Other websites that might interest the Portuguese teacher (or student!):
1. Maria-Brazil - I really love this site. I have been reading it for at least 12 years and never get tired! Sheila writes with so much passion, accuracy and humor (one can see that she is a real carioca, hahaha!). I especially like the crosscultural part. I ask my students to study the body language at home and enact a dialogue in class using as many gestures as they can. It is always a lot of fun! I also like the "doing business in Brazil", the delicious recipes, the "little black book". To be honest, I love everything about it. Obrigada, Sheila, esta conterrânea admira seu trabalho!
2. Revista Língua Portuguesa - this is THE magazine to read if you teach, study or simply love the Portuguese language. The articles are extremely interesting and well written, and very informative. I actually subscribe it and read each magazine back to back (preferably in a hammock, when I can!).
3. In this interesting article Lyris Wiedemann talks about the differences between Continental and Brazilian Portuguese. Very useful and informative!
4. The Brazilian Studies Association has tones of links about everything regarding Brazil (and Portuguese!). It is really worth checking.
5. Check the The American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese website to learn about what your colleagues are doing.
6. I just found these two websites now: Portuguese Language and Lingua Portuguesa. I have not used them in my classes, but they seem very interesting.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
On-line speaking and pronunciation resources for Portuguese
Here are my favorites to teach speaking and/or pronunciation:
1. Tá falado is a prize-winner website created by UT-Austin professor Orlando Kelm. Besides being a lot of fun it is a great resource for beginners who are Spanish-speakers, as the lessons are built around the differences between Spanish and Portuguese (intonation, pronunciation and grammar). Do yourself a favor, check it out!
2. Sonia-Portuguese offers a good pronunciation guide of the alphabet, perfect for beginners first week of class. If you want to contrast with the European pronunciation, check this youtube video (my kids love it!) or this site by Instituto Camões.
3. In Rede Globo, you can find tones of clips about almost anything (news, telenovelas, sitcoms, sports, food, etc.). A great activity is to ask students (in pairs) to choose a short clip, transcribe it, memorize it and then enact it to the class. They should also bring a list of the new vocabulary they have learned (to be presented to the class prior to the enactment) and a list of questions about the clip to be asked to their colleagues right after). After the presentation the class watches the original clip. This is a very funny activity!
4. Show this commercial without any sound to your students. Then ask them to work in pairs and imagine a dialogue between the two characters, to be enacted to the class. After all the pairs have presented their version of the commercial, show the real thing again (this time with sound, please!).
5. Choose some clips from the Portuguese Communication Exercises that are appropriated for your class level and ask your students to watch them for homework (writing down new vocabulary). In class, ask your students to speak about themselves, based on the clips they have watched at home.
1. Tá falado is a prize-winner website created by UT-Austin professor Orlando Kelm. Besides being a lot of fun it is a great resource for beginners who are Spanish-speakers, as the lessons are built around the differences between Spanish and Portuguese (intonation, pronunciation and grammar). Do yourself a favor, check it out!
2. Sonia-Portuguese offers a good pronunciation guide of the alphabet, perfect for beginners first week of class. If you want to contrast with the European pronunciation, check this youtube video (my kids love it!) or this site by Instituto Camões.
3. In Rede Globo, you can find tones of clips about almost anything (news, telenovelas, sitcoms, sports, food, etc.). A great activity is to ask students (in pairs) to choose a short clip, transcribe it, memorize it and then enact it to the class. They should also bring a list of the new vocabulary they have learned (to be presented to the class prior to the enactment) and a list of questions about the clip to be asked to their colleagues right after). After the presentation the class watches the original clip. This is a very funny activity!
4. Show this commercial without any sound to your students. Then ask them to work in pairs and imagine a dialogue between the two characters, to be enacted to the class. After all the pairs have presented their version of the commercial, show the real thing again (this time with sound, please!).
