Posted in English, Portuguese

Com Que Voz

Posted on by Colin Lusk

I think this is originally by Amália and based on a poem by Camões, but I like this version a lot. That pianist really needs to sort his posture out though. I’ve never really been that interested in Camané but the Humanos videos I’ve been watching have really made me warm to him.

EnglishPortuguese
Com que voz chorarei meu triste fado
Que em tão dura paixão me sepultou
Que mor não seja a dor que me deixou o tempo
Que me deixou o tempo de meu bem desenganado
De meu bem desenganado		With what voice will I cry my sad Fado
That has entombed me in this hard passion
May the love not be pain that allowed me the time
Allowed me the time of my disenchanted lover
Of my disenchanted lover
Mas chorar não se estima neste estado
Aonde suspirar nunca aproveitou
Triste quero viver, pois se mudou em tristeza
Pois se mudou em tristeza a alegria do passado
A alegria do passado
De tanto mal, a causa é amor puro
Devido a quem de mim tenho ausente
Por quem a vida e bens dele aventuro		But crying isn’t appreciated in this state
Where I never took the time to breathe
I want to live sadly because it turned into sadness
It turned into sadness, the happiness of the past
The happiness of the past
Pure love is the cause of so much evil
Owning to the one who is away from me
For whom I risk life and all its benefits
Com que voz chorarei meu triste fado
Que em tão dura paixão me sepultou
Que mor não seja a dor que me deixou o tempo
Que me deixou o tempo de meu bem desenganado
De meu bem desenganado, desenganado		With what voice will I cry my sad Fado
That has entombed me in this hard passion
May the love not be pain that allowed me the time
Allowed me the time of my disenchanted lover
Of my disenchanted lover
Posted in English

Ó Foco Ff

Posted on by Colin Lusk

I’m very underwhelmed by Português em Foco. This is the online, interactive book I mentioned a while ago, which has some good content but a very annoying UI that really casts a shadow over my enjoyment of it. I’ve restarted paid online lessons with Cristina of Say it in Portuguese, because the C1 prep lessons went so well it seemed like it was worth carrying on. We thought we’d try working through the exercises together, so she gamely bought her own license and set up a class on the online site, which is called BlinkLearning.

OK, great so far, I can see the book, she can see the book, everything looks fine, but it doesn’t work as expected.

Firstly, if she sends me homework and I try to click on it, I get taken to the right exercise but the page is frozen and nothing works apart from the “back button”.

If it was just that, it’d be a minor irritation, but there’s more: even if I don’t go via the homework link, and I manage to get some work done, the teacher doesn’t get alerted to the changes I’ve made. In some exercises, she also can’t read the whole of my answers, and I can’t read the whole of her feedback, either, just the first sentence or so, and the marking tools are extremely limited – there is no scope to amend what I’ve written or make suggestions, just give a mark or use a fairly crude highlighting button.

Worse still, I find when I submit oral work as recordings they aren’t reaching her, they just disappear into the ether.

The customer support on the platform hasn’t been very helpful at all: I sent them a screencap video showing me using the site in Chrome so they could see I wasn’t doing anything wrong but after a few days they asked me to do the same actions but this time with the browser console open. Then when I sent them that video they asked me to uninstall all my browser extensions and make a third video with console open again.

Ugh, I don’t have the patience and it’s distracting me, so we’ve just ended up having to work outside the book: The simple fill-in-the-blank exercises work OK, but with the teacher-marked work, I have to, write (or record) the answer outside the website and pass it across to her via a shared google drive. It works well enough, but it’s one of those mildly annoying little extra admin tasks that makes technology harder to use. I suppose it’s still easier than – say – if we were working from a paper book, so maybe I should just get over it, but I have had my expectations raised, so it’s disappointing. They were pretty grudging about exchanging the online teacher license for a paper copy too, which seems pretty shoddy to me. You would think they’d try a bit harder, if only to stop people writing snotty blog posts like this and scaring potential future customers away.

So basically, now Lidel are my enemy.

Me glaring at the manager of my local Lidl just in case I was right about them being the makers of Lidel Books

It’s a shame because I like the exercises. The texts are fun and the questions are challenging, but the platform is not fit for porpoises.

Anyway, disappointing but not crushing. I’ve updated the blurb about Português em Foco on my Study Guides page.

