Here are some of my favorite sites for teaching listening (and speaking) Portuguese:
1. Conversa Brasileira
This is a marvelous resource for Intermediate/Advanced students. The site contains brief non-scripted video clips where we can watch Brazilians interacting with each other. It also contains a Portuguese transcription of all of the dialogues, an English translation and PDF files of the scenarios. But the best thing is the additional language analysis commentary that accompanies each video. this This site is still a work in progress and new videos will be posted soon. Conversa Brasileira was created by my colleague Prof. Orlando Kelm with the contribution of some Brazilians, including me (can you recognize my carioca accent in the audio?). The videos can be used in the classroom or for homework, followed by a discussion of language analysis.
2. Portuguese Communication Exercises
More appropriate to beginner students, the videos on this site are divided into levels of difficulty according to the ACTFL guidelines. It offers a great opportunity to hear Brazilians (and their different accents) speaking naturally. It also comes with transcriptions and translations. In my classes, I ask students to listen to the videos at home and, based on what they learn, prepare something similar to be enacted in the classroom.
3. Rede Globo
Rede Globo is the largest television network in Brazil and its website provides an opportunity to listen all kinds of genres: sports, news, telenovelas, food, etc. Students can watch free videos at http://video.globo.com/. Because I use the TV show “A grande familia” in my classes, I ask my students to visit their site prior to the screening in class: http://agrandefamilia.globo.com/
4. Brazilian Commercials
Short and enticing, commercials are perfect for listening exercises in class. I use them to review grammar, teach new vocabulary, improve oral skills and discuss culture. Above is a link to some good Brazilian commercials posted on youtube.
Some commercials I use in my courses:
Recém-casados - Perfect to practice "imperfeito do subjuntivo"
Portal G1 - to review "orações condicionais"
Folha de S. Paulo - to review "perfeito x imperfeito" and talk about culture and pragmatics (different connotations of "vender")
5. One can’t say “listen” and ‘Brazilian” in the same sentence and not think about Brazilian music.
As we have been dicussing in our class wiki, there are several ways to use music in the classroom. I like to use it to teach verb tenses. Gostava tanto de você is my favorite to teach imperfect (dancing, because it is impossible to listen to it siting down!) and Último pau de arara to talk about presente and futuro do subjuntivo (and everytime I hear it, I cry: "quem sai da terra natal em outros cantos não pára", ai que saudades do meu Brasil !!!!!!!). Gilberto Gil is one of my favorite singers and chorinho my favorite genre:
Brasileirinho
Tico-tico no fubá
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Hi,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading about your Listening ideas! Even though I don't know any Portuguese, I have traveled to Portugal and loved it. I've heard that there are many resemblances to the Spanish language, which is my interest. Using TV Shows and Commercials is a great idea!
Rede Globo reminds me of "Telemundo," a Spanish-language American television network. A handful of my Spanish professors would have us watch and listen to their shows. It was fun to practice listening comprehension with them since most of the soap operas or sitcoms had everyday plots that most of us could relate to. Your post is making me think that this could be a useful tool to use.
-Betsy
Eu gosto de estes sítios! I'm really excited about having a way to practice Portuguese after so many years without any practice! I should have searched them a long time ago, but better late than never! I also love Gilberto Gil. Did you get to see Os Mutantes in Austin recently? I really regret having missed their concert.
ReplyDeleteI especially like videos of conversations on UT Campus! They sound like natural speech, and the subtitles can function as great scaffolding. During my first listen, I was listening and reading, and my second one I could understand pretty well without reading.
The little buttons with vocabulary and grammar points are great too! I recognize your voice explaining uses of "lembrar" during the first "O café da manhã 1" http://tltc.la.utexas.edu/brazilpod/cob/lesson.php?p=03
I like how the English-speaker asks his question in English, and you give the full explanation in Portuguese. How did you all decide to structure it in that way?
This site's conversation listening activities are also great for picking out the intonation patterns. It's interesting how different the intonation in Portuguese is from Spanish and English. It seems that the two ultimate syllables in a sentence are often much lower pitch than the rest of the sentence. This intonation pattern is helpful to remember when tutoring Brazilian ELLs as well.
The commercials are hilarious and I can really see how they would be a good supplement to class. For at-home practice, they are a little advanced for me.
Your enthusiasm for teaching and learning Portuguese really comes through in your writing! Kudos for creating this awesome resource!