Learn how to be politically correct
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Paloma: Olá! I’m Paloma! |
| Gina: And I’m Gina! Welcome back to PortuguesePod101.com. This is Upper Beginner Season 2 Lesson 6 - Giving a Presentation in Portuguese. In this lesson you’ll learn about being politically correct in Brazilian Portuguese. |
| Paloma: The conversation is between Luciana and Carlos, and it takes place at school in the morning. |
| Gina: The speakers are classmates, so they’ll be using informal Portuguese. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Paloma: Brazil was officially discovered on the 22nd of April, 1500. However, some historians believe this date to be incorrect. |
| Gina: That’s right. There are lots of references to Brazil and even reports about ships that went there before 1500. It’s fascinating! |
| Paloma: Yeah, it's pretty interesting. But, even with all of the evidence, it's generally safe to say that some time in April of 1500, a Portuguese fleet arrived in Brazil and it was commanded by Pedro Álvares Cabral. |
| Gina: I’ve heard a lot about him. After they arrived they started colonizing, building forts, and interacting with the indigenous people. |
| Paloma: Do you know where they first arrived? |
| Gina: I do! The Portuguese fleet first arrived at a place called “Vera Cruz” which is a small island south of Salvador in Bahia, Brazil. |
| Paloma: Impressive, Gina. You really know your stuff! |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Gina: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Paloma: Okay, the first phrase we’ll look at is me levaram a conclusão. |
| Gina: This phrase means “brought me to the conclusion.” |
| Paloma: You might be confused why we use “levar”, which means “to take” in this expression, although we use “to bring” in English. |
| Gina: That’s right. Just remember that this is one of those instances where, though the expression is similar in Portuguese and English, we use different verbs. |
| Paloma: Okay so, the next phase we’re going to look at is muita gente. |
| Gina: This means “many people” or “a lot of people”. |
| Paloma: Yes, it can mean both a large group of people, or many different kinds of people. |
| Gina: And finally, what is the last word or phrase? |
| Paloma: Last but not least, we'll look at viver and morar. |
| Gina: Pay careful attention to these! Both words mean “to live”, but how do we know when to use which? |
| Paloma: Well, it’s actually pretty simple! When you use the verb viver you’re referring to the state of being alive. But with the verb morar… |
| Gina: That’s more for when you’re talking about physically residing or living in a specific location. That’s the key. |
| Paloma: Exactly. For example, Eu moro em Los Angeles. |
| Gina: “I live in Los Angeles.” |
| Paloma: Now, one more tip. If you say Eu vivo em Los Angeles, Brazilians would think you mean something else. |
| Gina: That’s right. In this case, the sentence means “I am always in Los Angeles” or “I spend a lot of time in Los Angeles”. |
| Paloma: Correct. “Viver” can also mean to spend a lot of time doing something or somewhere. |
| Gina: That’s interesting! Okay, now onto the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Paloma: In this lesson, you’ll learn about being politically correct in Brazil. |
| Gina: Brazil has many ethnicities living together in single communities throughout the country. |
| Paloma: For the most part, Brazil is a peaceful country and people get along well. However, in recent decades, the Brazilian government and others in power have been criticized for disregarding many groups of minorities. |
| Gina: As you can see, being politically correct in Brazil is just as important as it is in the United States or in the European Union. You should always be careful how you phrase things to avoid being misunderstood. |
| Paloma: One word that is not politically correct is índios which means “Indians.” |
| Gina: Indeed. Brazil was colonized by the Portuguese who called the natives “Indians,” because in the beginning, they thought they had arrived in the Indies. However, some Brazilians might feel that this is disrespectful to the native tribes of Brazil. |
| Paloma: Instead, the word nativos, meaning “natives”, should be used to be politically correct and ensure you don’t offend people. |
| Gina: One last word that should always be avoided and is very politically incorrect, is the word which means “black” when referring to people. |
| Paloma: Right, and that word is preto. And using it to describe African-Brazilians is very rude and offensive, so you shouldn’t use it, but you may hear it. |
| Gina: "Black” is a very common term in English and many people don’t find it offensive. However, in Brazil, it should be avoided. |
| Paloma: Instead you can say negro for men and negra for women. However, the Brazilians with a more dark tan skin color are called moreno and morena. |
| Gina: And those refer to men and women, respectively. Terms like these are often used to avoid confusion or difficult and uncomfortable situations. Also, if you want to refer to the whole group, you should say… |
| Paloma: Afrodescendente or “afro-descendent”. |
| Gina: Okay, what about white people? |
| Paloma: For white people, you can just say branco for men and branca for women. If you have very white skin, you might hear someone calling you “polaco”, “alemão” or “gringo”. These are very common, but be careful when using them too! |
| Gina: Right, and the last two groups make up roughly 90 % of the Brazilian population, so if you go to Brazil you’ll probably hear and use these the most. |
| MARKETING PIECE |
| Paloma: Listeners, ever have any Portuguese language or lesson-related questions? |
| Gina: Or maybe you have some feedback for us... |
| Paloma: Leave us a comment or ask a question on the lessons page! |
| Gina: It's super simple. Go to PortuguesePod101.com... |
| Paloma: ...click on comments, |
| Gina: ...enter your comment and name, |
| Paloma: ...and that's it! |
| Gina: Commenting is a great way to practice writing and reading in Portuguese. |
| Paloma: It helps you learn faster. |
| Gina: And it helps us improve through your feedback. |
| Paloma: No excuses. |
| Gina: Go to PortuguesePod101.com, and comment now. |
| Paloma: NOW! |
Outro |
|---|
| Gina: Well, that’s all for this lesson. Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time. Bye! |
| Paloma: Até mais! |
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