Posted in Portuguese

Night of D’Hondter*

Posted on by Colin Lusk

A minha semana política já acabou mas ando a descobrir mais sobre a democracia em Portugal. Falei com uma amiga que explicou o seu raciocínio sobre a votação nas legislativas. Ela não está muito entusiasmada sobre o leque de opções, mas vai votar no PS, principalmente porque ela não quer deixar entrar um candidato do Chega por causa do Método d’Hondt.

Este método é um sistema de votação, inventado por um jurista belga que visa distribuir os mandatos entre os partidos. Tentei ler a página da Wikipédia mas confesso que adormeci após dois parágrafos. Que grande seca! Efetivamente, é uma forma de representação proporcional que é mais limitada do que os outros sistemas disponíveis. Favorece os partidos grandes e as coligações e dá poucas oportunidades aos grupos nas franjas dos sistemas partidários. Se quiseres saber mais, terás de ler o texto na Wikipédia porque falta-me a paciência!

*I can’t tell you how many potential puns I considered before settling on this one “D’Hondt you want me baby?”, “Papa D’Hondt Preach”, “Penny MorD’Hondt” and on and on. In the end, it was the idea of the graphic that swung it for me. If you haven’t seen Robert Mitchum in “Night of the Hunter”, it’s well worth a watch.

Posted in English

Prestativo vs Prestával – Round 2

Posted on by Colin Lusk

I suspect if I went back over my old blog posts I’d find that I’ve written quite a lot of guff over the years, which is why I never read anything more than 2 weeks old. Anyway, I wrote one called “Prestável vs. Prestativo” 5 years ago in which I said Prestativo was used for helpful people and Prestável for helpful things.

Apparently this was bollocks though, a reliable source has informed me. I mean, the source didn’t use that word obviously, but that was the gist. I must have had some reason for saying so at the time, but I can’t remember what prompted it. Anyway, Prestativo and Prestável are pretty close synonyms. Prestável may have slightly more of a subservient tinge to it, but these things probably vary from place to place and time to time, so probably take that with a pinch of salt too.

I looked both up on Linguee to see if there were any differences in the way they are used. Not really. It gives slightly different patterns but there’s a lot of overlap. Most of the examples in prestativo seem to have the adjective directly applied to the person

Nosso motorista, Yuri, é muito prestativo e para cada vez que quero tirar fotos.

and prestável tended to be weighted towards modifying an attitude or action of some kind held by a person or organisation

Para que isto se torne realidade, conto com a acção prestável, incentivadora e fiscalizadora de todas as Instituições europeias.

But it’s definitely not an ironclad rule and there are counterexamples for both, so it’s pobably just be randomness in what Linguee has on its first page when I looked at it and I’m definitely not going to read anything into that since I messed it up so badly last time!

Posted in Portuguese

João Sábita (e Nuno Abelha)

Posted on by Colin Lusk

O blogue de ontem deu-me a oportunidade de vislumbrar um mundo desconhecido e confuso. Para começar, o homem chama-se João Sábita, certo? (Diz-se “Sa-BI-ta” em vez de SA-bi-ta apesar do acento mas não quero desviar-me do assunto…) Fiz uma pesquisa e encontrei o cantor. Esteve ligado ao carnaval da* Nazaré e trabalha com o artista Nuno Abelha, que também apareceu no vídeo de ontem. Mas… É de facto o mesmo tipo? A cara dele é tão diferente! O aspecto mais óbvio é a sua boca. Os dentes do homem de ontem são dentes de um americano de 20 anos que gastou muito dinheiro no consultório do ortodontista, mas este novo Sábita tem os dentes de Shane McGowan depois de comer uma sandes de pedras. Suponho que terá comprado uma dentadura postiça. Faz sentido. Parece mais saudável em geral mas pode ser resultado das suas bochechas serem mais redondas por causa das dentes. E também deixou crescer os cabelos e rapou o bigode… Está bem, consigo acreditar.

Vendo a página do Nuno Abelha, encontra-se montes de vídeos deste ano com “Marcha (Nome) 2024 Carnaval da Nazaré”. Acho que o Nuno é o produtor/compositor das músicas do carnaval, que possibilita os artistas e as empresas da cidade gravarem as canções para que possam participar nas festividades todos os anos. Não sei… eh pá, adoro a cultura portuguesa mas sou estrangeiro e confesso que estou longe da minha zona de conforto com esta música!

Here are a couple of sample videos. I am loving “Xô Satanás” in the first one!

If you think this is wild, wait till you see the next one
See what I mean?