5. Choose some clips from the Portuguese Communication Exercises that are appropriated for your class level and ask your students to watch them for homework (writing down new vocabulary). In class, ask your students to speak about themselves, based on the clips they have watched at home.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
On-line reading and writing resources for Portuguese
Here are some useful sites for teaching reading and writing:
1. Verb Conjugator - Simple, but sophisticated (and oh, SO useful!) this site is one of my student's favorites. If you are not sure about how to conjugate a certain verb, type it in, click "conjugar" e pronto! Está tudo lá!
2. English <> Portuguese Dictionary - If you are learning to read and write in a second language, you definitely need a good dictionary. Well, this one is not necessarily the best, but it is decent, free and on-line. Also one of my student's favorites.
3. In order to write well, one needs to read good literature. Biblioteca do futuro, from the University of São Paulo (USP) has an incredible collection, and it is free. I know, I know, this site is currently under maintenance, but I wanted to list it anyway here because it is so incredible. While we wait for it to be updated, we can read some crônicas by Luis Fernando Verissimo, and check some other Brazilian writers like Machado de Assis, Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Mario Quintana and others in the site Para Ler e Pensar.
4. It is also important to read a good newspaper and, although I am a proud carioca (a native of Rio de Janeiro), I recommend A Folha de S. Paulo. If I want to know what's culturally happening in my hometown, I read Veja-Rio or Revista Programa.
5. As you may or may not know, there is a new Portuguese Language Orthographic Agreement, a spelling reform that started in Brazil in January 2009. This means that we (including myself, the Portuguese Teacher!) will have to relearn how to write certain words according to the new Reforma Ortográfica.
6. Last, but not least, the Manual do Estadão, a writing and style manual from the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo, offer great writing tips for the advanced (very advanced!) student.
1. Verb Conjugator - Simple, but sophisticated (and oh, SO useful!) this site is one of my student's favorites. If you are not sure about how to conjugate a certain verb, type it in, click "conjugar" e pronto! Está tudo lá!
2. English <> Portuguese Dictionary - If you are learning to read and write in a second language, you definitely need a good dictionary. Well, this one is not necessarily the best, but it is decent, free and on-line. Also one of my student's favorites.
3. In order to write well, one needs to read good literature. Biblioteca do futuro, from the University of São Paulo (USP) has an incredible collection, and it is free. I know, I know, this site is currently under maintenance, but I wanted to list it anyway here because it is so incredible. While we wait for it to be updated, we can read some crônicas by Luis Fernando Verissimo, and check some other Brazilian writers like Machado de Assis, Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Mario Quintana and others in the site Para Ler e Pensar.
4. It is also important to read a good newspaper and, although I am a proud carioca (a native of Rio de Janeiro), I recommend A Folha de S. Paulo. If I want to know what's culturally happening in my hometown, I read Veja-Rio or Revista Programa.
5. As you may or may not know, there is a new Portuguese Language Orthographic Agreement, a spelling reform that started in Brazil in January 2009. This means that we (including myself, the Portuguese Teacher!) will have to relearn how to write certain words according to the new Reforma Ortográfica.
6. Last, but not least, the Manual do Estadão, a writing and style manual from the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo, offer great writing tips for the advanced (very advanced!) student.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
On-line listening resources for Portuguese
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
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
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Bem-vindos!
Oi gente!
This is a space to discuss the teaching of Portuguese as a foreign language to adults. Because I am a native Brazilian and most of my students are interested specifically in Brazil, I will focus on Brazilian Portuguese here. However, this site can be useful to teachers of other variants of Portuguese and your comments are very welcome. Bem-vindos e vamos lá!
This is a space to discuss the teaching of Portuguese as a foreign language to adults. Because I am a native Brazilian and most of my students are interested specifically in Brazil, I will focus on Brazilian Portuguese here. However, this site can be useful to teachers of other variants of Portuguese and your comments are very welcome. Bem-vindos e vamos lá!
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