applies to the indefinite article:

The Portuguese indefinite article:
um	‘a’ or ‘an’ – masculine singular
uns	‘some’ – masculine plural
uma	‘a’ or ‘an’ – feminine singular
umas	‘some’ – feminine plural

Take for example, the word ‘livro’ which means ‘book’.  This is a masculine noun, so when referring to one particular book (‘the book’), you would say ‘o livro’, whereas to refer to a few books (‘some books’), you would say ‘uns livros’.  To say ‘the houses’, which is feminine, would be ‘as casas’. 

The best way to learn which nouns are masculine and which are feminine is to learn the word along with the definite or indefinite article.  So any nouns defined from now on will include the definite article so that the gender of the noun is clear.  There’s no time like the present, so here are some nouns for you to learn:

o livro	book
a mesa	table
a casa	house
o livro	book
o carro	car
o país	country
a bebida	drink
a comida	food
o computador	computer
o cachorro	dog
o menino	boy

Italian Settlement

German Settlement

Brazil is not only Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo

The Southern Region of Brazil includes the states of Parana, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande Do Sul. 

The region received large amounts of European immigrants during the 19th century, who largely influenced the demography and cultural aspects of it. The main ethnic groups of Southern Brazil are Brazilians of Portuguese, German and Italian descent.

Parana:  Paraná was first settled by gold prospectors from São Paulo and formed part of the captaincy and province of Sao Paulo.The first missions of the Jesuits on the Paraná were situated just above the Guayra Falls in this state and had reached a highly prosperous condition when the Indian slave hunters of Sao Paulo (called Bandeirantes) compelled them to leave their settlements and emigrate in mass to what is now the Argentine territory of Misiones.Curitiba, the capital of Parana, is one of the most prosperous and organized cities in all of Brazil, Curitiba is a world-wide example of urbanism solutions, education and environmental protection. This Brazilian metropolis, in southern Brazil, was nominated as the American Cultural Capital in 2003, an initiative of the Organization of the American States (OEA). Curitiba was founded in the 17th century as a gold-mining camp, and became the capital of the state of Paraná in 1854, experiencing rapid growth following the 1940's. Its 1.6 million people are a synthesis of several cultures of immigrants that arrived in the city during the 19th century and early 20th century. Curitiba is a city of eclectic culture and maintains strong influence from the European immigrants.Foz do Iguaçu (Iguazu falls) is located in the extreme west of the State of Paraná, on the border of Brazil with Paraguay and Argentina. Together with the Argentine cities of Ciudad Del Este and Puerto Iguazu, it forms part of one the largest cultural tourism poles in South America and one of the planet’s natural wonders, with 275 waterfalls and an average height of 60m.

Santa Catarina: The State which was initially known for its beautiful coastline with more than 500 beaches grew to acknowledge that its geographic and cultural diversity was also a big tourist attraction.  Santa Catarina offers a number of products and specialized segments throughout the year: rural tourism, thermal mineral resorts, ecological tourism and adventure sports, historic monuments and sights, religious tourism, Beto Carrero World and Unipraias parks) and the unforgettable beach resort of Balneario Camboriu.

Some of the products can only be sold in the off-season, like the snow spectacle on the Catarinense Mountain Range - the only place in Brazil where it snows every year. This region is the birthplace of rural tourism, has farm hotels with trout fishing in the ice-cold rivers, horse riding, trekking and outdoor sports activities.

Florianopolis the city/island State Capital attracts a large numbers of tourists during the summer months lured by its 42 white sand beaches. 

The island is generally considered to be blessed with the best and most consistent waves in Brazil, and in early November of each year hosts what is currently South America's only ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals) World Championship Tour professional surfing competition.

In addition to the bay and ocean beaches, there is also a large lagoon - Lagoa da Conceicao - several exhilarating vistas from hillside overlooks and the preserved remain or ruins of three old fortifications from the colonial period.

Rio Grande do Sul:  The state is bordered to the north by the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by Uruguay, and to the west by Argentina.

Ecotourism is very popular in the Germanesque cities of Gramado and Canela; their cold weather is among their attractions for internal tourism. Tourism is also high in the wine regions of the state, principally Caxias do Sul and Bento Goncalves. The pampas of the native Brazilian gaucho are both a national and international curiosity to tourists and their customs are alive in the capital city of Porto Alegre as well as in the cities of the "interior" or western Rio Grande do Sul such as Santa Maria and Passo Fundo. The state is also home to the historic Sao Miguel Das Missoes, the ruins of an 18th century Jesuit Mission. In the city of Nova Prata in way the native bush, you find a park thematic, with sources that gush out thermal waters in a temperature of 41°C, which possess excellent medicinal and therapeutic properties.

Porto Alegre, capital of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, is located on the banks of the Guaiba River. An interesting visit for those who want to know about "gaucho" culture. You can visit the Gaucho Tradition Center, located in Praia Street downtown, which is a popular area for strolling. Boat tours along the Guaiba River are also very enjoyable.

Gramado hosts the Festival de Gramado, a major South American film festival and Gramado's most important event.

Canela is very popular for Parque do Caracol and the Cataract or Cascata do Parque do Caracol (Snail Falls Park).  Ecotourism is very popular in the area and there are many opportunities for hiking, rock climbing, horseback riding and river rafting.  Canela is part of the Rota Romantica or Romantic Route, a touristic scenic bypass.

Brazilian History and Culture!

