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Portuguese art / The Portuguese Pavement
« Last post by Portugal on July 08, 2020, 01:30:08 pm »
Calçada Portuguesa!

The Portuguese cobblestone is made of limestone and basalt and you can find it all over Lisbon and Portugal. All over.
Today, what it is a dangerous pavement for some people (specially elderly), was and still is a great heritage from the Portuguese people.
Its origins date back to the 16th century, but it was in the 18th century, after the earthquake, that one of the original and first pieces was built with it,  the central part of Rossio. A piece that you can find, still, today.
The Portuguese pavement was by then, build by prisoners from S. Jorge's castle in Lisbon, depicting the beautiful waves of the Portuguese discoveries.
Throughout the years, this type of coblestone art spread over to the Portuguese colonies such as Africa, Brazil and specially Macau!
Nowadays you can actually find it all over the world because of the Portuguese influences, being Jonh Lenon's memorial, one of the beautiful examples.
Be careful walking in it though, it gets really slippery and you might get hurt pretty seriously.

Some examples:
Amália, a Portuguese Fado singer, depicted in coblestone by Vhils:
https://observador.pt/2015/07/02/o-rosto-de-amalia-agora-esta-gravado-na-calcada-portuguesa/

Coimbra's university entrance:
https://www.pinterest.pt/pin/448671181613074630/

Another one, Monumento do Calceteiro:
https://media.timeout.com/images/105263525/750/422/image.jpg

Have you seen this type of art pavement? Which is your favorite?
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Portuguese language / June 10th
« Last post by Portugal on June 11, 2020, 01:05:15 pm »
10 de Junho - Dia de Portugal, de Camões e das Comunidades Portuguesas

Day of Portugal, Camões, and the Portuguese communities.
On this day, died Luíz Vaz de Camões, 1580, a Portuguese poet, known for 'Os Lusíadas'. Hence, the holiday.
You can say it's a day to celebrate Portugal and the Portuguese language all over the world.
You can find several events along the country, but usually it's celebrated in Belém, at Jerónimos Monastery where you can find Camões's tomb.
As always a military parade has place, as well as 21 'salvas' from a navy/naval ship for the president's presence at the event.
This year, due to the pandemic, there was just a few people present, never forgeting the distancing measures.


Also watch:
https://rr.sapo.pt/2020/06/10/actualidade/marcelo-no-10-de-junho-portugal-nao-pode-fingir-que-nao-existiu-e-existe-pandemia/video/242190/
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Portugal for animals / Lusitano horse breed
« Last post by Portugal on May 28, 2020, 06:27:44 am »
Cavalo Lusitano!
Lusitano Stallion

The pure blood lusitan horse it's a Portuguese breed originated from the Iberian horse.
It's known for being gentle, noble, docile and of a great beauty. Its presence was known in the North of Africa and even Asia, China.
Usually they weigh 500kg and measure from 1.55 to 1.60m.
It was D. João V that invested more in this Portuguese breed at Coudelaria de Alter do Chão, which is known for its excellence.

The genetic heritage it's so important that each horse it's extremely expensive and it may start at 15000€. It's mandatory for the buyer to register the animal in legal papers (birth declaration) and pay other regular fees to legalize it. After (or before, really) being owner of the horse or the breeder itself, you have to follow a restrict regulation book about the pure blood horse with several articles to guide you, like how to choose a name, how to proceed with animal abortions, score for breeding contests, etc...

Portuguese horses are very well known in foreign countries and win several contests and medals over the years.
Go to Youtube to watch majestic and elegant videos about the pure blood Lusitan horse!

Also visit:
http://www.cavalo-lusitano.com/en/lusitano-horse/history-of-the-lusitano-horse





Portuguese words in green

Consulta:

https://ncultura.pt
https://www.visitportugal.com
http://www.cavalo-lusitano.com
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Portuguese language / Grammar
« Last post by Portugal on May 23, 2020, 02:54:06 pm »
Grammar!
Gramática!

Ok so here we're posting about Portuguese grammar. It's difficult even for us sometimes but let's start and learn it one by one.

Acentos
Let's start with acentos. Portuguese like acentos a lot. I don't know the literal translation for this but it's not 'accent' for sure, it's more of a tone to a word.
Ok so we have Acento Agudo: pára, pólo.
We also have Acento Grave: à, às, àquele, àquelas (basically to the other side).
And Acento Circunflexo: pêlo, pêra, pôr, porquê, quê, pôde.