*As we know, most towns don’t have definite articles but this one does. Normally if a town takes an article it’s when they’re named after a thing: O Rio de Janeiro (the river) or o Funchal (the fennel patch) or O Porto (the harbour). So why is Nazaré an exception? Nobody online seems to know. Nazaré is the same name as the biblical town we call Nazareth though, and I assume the article is there to distinguish this Nazareth from… well… Nazareth. Checking this WIkipedia page, it is mainly described without an article. There are some exceptions though, where it says things like “a Nazaré moderna”, which is quite standard. We would normally use an article for when we’re talking about a specific incarnation of a city, like “a Preston da minha juventude” for example.

Posted in English, Portuguese

José Pinhal (e João Sábita)

Posted on by Colin Lusk

Ouvi uma canção recentemente chamada “Tu Não Prendas o Cabelo”. É muito portuguesa. Fiz uma pesquisa para saber mais sobre a origem e por acaso a história é cativante! A canção foi escrita por um compositor chamado José Pinhal. Pinhal não teve grande sucesso na sua vida. Tinha perdido uma perna na guerra colonial. A guerra acabou quando o cantor tinha 22 anos. Que desperdício da vida é a guerra. Durante a sua vida, o Pinhal encontrou pouco sucesso. Editou 3 álbuns em cassete e cantou em espetáculos, romarias e festas regionais. Quando faleceu num acidente rodoviária com 41 anos o mundo esqueceu-se dele.

Mas a história não acabou com a sua morte, porque duas décadas depois, uma fã do cantor carregou as suas músicas na internet e a sua fama espalhou-se boca-a-boca. Em 2016 nasceu um grupo de tributo chamado “José Pinhal Post-Mortem Experience”. A história deste cantor até chegou à imprensa estrangeira (mas confesso que eu não sabia nada disso!) e tem sido assunto de documentários na internet e na RTP.

While I was looking for a video of that (there isn’t one!) I found a version from Canta-me uma história so I decided to translate that instead. This is a cover from João Sábita and he’s changed the bulk of the lyrics to match his personality (which I’ll talk more about tomorrow).

This should be fun. The subtitles are written in dialect and I’m not sure I’m going to be able to transcribe it all. Cover me, I’m going in!

EnglishPortuguese
Tu não prendas o cabelo
Eu gosto de solto vê-lo,
pois te fica bem,
quando nele dá no vento		Don’t tie up your hair
I like to see it loose
Because it suits you
When the wind catches it
Que lindo é o teu cabelo
Que chega até a cintura
És a minha estranha loucura
És lenha da minha fogueira
Tens um sorriso à maneira*		Your hair is so lovely
It goes down to your waist
You’re my strange madness
You’re the wood for my bonfire
You have a smile that’s just right
Tu és o meu arroz de tamboril
Tu és a isca do meu anzol
Tu és os remos do meu candil
Os teus olhos alumiam como o farol		You are my Arroz de Tamboril**
You are the bait on my fishing hook
You are the oars on my fishing boat***
Your eyes lit up like the lighthouse
Tu és o meu bicho de estimação
Tu és o meu gazol**** de gerador
Tu és o cordel do meu estendal
Tu és o meu amor da carnaval		You are my pet
You are the fuel for my generator
You are the cord of my washing line
You are my carnival love

*à maneira is a set phrase

**Just the name of a dish

***Tricky one, this. A candil is a kind of lamp so why the hell would it have oars? Well, the clue is that João Cabita was performing the song at a Carnival in Nazaré and he must have added this in to give it extra colour because a Barco de candil is a very pretty, colourful, traditional boat which… well, information is a bit sparse about it on the internet, but maybe typical to Nazaré specifically(?) According to this guy’s web page, it is maybe called that because they have a lamp attached so you can go fishing by lamplight (“Pesca do candil”).

****Whether he’s referring to Gazol the brand of liquid petroleum gas or it’s just short for gasolina I’m not sure.

Well that was fun. I feel a bit guilty that I haven’t done the original song, but I wanted the challenge of trying to unravel their accents

Posted in English

It’s Just Hit Me…

Posted on by Colin Lusk
I’m not really sure what my AI Art generator is driving at with this one.

That there’s an obvious connection between “Desabafar” (rant, get things off your chest) and “Abafar” (which can mean a few things to do with smothering things, quietening things down). I’ve used both before but I never really twigged that Desabafar is the opposite of Abafar: it’s just un-smothering something and letting it come out and be heard. Am I the only person on earth who hadn’t noticed this?

Posted in English, Portuguese

Estou Além

Posted on by Colin Lusk

Two translations in a row? Yeah, fight me!

