This pun was underappreciated on the twitters
Author: Colin Lusk
Feliz Dia Internacional do Livro
This was yesterday, actually, but still…
Exam Prep Review
Progress on the list I made a week or two back
Speaking Goals
Not really winning with any of this stuff. đŠ
- Build Confidence: I need to speak clearly and confidently even when I get to a bit Iâm not sure about. If I donât know the word, just guess and keep on going rather than fretting and looking confused.
- Conversely, donât be cocky: talk at a sensible speed to give myself time to think, and donât go off at a tangent that seems interesting if Iâm not sure where Iâm going with it. Obviously this is in conflict with the point above.
- Speak portuguese for at least 5 minutes every day between now and the exam.
Listening Goals
- Listen to videos of people speaking in a range of accents from Alentejo, the rural centre of the country. and the islands (hence that Açoriano video I just posted). Some done but not enough
- Listen to at least 3 video films with subtitles. One down, 2 to go… oh no, wait, Ramiro doesn’t count because the only subtitles were in English and that’s no bloody good! OK, 3 to go still, then.
Get to grips with the Raul Solnado âGuerra de 1908â sketchDone!
Cultural Goals
- Read at the very least:
-
- A LĂngua Portuguesa (Fernando Pessoa)
Mensagem (Fernando Pessoa)Done!- BrevĂssima HistĂłria de Portugal (A.H. De Oliveira Marques)
- Maybe even A construção da democracia em Portugal (Kenneth Maxwell) although that seems a bit ambitious. No way is this happening.Â
-
- Make a timeline of portuguese history to get a sense of how it hangs together. Drawn but not yet filled in. I need highlighters – stat!
- Write about portuguese landmarks â the PadrĂŁo dos Descubrimentos, Torre de BelĂ©m, Mosteiro dos JerĂłnimos and so on. Assembled some materials for this but not yet put pen to paper
General Language skills
- I need to build my vocabulary â Memrise and Lingq daily goals – Doing alright so far!
- Iâm getting better at the ver/vir (which was one of the 4 Evil Exes I identified a year or so back) but need to step up my game on some of the other weirder irregulars like Por and Dar Not done
Finish the exercise book Iâm on nowDone!- Do a couple of mock exams to get a feel for the speed I need to be working at to get in under the time limit Nope
- Practice writing legibly. I type so much these days I need to get my hand used to forming letters or Iâll be penalised for spelling errors. Started working on this: transcribed a song and translated it. It started breaking down when I was low on space but I’ve shown I can do it if I put my mind to it. More practice needed.
- Letter format and forms of address Nope
- Learn â actually learn verbatim â one song. I started looking at a song by MĂĄrcia called “Menina” but she writes in a weird, cryptic style that’s really hard to decipher. I thought maybe Deolinda but having dug around a bit, I’m more inclined to go for “Dia de Folga” by Ana Moura because it’s got proper sentences and a wide range of fairly ordinary, everyday language in it, plus it would be good fun to belt it out while I’m doing the housework.
ExercĂcio PortuguĂȘs Europeu NĂvel B2
Explique o sentido de
Zona defensiva
A zona defensiva Ă© a ĂĄrea dum campo desportivo onde fica o golo a baliza* (uma rede ou qualquer “alvo” do desporto especĂfico). A equipa em cuja zona a bola se encontra tem de fazer operaçÔes ou estratĂ©gias defensivas. Por exemplo, em futebol, ao guarda-redes Ă© permitido agarrar a bola com as mĂŁos na sua prĂłpria zona defensiva.
Ficar esquecidas** no tempo
Esta frase explica-se bastante bem. Depois de muito tempo, uma coisa pode ficar esquecida. Talvez o seu dono tenha falecido, talvez alguém a tenha tenha-a perdido num lugar selvagem ermo, ao qual onde ninguém vai, e lå estå, perdida, esquecida durante anos.
Pernoitar
Pernoitar significa “passar uma noite num outro sĂtio” tal como um hotel, ou a casa de um amigo
Implementação
Implementação Ă© um nome relacionado com o verbo “implementar”. Implementar uma coisa significa “levar a coisa a cabo”. Ă usado principalmente em situaçÔes profissionais.
