Learn how to talk about abstract physical characteristics
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| DIALOGUE |
| Jake: Jiu-jitsu? Jiu-jitsu não é da China? |
| Sara: Do Japão na verdade, mas esse é o estilo brasileiro. |
| Jake: Aquele que dança enquanto luta? |
| Sara: Não, essa é capoeira. Capoeira é mole comparado ao jiu-jitsu. |
| Jake: Sério? |
| Sara: Jiu-jitsu brasileiro é um estilo de jiu-jitsu muito duro e difícil de aprender. |
| Jake: É o melhor estilo do mundo? |
| Sara: Aí não sei, mas sei que muitos dos campeões mundiais de jiu-jitsu são brasileiros. |
| Jake: São aqueles caras fortes que sempre ganham? |
| Sara: São eles mesmo. |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Jake: Jiu-jitsu? Jiu-jitsu não é da China? |
| Sara: Do Japão na verdade, mas esse é o estilo brasileiro. |
| Jake: Aquele que dança enquanto luta? |
| Sara: Não, essa é capoeira. Capoeira é mole comparado ao jiu-jitsu. |
| Jake: Sério? |
| Sara: Jiu-jitsu brasileiro é um estilo de jiu-jitsu muito duro e difícil de aprender. |
| Jake: É o melhor estilo do mundo? |
| Sara: Aí não sei, mas sei que muitos dos campeões mundiais de jiu-jitsu são brasileiros. |
| Jake: São aqueles caras fortes que sempre ganham? |
| Sara: São eles mesmo. |
| English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Jake: Jiu-jitsu? Jiu-jitsu não é da China? |
| Braden: Jiu-jitsu? Isn't Jiu-jitsu from China? |
| Sara: Do Japão na verdade, mas esse é o estilo brasileiro. |
| Braden: It's from Japan actually, but this is the Brazilian style. |
| Jake: Aquele que dança enquanto luta? |
| Braden: The one that dances while you fight? |
| Sara: Não, essa é capoeira. Capoeira é mole comparado ao jiu-jitsu. |
| Braden: No, that's capoeira. Capoeira is weak compared to Jiu-jitsu. |
| Jake: Sério? |
| Braden: Really? |
| Sara: Jiu-jitsu brasileiro é um estilo de jiu-jitsu muito duro e difícil de aprender. |
| Braden: Brazilian Jiu-jitsu is a style of Jiu-jitsu that is hard and difficult to learn. |
| Jake: É o melhor estilo do mundo? |
| Braden: Is it the best style in the world? |
| Sara: Aí não sei, mas sei que muitos dos campeões mundiais de jiu-jitsu são brasileiros. |
| Braden: That I don't know, but I know that many of the Jiu-jitsu world champions are Brazilian. |
| Jake: São aqueles caras fortes que sempre ganham? |
| Braden: Are they those strong guys who always win? |
| Sara: São eles mesmo. |
| Braden: Yes, that's them. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Braden: So, we wanted to talk a little bit about Jujitsu |
| Sandra-: Jujitsu is a Japanese martial art closely related to judo but different in several key points. |
| Braden: The details of those key points you'll have to ask to a martial arts instructor because it is outside the scope of this lesson. |
| Sandra-: Basically jujitsu maximizes force. Typically by using the individuals momentum and force and positioning as well as the momentum and positioning of the opponent to create leveraging and movement in order to win the match. |
| Braden: The best jujitsu fighters are fast, strong, and fluid. |
| Sandra-: In the early 1900s jujitsu came to Brazil and was taught to a man by the name of Carlos Gracie who in turn taught it to his siblings. |
| Braden: Based on their perspective and experience in Brazil and with Brazilian culture, Carlos Gracie and Hélio Gracie developed what is currently called Brazilian jujitsu or sometimes Gracie jujitsu. |
| Sandra-: Watching professional Brazilian jujitsu fighters reminds me of Brazil. The smoothness and fluid-ness that involves the entire body stands out in sharp contrast to the jerky and harsh punches and kicks seen in the many other martial art disciplines. |
| Braden: Let's take a look at the vocabulary. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Braden: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| : The first word we shall see is: |
| Sandra: jiu-jitsu [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Jiu-jitsu |
| Sandra: jiu-jitsu [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sandra: jiu-jitsu [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Sandra: China [natural native speed] |
| Braden: China |
| Sandra: China [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sandra: China [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Sandra: Japão [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Japan |
| Sandra: Japão [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sandra: Japão [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Sandra: estilo [natural native speed] |
| Braden: style |
| Sandra: estilo [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sandra: estilo [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Sandra: dança [natural native speed] |
| Braden: dance |
| Sandra: dança [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sandra: dança [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Sandra: capoeira [natural native speed] |
| Braden: Brazilian martial art |
| Sandra: capoeira [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sandra: capoeira [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Sandra: campeões [natural native speed] |
| Braden: champions |
| Sandra: campeões [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sandra: campeões [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Sandra: mundiais [natural native speed] |
| Braden: world |
| Sandra: mundiais [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sandra: mundiais [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Sandra: frequentemente [natural native speed] |
| Braden: often |
| Sandra: frequentemente [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sandra: frequentemente [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Sandra: luta [natural native speed] |
| Braden: wrestle |
| Sandra: luta [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sandra: luta [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Sandra: enquanto [natural native speed] |
| Braden: while |
| Sandra: enquanto [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sandra: enquanto [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Sandra: verdade [natural native speed] |
| Braden: truth |
| Sandra: verdade [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sandra: verdade [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Sandra: duro [natural native speed] |