This is another António Variações cover by Humanos and it’s a banger.

The lyrics are pretty paradoxical: “I only want to be where I’m not, I only want to go where I’m not going”. Even the title is a bit hard to render into english: “Estou Além” means “I am beyond” but that isn’t any good. How about “I’ve gone beyond”. Nah, that sounds like he’s died. Well, he has, but I am pretty sure that didn’t happen till after he wrote it. Maybe something like “I’m far out” or “I’m out there!” Too trippy? “I’m miles away”? Nah, it sounds like he’s just daydreaming. I think I like “I’m elsewhere” best but I’m not sure I could defend that in a court of law. If anyone has any better ideas, let me know in the comments.

EnglishPortuguese
Não consigo dominar
Este estado de ansiedade
A pressa de chegar
P’ra não chegar tarde

Não sei do que é que eu fujo
Será desta solidão
Mas porque é que eu recuso
Quem quer dar-me a mão		I can’t control
This state of excitement
The rush to arrive
To not arrive late

I don’t know what I’m running from
Maybe this loneliness
But why do I refuse
Anyone who gives me their hand
Vou continuar a procurar
A quem eu me quero dar
Porque até aqui eu só

Quero quem quem eu nunca vi
Porque eu só quero quem
Quem não conheci		I’ll keep on searching
For someone I want to give myself to
Because up to now, I only

Want who, who I’ve never seen
Because I only want
The one I’ve never met
Porque eu só quero quem
Quem eu nunca vi
Porque eu só quero quem
Quem não conheci

Porque eu só quero quem
Quem eu nunca vi		Because I only want
who I’ve never seen
Because I only want
The one I’ve never met

Because I only want
who I’ve never seen
Esta insatisfação
Não consigo compreender
Sempre esta sensação
Que estou a perder

Tenho pressa de sair
Quero sentir ao chegar
Vontade de partir
P’ra outro lugar		This insatisfaction
I can’t understand
Always this sensation
That I am missing out

I’m in a hurry to leave
I want to feel at the departure
An urge to leave
For somewhere else
Vou continuar a procurar
O meu mundo
O meu lugar
Porque até aqui eu só

Estou bem aonde eu não estou
Porque eu só quero ir
Aonde eu não vou		I’ll keep on looking
My world
My place
Because up to now I only

I am on my way to where I am not
Because I only want to go
To where I am not going
Porque eu só estou bem
Aonde eu não estou
Porque eu só quero ir
Aonde eu não vou

Porque eu só estou bem
Aonde não estou		Because I’m only OK
When I’m where I’m not
Because I only want to go
Where I’m not going

Because I’m only OK
When I’m where I’m not
Esta insatisfação
Não consigo compreender
Sempre esta sensação
Que estou a perder

Tenho pressa de sair
Quero sentir ao chegar
Vontade de partir
P’ra outro lugar		This insatisfaction
I can’t understand
Always this sensation
That I am missing out

I’m in a hurry to leave
I want to feel at the departure
An urge to leave
For somewhere else
Vou continuar a procurar
A minha forma
O meu lugar
Porque até aqui eu só

Estou bem aonde eu não estou
Porque eu só quero ir
Aonde eu não vou		I’ll keep on looking
My form
My place
Because up to now I only

I am on my way to where I am not
Because I only want to go
To where I am not going
Porque eu só estou bem
Aonde eu não estou
Porque eu só quero ir
Aonde eu não vou

Porque eu só estou bem
Aonde não estou

Estou bem aonde eu não estou
Porque eu só quero ir
Aonde eu não vou		Because I’m only OK
When I’m where I’m not
Because I only want to go
Where I’m not going

Because I’m only OK
When I’m where I’m not

I am on my way to where I am not
Because I only want to go
To where I am not going
Porque eu só estou bem
Aonde eu não estou
Porque eu só quero ir
Aonde eu não vou

Porque eu só estou bem
Aonde eu não estou
Porque eu só quero ir
Aonde eu não vou		Because I’m only OK
When I’m where I’m not
Because I only want to go
Where I’m not going
Because I’m only OK
When I’m where I’m not
Because I only want to go
Where I’m not going
Porque eu só estou bem
Aonde eu não estou
Porque eu só quero ir
Aonde eu não vou

Porque eu só estou bem
Aonde eu não estou
Porque eu só quero ir
Aonde eu não vou		Because I’m only OK
When I’m where I’m not
Because I only want to go
Where I’m not going

Because I’m only OK
When I’m where I’m not
Because I only want to go
Where I’m not going