*=golo is what you score, not what you score it in
** why “-as” and not “-o”? You’ll need to ask whoever wrote the book…
Thanks to Fernanda for the help with these
Becoming Fluent – Book Review
I just sort of filleted this book for ideas, rather than read every word. It’s looking at how adults learn languages, and how their acquired social skills and knowledge can compensate for the quickness and brain plasticity they might lack compared to children. It has some interesting “meta tips” in it. In other words, it doesn’t suggest any specific tools or actions or methods, but does talk about the kinds of ways adult minds learn languages and what general, broad strategies you can deploy to help things stick in your mind. Where it finds evidence lacking (eg that learning a language can stave off dementia) it is clear on exactly what does and doesn’t happen, and can be quite reassuring if you’re the kind of person who thinks they are past it, unable to learn or just uniquely shit and untalented at language acquisition.
In a sense it gives a lot of backing to the strategy often called “language-hacking”, which aims at getting people to grapple with the language more in a range of settings and study it less, but there are important differences. For example, it seems to be against the idea of massive input, and in favour of “little and often”. That’s not something you’ll hear in language hacking circles.
Quite interesting if you like to know the theory behind what you’re doing but if you really want to get stuck into a language you’re probably better off with something more hands-on like Fluent in 3 Months by Benny Lewis
It’s Time To Master “Bater”
I keep seeing constructions like “bater mal” and “bater certo”, and couldn’t quite see why “bater” was being used. I asked and (after a brief kerfuffle with some brazilians who tried to tell me that it disn’t exist and made no sense) found out that it is an informal expression. Bater is the verb used for the beating of a heart or the ticking of a clock, and if it starts going wrong that’s bad, so if someone “bate mal” after – say – a blow to the head, he’s not quite himself. You can also “bater bem” (being in good form) and things can “bater certo” (be exact, precise, spot on).
There’s an example of Bater Mal near the beginning of this song by the Greatest Band Ever
Bananas Vermelhas
Como Ă© que Ă©, malta?
Sabiam que existem bananas? Sim? Boa. Mas sabiam que, ainda por cima, existem bananas vermelhas? OK, eu sei que muitos de vocĂȘs moram num paĂs chamado “Brasil” e por isso talvez estejam fartos de ver bananas vermelhas nos supermercados, na mesinha do pequeno almoço e nos chapĂ©us das vossas cantoras. Eu vivo na Europa e, ainda que me arme em orgulhoso por ser um homem de bom gosto e experiĂȘncia vasta do nosso mundo por causa do meu conhecimento de bananas, atĂ© hoje, nunca encontrei uma vermelha.
NĂŁo sĂŁo doces como a tĂpica banana. Fritei-as e mergulhei os pedaços em molho picante.
A Mochila MĂĄgica
Acabo de enfiar a mĂŁo dentro da minha mochila, e logo que os dedos tocaram o fundo, fui transportado para outro lugar e outro tempo, mais especificamente para o Algarve em Julho de 2018. Por quĂȘ? Ora bem, a resposta nĂŁo tem nada a ver, sinceramente, com mĂĄgica. Senti pedrinhas de areia, e isso fez-me lembrar os dias de sol e diversĂŁo. Podia sacudir a mochila para tirar a areia mas nĂŁo quero perder aqueles momentinhos agridoces que surgem de vez em quando.
A Guerra de 1908
I put up this video with the transcript from Planta CarnivĂłra the other day, with the idea that I could go back over it and tune into what he was saying with the aid of the text, because his accent is very different from what I’m used to and it seemed like a good exercise as part of my exam plan. However, it quickly became obvious that the transcipt doesn’t match. There’s no reason why that should be surprising of course; it’s an old sketch and I’m sure it’s been performed hundreds of times in many different variants. So, for the challenge, I’ve set about trying to change it to what I think he’s really saying. The altered bits are in red. There are probably a few errors because I don’t really understand the sentence structure in a few places, but hopefully it’s an improvement at least… Interested to note that the aunt and the mum seem to have swapped places…
Update 20/4/19 – yes, there were plenty of errors still and I have had help from Sophia. Mainly, they were mistakes in the original that I had missed rather than new errors I’d introduced. Like “Meu tio Gustavo”, which should have read “Meu tio que estava…” for example. Embarrassing.