| Braden: hard, difficult |
| Sandra: duro [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sandra: duro [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Sandra: difícil [natural native speed] |
| Braden: difficult |
| Sandra: difícil [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sandra: difícil [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Sandra: aprender [natural native speed] |
| Braden: to learn |
| Sandra: aprender [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sandra: aprender [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Sandra: sério [natural native speed] |
| Braden: serious, seriously? |
| Sandra: sério [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Sandra: sério [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Braden: Let's have a closer look at the usuage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Braden: Let's take a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Sandra-: In the dialogue, we heard the phrase na verdade |
| Braden: The literal translation is “in the truth” which doesn’t make a lot of sense in English but it’s used just like “actually." |
| Sandra-: For example, some one could say something like, Napoleão nasceu em 600 a. C. |
| Braden: Which translates to “Napolean was born in 600 B.C. This is factually incorrect wrong so you could gently respond with, |
| Sandra-: "Na verdade, Napoleão nasceu em 1769." |
| Braden: Which translates to, “Actually, Napolean was born in 1769. Could you break this down? |
| Sandra-: (break down) |
| Braden: So what's our next phrase? |
| Sandra-: In the dialogue, we heard the phrase não é |
| Braden: The literal translation is “not is” but it means and is used just like “is not” or “isn’t.” |
| Sandra-: Notice how the word order is reversed. “not is” instead of “isn’t.” For example, Ele não é alto. |
| Braden: Translates to “He isn’t tall.” Could you break this down? |
| Sandra-: (break down) |
| Braden: So what's our last word? |
| Sandra-: In the dialogue, we heard the word mole |
| Braden: The literal translation is "soft" but here it means something closer to “easy” or “weak.” |
| Sandra-: For example, “Ele é mole.” would translate to “He is soft.” |
| Braden: Now, it’s actually kind of rude to say this but if you were to say it would convey the idea of an unstable person or someone you couldn’t trust. |
| Sandra-: Not necessarily a bad person but, just like jello, as soon as you put on pressure, he'd fall apart. |
| Braden: So, “soft” is one of the better translations but, as you can see, the mental image is something closer to “jello” than “a teddy bear.” |
| Sandra-: I don’t think I’d ever describe a teddy bear as mole, unless it were made of jello, or rubber or something like that. To describe a teddy bear we’d use the word “macio.” |
| Braden: Could you break this down? |
| Sandra-: (break down) |
| Braden: Let's take a look at the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Braden: So Sandra-, what's the focus of this lesson? |
| Sandra-: The focus of this lesson is talking about abstract physical characteristics |
| Braden: In the dialogue, we heard the phrase |
| Sandra-: São aqueles caras fortes que sempre ganham? |
| Braden: Which we translated as "Are they those strong guys who always win?" |
| Sandra-: In this lesson, we're talking about adjectives that describe more abstract concepts, such as strong and weak, difficult and easy, and hard and soft. |
| Braden: In the dialogue about Brazilian Jujitsu, both Sarah and Jake use several words in figurative or abstract ways. Some of the words they use are - |
| Sandra-: mole |
| Braden: "jello-y" |
| Sandra-: duro |
| Braden: “hard”. To describe the Brazilian jujitsu fighters, they use the words - |
| Sandra-: fortes |
| Braden: “strong” |
| Sandra-: o melhor |
| Braden: "the best"* These are all adjectives. Actually, O melhor is technically a superlative. But within the context of this lesson, it acts almost identically to an adjective. Adjectives are words that modify or alter the base meaning of a noun. |
| Sandra-: In a previous lesson, we talked about adjectives that describe simple physical characteristics. For example, tall, short, fat, skinny, etc. In Portuguese as well as English, adjectives can also be used to describe things in more figurative, abstract, or colorful ways. |
| Braden: For example, Sara used the word duro to describe Brazilian jujitsu. Duro means “hard” as in “Rocks are hard.” but Portuguese also can use the word duro in an abstract sense to mean that something is difficult, as in “Rocks are hard to chew.” |
| Sandra-: Remember that in English the adjective comes before the noun. But in Portuguese the adjective comes after the noun. |
| Braden: Let's look at some more abstract adjectives - |
| Sandra-: forte |
| Braden: strong |
| Sandra-: difícil |
| Braden: difficult |
| Sandra-: duro |
| Braden: hard |
| Sandra-: mole |
| Braden: jello-y |
| Sandra-: o melhor |
| Braden: the best. In the dialog, we heard the phrase, |
| Sandra-: Capoeira é mole comparado ao ju-jitsu. |
| Braden: "Capoeira is weak compared to Ju-jitsu." |
| Sandra-: Ju-jitsu brasileiro é um estilo de ju-jitsu muito duro e difícil de aprender. |
| Braden: "Brazilian ju-jitsu is a style of ju-jitsu that is hard and difficult to learn." |
| Sandra-: São aqueles caras fortes que sempre ganham? |
| Braden: "Are they those strong guys who always win?" Could you give is a few phrases that are not from the dialog? |
| Sandra-: Sure. O lutador é forte. |
| Braden: "The fighter is strong." |
| Sandra-: A tarefa está fácil. |
| Braden: “The task is easy.” |
| Sandra-: A gelatina é mole. |
| Braden: “Gelatin is soft.” |
| Sandra-: O melhor é o Augustinho. |
| Braden: "The best one is Augustinho." |
| Sandra-: Lets review this lesson. |
| Braden: Using adjectives to describe abstract concepts is an extremely important ability because it's something we do all the time. |
| Sandra-: Using adjectives in this way not only makes your conversation more interesting but helps you express yourself more confidently. |
| Braden: And by knowing, for example, that the word duro has both the literal meaning of being “hard” and the abstract meaning of “difficult”, you can explain things more naturally. |
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