Although portuguese has some words with the same sound but no acentos, like: facilmente, somente, cafezito, acordo, sede.
you would read it as - fácilmente, sómente, cafézito, acôrdo, sêde.

Till
we don't use ¨ in Portuguese language like the germans for example, für
but we use what is called a till. A till is this: ~
We use it for example: coração, reunião, irmão, então, ficarão, saberão, orfão.
Future uses it a lot: eles saberão, eu saberei, ela saberá, nós saberemos, vós sabereis.
so this also exists for: ãe, ães, õe, ões: mãe, mães, anões, melões, põe, pões

Cedilha
Next we have the Cedilha (sounds like SS)
We use it in words like: rebuçado, caroço, açúcar


Apóstrofo
So, Apóstrofo in Portuguese, is used to 'eat' letters.
We have as example: 'Tá lá? Instead of Está lá?
"(...) extraído d'Os Lusíadas (...)" - extracted from Lusíadas, a Portuguese epic poem.
We do use this a lot talking to each other ok? If you are talking with friends or family in a non formal way.
But if you want to speak in a formal way don't ever use it.


Hífen
Hífen!
It's a compound word? A word divided in two, linked by a -
We have as examples: disse-me (he/she told me), trouxe-lhos (I brought him/her), dir-lhe-emos (we will tell him/her), vê-la-emos (we will see her)
We usually express male and female in these words (with a or o), most of the time, which you cannot find it in english language:
Like Vê-la-emos - we know it's a her because there's an 'a': vê-la, if it's masculine it turns into vê-lo, with an o.

Portuguese words in green.
Consulta: Gramática do Português Moderno, Plátano Editora, 2005
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Geography of Portugal / Summarized visit to Portugal
« Last post by Portugal on May 16, 2020, 10:09:44 am »
This is an example of what you can find in Portugal. From here you can explore more about out country and get ideas of what you want to see while your stay.

Parque Nacional Peneda Gerês- National park Peneda Gerês - the biggest natural reservation in Portugal, with Mediterranean climate as well as atlantic and a very diversified vegetation. You can find granite as a rock predominance. Viana do Castelo - It was a safe harbor while the Portuguese discoveries. Lima river crosses these lands which have manor houses from the glorious times before Brazil's independence from Portugal. It's known by its Praça da República with a renaissance fountain and its 16th century buildings, some in gothic style. Basílica de Santa Luzia is a good place for you to visit if you want a birds eye view over the city and the river, as well as a yellow funicular to get you down. In Barcelos you can find one of the most known legends of Portugal. A pilgrim who was on its way to Santiago de Compostela got acused and sentenced to death for a crime he didn't commit. To prove its innocence a Barcelos rooster (Galo de Barcelos) got up from its plate and started singing, as a miracle, as the man also survived that day. You can find it represented in ceramics and local embroidery today internationally recognized. Braga, before known as Bracara Augusta by the Romans, it was a capital for suevos and visigoths. They are still so proud of it that its main atraction it's the Semana Santa and its cathedral. From the building of romanesque origin there's only few left, still you can also find gothic and baroque style. In one of the chapels are the remains of the archbishop D. Lourenço Vicente, one of the heroes of Aljubarrota battle. Bom Jesus do Monte it's a magnificent religious site that you should visit but be careful, this is only for the strongest ones ;). At Bragança there are double walls of a military fortress which still protect the beautiful white houses. Domus Municipalis is the only Romanesque style building of the civil architecture found in the Iberian Peninsula. Guimarães, the birth place of D. Afonso Henriques, the 1st king of Portugal, at Castelo de Vimaranes. Since it was very important for the Portuguese history, you can also find a very imponent Paço dos Duques de Bragança, and a Igreja da Nossa Senhora da Oliveira followed by a beautiful Padrão do Salado to remember the conquest to the Moors by Afonso IV and also an interesting Igreja da Nossa Senhora da Consolação e Santos Passos. Porto, the economic capital of Portugal with a historical importance recognized by UNESCO (1997). Portucale -> Porto = Portos + Cale. Many of the vessels from the Portuguese maritime adventures, were built here, at estaleiros navais. D. Enrique, the navigator before the Ceuta conquest, ordered all the cattle of the region to be fed to him and all of his men leaving only the tripas, as you know Tripas à Moda do Porto, a very Portuguese dish which named people from Porto as tripeiros. On the 18th century established here wine merchants with the treaty of Methuen (1703) which gave the english the power of total control of the production of the wines, the 1st wine was exported to Great Britain in 1678. The romanesque cathedral of Porto with its fortress-like facade also has other architectural styles upon several changes along the years. The church of S. Francisco one of the most visited monuments of Porto had 200 km of powdered gold ordered for its construction. It's side by side to the neoclassicist Palácio da Bolsa where you can find the Salão Árabe, a very golden room with arab motifs that can dazzle any human being. Estação de S. Bento, it's the perfect train station to photoshoot some blue glazed tiles, not before visiting the Torre dos Clérigos though. This is the place to visit for a panoramic birds eye view, a tower with a Rococo facade build by Nasoni, a very well known architect in the history of Portugal. You don't leave Porto without watching these several bridges over the Douro river. One of them it's called D. Maria Pia also for train crossing, and it was build by the very well internationally known Gustavo Eiffel. The most visited and promoted one is the D. Luís I bridge, actually build by Eiffel's disciple, Théophile Seyrig. Bellow you see the barcos rabelos, the little boats which carried the wine in the roman times, today for touristic purposes. Palácio dos Carrancas was the palace where the english general Wellington stayed a few years before defeating Napoleon.