Economy of Brazil

Developing Natural Resources

  Brazil is a country that could be a world power because of all its plentiful resources.  Poor organization and leadership and inefficient methods have led to large debts.  Brazil’s Amazon rain forest is called the “World’s Medicine Cabinet” because of all the plants that can only be found in Brazil.  They have only studied and found out about 10% of the plants in the rain forest.  Many scientists feel that the cure for aids will be found in the Amazon if the plants aren’t destroyed by deforestation and pollution.  Brazil’s land is also rich with a wide selection of gold, minerals and semi-precious stones.  In order to get these things, though; they must cut down large sections of the rain forest.  Poor leadership and organization have contributed to many of these resources being wasted and destroyed.

                                                 History of the Economy

          Brazil’s economy has a lot of potential for growth.  Brazil however,  is struggling because of poor management in the past.  Brazil’s first big industry was sugarcane.Then they had a brief gold and diamond boom.  In the late 18^thcentury, Brazil started growing coffee.  It is still a very important industry today. Brazil had a very powerful rubber industry in the 1800s.  In 1888, the rubber boom was at full speed and Manaus was the center of all the action.  The coffee barons gained control of Brazil which ensured the rich became richer.  Fortunately, this ended after only a short time.  This and other industries have used slavery in the past. Later in the early 90's Brazil was trying to industrialize, but the country had insufficient funds.  They got a large loan from the World Bank.  Then, their industries lost power and Brazil was left with a large debt.  Brazil is still struggling with that debt today.But now,Luis Inacio da Silva,Lula did good things for the country. The best of them was not to let the PT lead his government. Lula managed to stop them. But what about Dilma? When Lula took office, Brazil was still taking early steps on the road to becoming a solid economy.But things changed almost the moment Lula took office. Fears of a turn towards socialism subsided as he announced not just his first social programme in favour of the country's poor, Zero Hunger, but also a tough fiscal stance which tightened the strict economic principles of his predecessor.After that, Lula's Brazil rode a strong wave in the global economy. He attracted investment and strengthened the real. And he accumulated foreign currency reserves, which now stand at 270 billion dollars, an amount that far outweighs the country's foreign debt of 235 billion dollars.From Lula's second year in office, Brazil had again found the path of economic growth. Growth stayed at around 3.5 per cent per year on average until last year,when the South American Giant  faced some stagnation from the global economic downturn.The government's countercyclical measures, including tax cuts on products like cars and the provision of cheap public loans to keep up economic activity, meant Brazil was among the first countries to get over the crisis. Impressive growth above 7 per cent is expected this year.Credit expansion for consumers and minimum-wage increases above the annual rate of inflation, together with financial aid for some 48 million poor through the social programme Bolsa Familia (Family Grant), gave rise to a new legion of consumers, which experts estimate at 29 million people in the populaton of nearly 200 million. They boosted demand at home, making up for lagging export demand.While challenges remain, Brazil's outlook is very good as a new president prepares to take office. International studies point out that Brazil will be the world's fifth-largest economy by 2014, up from its current position of eighth.Lula's is definitely a hard act to follow, whoever his successor.Rousseff has stressed that she aspires to improve health, education and security so that in the future 'the whole of Brazil is made up of a strong consumer middle class.' Serra, in turn, promises to fight corruption and to ensure a more efficient use of state resources for the benefit of the people.Lula's economic and social successes have also put Brazil in a privileged situation in the international political sphere.The south American Giantt is among the leaders of the Group of 20(G20),that brings together industrial and emerging economies. It was a top source of policy suggestions to overcome the recent global crisis, and it remains a key player in the Doha Round of talks at the World Trade Organization (WTO).It remains to be seen whether Brazil's next president can rise beyond the title of 'Lula's successor' and make a name for him or herself in the global stage.

Live and learn all the experiences that Brazil brings to you!

Where Portuguese is spoken...

Portuguese is spoken by more than 200 Million people, it’s official language in Brazil, Portugal, Angola, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Sao Tome und Principe and Macau. It is the 6th most spoken language in the world.

To learn Portuguese is very important if you want to get to know the Portuguese Culture, speak to people around the world and create a closer link to locals who don’t speak English. If You plan to travel to one of the many countries, where they speak portuguese – it really facilitates communication.

Once you speak Portuguese, you have much more job oportunities, you can get interesting jobs in the administration, import & export, health sector, travel sector or as a translator/interpretor.

Portuguese is also official language in the European Union and MERCOSUR, the economic alliance between different countries of Latin America including Brazil. As Portuguese is spoken in so many places, you will have many occasions to use the language.

While learning Portuguese, you make the first step in learning other latin languages (Spanish, French, Italian, Romanian) which are very similar. Portuguese is a very romantic language, especially if you learn the pronunciation used in Brazil (also called Brazilian Portuguese).

Portugal has a very rich literature. To mention some of its famous writers you should have a look on Gil Vicente, who captured the humanistic spirt of the renaissance or more recently José Saramago who received the Nobel Prize in Literature en 1998. Learn portuguese and you can read amazing books in their original language.

If you already speak Spanish (or Italian ) it makes it really easier for you to learn Portuguese because these languages have so much in common. Most Portuguese even understand you if you speak Spanish with them.

Passionate Professional

Studying, working and living!


Life is not just playing.Life is above all working hard and gaining experiences for sharing.Yes, we work hard and harder because we want  to grow up as friends, as mothers, fathers, sons and daughters.We want to grow up as students, because we are students for all our life.


Remember your noble calling, teacher!

Brazil, my lovely Place!

Portuguese Teacher for Foreigners

Passionate Language Teacher for many years and Psychologist for inspiring and informing Teachers, Parents and Professionals about how to reach this generation of Learners.I ran my own language School in Brazil for 15 years but I have worked as a Language Teacher for 33 years.
I like reading, travelling, drawing, painting,  riding a bike, gardening, cooking and my pets.