Eu vou-lhes contar a história da minha ida à Guerra de 1908.
Eu trabalhava numa fĂĄbrica de produtos farmacĂȘuticos. Um dia sem querer, deixei cair um comprimido e despediram-me. Fui lĂĄ para casa sentar-me numa cadeira que nĂłs temos lĂĄÂ em casa para quando somos despedidos. Estava-me a balançar, entrou o meu tio que estava com o jornal que trazia o anĂșncio da guerra, que rezava assim
âPrecisa-se Soldado que mate depressa!â
E disse a minha mĂŁe,
âOlha, tu é que podias responder a esse anĂșncio.â
E disse a minha tia,
âPois, mas Ă© preciso levar cavalo!â
E disse a minha mĂŁe,
âMas eles na guerra dĂŁo cavalos.â
E disse a tia,
âPois, e o meu sobrinho vai agora montar na guerra num cavalo que os outros jĂĄ montaram. Sei lĂĄ quem Ă© que jĂĄ montou naqueles cavalos!â
Fomos à feira de gado para comprar o cavalo, mas só vendiam uns cavalos com as carroças e com as moscas, e a minha mãe disse,
âO meu filho nĂŁo vai agora para a guerra encher a guerra de moscas⊠O meu filho, vai a pĂ© mas vai limpo.â
EntĂŁo fomos para casa. A minha mĂŁe preparou me umas papas de sarrabulho, tomei um tĂĄxi e fui para a guerra. Cheguei Ă guerra eram sete horas da manhĂŁ, estava a guerra ainda fechada. E estava uma senhora que vendia castanhas Ă porta da guerra e eu perguntei,
âMinha senhora, faz favor, aqui Ă© que Ă© a guerra de 1908?â
E ela disse,
âNĂŁo senhor! Aqui Ă© a guerra de 1906, a guerra de 1908 Ă© mais acima.â
âMuito obrigadoâ
E subi dois anos. Cheguei lĂĄ cima, e jĂĄÂ estavam a abrir as portas da guerra, que eram nove e tal e ‘tava o sentinela que me perguntou,
“Vens ao anĂșncio?”
“Sim, venho.”
E ele disse,
âE matas depressa?â
E eu disse,
âPor enquanto ainda sĂł mato assim-assim⊠preciso de treinos.â
Então ele levou-me ao meu capitão, e o capitão perguntou-me se eu trazia a espingarda e eu disse que Não trazia, que até pensava que a ferramenta davam lå eles. E disse
“Eu trago Ă© uma bala, que um vizinho meu guardou de recordação da guerra dos cem anosâ
E diz o capitĂŁo,
âComo Ă© que tu vais matar sĂł com uma bala?â
E eu disse entĂŁo,
âEu disparo a espingarda, e depois, vou lĂĄ buscar a balaâ,
AĂ disse o tenente,
âPois e a guerra pois vai parar de dois em dois minutos por sua causa!?â
Até o sargento disse
âOlha, a gente podia era atar uma guita Ă bala e depois puxava-se a bala!â
E disse o capitĂŁo,
âPois, depois parte-se a guita, perde-se a guita, perde-se a bala. Ă tudo prejuĂzo nĂŁo Ă©?â
EntĂŁo eles fizeram uma conferĂȘncia e deram-me seis balas e mandaram-me matar. Estava eu, a matar, muito contente, chego ao pĂ© do meu capitĂŁo e mandou-me ir de espia. Vestiram-me um vestido de organdi com uns laços cor-de-rosa, e fui para a guerra do inimigo, cheguei lĂĄ, bati Ă porta e o sentinela abriu frincha e disse,
âQuem Ă©?â
E eu disse
âSou a Maria Albertinaâ, malandrice!
E ele perguntou-me,
âTu jĂĄ trabalhas de espia hĂĄ muito tempo?â
E eu disse,
âNĂŁo, sĂł trabalho desde as 11!â
âE que Ă© que tu queres?â
âEu venho cĂĄ buscar os planos da pĂłlvoraâ
E ele disse
âNĂŁo te dou os planos da pĂłlvora, nĂŁo te dou os planos da pĂłlvora, nĂŁo te dou os planos da pĂłlvoraâ
E fui fazer queixa ao capitĂŁo dele. E eu disse-lhe,
CapitĂŁo, mas ele Ă© um burro
âDeixa lĂĄ, almoça cĂĄ com a gente!â
Então, almocei na guerra do inimigo. Comemos uma cabeça de pescada muita grande e depois fui para a minha guerra. E quando eu cheguei lå ia estava a contar ao meu capitão, entra um soldado a correr, a correr
âMeu capitĂŁo, meu capitĂŁo, fizemos um prisioneiro!â
Diz
âSim, onde Ă© que ele estĂĄ?â
âNĂŁo quis vir.â
Porque cĂĄ hĂĄ prisioneiros que sĂŁo teimosos, a gente puxa, puxa e eles nĂŁo vĂȘm. Feitios.
EntĂŁo o meu capitĂŁo disse,
âEntĂŁo, se eles nĂŁo dĂŁo os planos da pĂłlvora vai lĂĄ buscar o aviĂŁo, prontoâ
Porque como a gente se dava muito bem com o inimigo, nĂłs tĂnhamos sĂł um aviĂŁo que dava para todos. Eles bombardeavam Ă s Segundas, Quartas e Sextas, e a gente bombardeava Ă s Terças, Quintas e SĂĄbados, e lĂĄ Ăamos morrendo.
Mas o capitĂŁo disse que nĂŁo podia dar o aviĂŁo, porque estavam a adaptar uma torneira para andar a jactoâ
Fui-me embora para a minha guerra e quando cheguei lĂĄ estava o meu capitĂŁo Ă porta da guerra e disse-me,
âOlha, podes-te ir embora porque a guerra acabou-se!â
Disse
âAcabou-se??â
âAcabou-se. Veio cĂĄ o fiscal, a gente nĂŁo tinha licença de porte de arma. Levaram as metralhadoras, as pistolas, as bazucasâ
E foi assim que… ai ai ai ai ai
Here are the vocabulary words I didn’t already know:
Carroça = Cart
Sarrabulho = Coagulated pigs blood. Er… yum?
Guita = Wire
Organdi = Organdy
Frincha = A small opening – I’m picturing the little window the guard looks through at the gates of the Emerald City when Dorothy arrives.
Pescada = Hake
PĂłlvora = gunpowder
Jacto = jet… and I assume “torneira” can mean “propeller” too, although I only know it as “tap” and that’s the only definition give in my dictionary too…
Feitios = shapes (which I knew) but seems to mean “it takes all sorts” here.
Feira de gado = livestock market
Grammar Smackdown
In a very occasional series entitled “disagreeing with my Portuguese teacher”, here’s a more complicated example of tortuous grammar from the book I’ve just finished that underscores the reason I have to keep struggling with the word “se”.

It’s confusing AF so I’ll highlight the salient words in red in both the original and translations so you can see where they go.
Talvez que o marido da tia EmĂlia se tivesse podido salvar se estivesse na cidade e tivesse dinheiro para o mĂ©dico e para os tratamentos.
I was convinced one of these was a reflexive pronoun but my teacher said they were both condicionals, not pronouns, which would make it
Maybe Aunt EmĂlia’s husband if he had been able to save and if he was in the city and had enough money for the doctor and the treatments.
I scratched my head over this for a while because there doesn’t seem to be a main verb. I’ve just asked m’wife and she translated it the same way I would have, which makes me feel vindicated
Maybe Aunt EmĂlia’s husband would have been able to save himself, if he was in the city and had enough money for the doctor and the treatments.
It’s confusing because the three verbs underlined in the original quote are in imperfect subjunctive tense, which can be triggered by “se” when it’s used as a conditional, so it’s hard to see if that “tivesse” is triggered by se (meaning if) just before it or by the “talvez” at the beginning of the sentence.
I reckon the first “se” is a reflexive pronoun and I’ve got my wife’s entirely unbiased opinion backing me up. In a less complicated sentence you could write it as “Se tem podido salvar” or “he has been able to save himself”. Or even less complicatesd, “Salvou-se”.
So there you go, if even two portuguese people can’t agree the meaning of a sentence, there’s no need to feel embarrassed if you don’t get it right straight away either.