Portuguese words in green.
Example - D. Afonso Henriques in Portuguese you read Dom Afonso Henriques but in english it's only Afonso Henriques.
Also read about: Citânia de Briteiros

Consulta:
-Todo o Portugal, Escudo de Oro, 2011
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Portuguese art / Paleolithic Art
« Last post by Portugal on May 13, 2020, 01:55:40 pm »
Escoural cave. Gruta do Escoural.

The first artistic manifestation in Portugal dates back to 20.000 years ago. It was first discovered at Herdade da Sala at Montemor-O-Novo at Alentejo.
While exploring a quarry, a cave was discovered where it was proved there was human ocupation through bones and ceramics found at the site.
There were paintings and engravings covered by calcite as well as represented animals and geometric motifs based on the same type of art discovered at France and Cantábrica cave, in Spain.
This cave had several purposes along the years. It was used by Homo Sapiens Sapiens as a place for rituals of the dead and while calcolytic times, thousand years later, it served as a little fortification.
It's now a santuary of this kind of art in black and red colours with 78 represented figures, majority placed at Grande Sala and to reach it, if you have the opportunity, you have to cross two other galeries.
It's mainly represented horses, even one that it's called a hybrid since it has a horse head and a human body which is said to be from the shamanism rituals. This is the mainly theme of the cave, hunting activity known to be the most practiced activity of the paleolithic.

Also read about: O Cavalo do Mazouco (horse of Mazouco) and Vale do Côa (World Heritage site by UNESCO)
Website: http://www.cm-montemornovo.pt/pt/site-visitar/turismo/Paginas/Visitas.aspx

Consulta: Arte Portuguesa, Círculo de Leitores, 2011
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Curiosities =) / Portuguese TV and Radio
« Last post by Portugal on May 11, 2020, 09:10:13 am »
TV
In Portugal we have 4 main Portuguese channels:
Rtp1: https://www.rtp.pt/
Rtp2: https://www.rtp.pt/
SIC: https://sic.pt/
TVI: https://tvi.iol.pt/

There's also CMTV, and RTP Açores.
Only RTP is 'free', the rest is included in a tv package where you can choose the channels you want, phone and also internet, by payment.
You can buy it at NOS, Vodafone, Meo, and others like Nowo.

Nos: https://www.nos.pt/
Meo: https://www.meo.pt/
Vodafone: https://www.vodafone.pt/
Nowo: https://www.nowo.pt/


All of them have major concert events in summer:
NOS Alive: https://nosalive.com/
Meo Sudoeste: https://sudoeste.meo.pt/pt
Vodafone Paredes de Coura: https://www.paredesdecoura.com/

Nos also has Cinemas NOS, a movie theatre chain all over the country with the most viewed movies and membership discounts.
Meo is nowadays owner of Altice arena (previously known as Pavilhão Atlântico), the biggest arena in our country, for concerts for example.



RADIO
We use radio a lot when driving, when cooking, or doing our ponto cruz, tapete de arraiolos or when cleaning the house.
Aside all the new technologies to listen our favorite artists, sometimes is good to listen to other things and updated news.

Some of the most known radio channels are:
Cidade FM: https://cidade.iol.pt/
M80: https://m80.iol.pt/ (80's music!)
MegaHits: https://megahits.sapo.pt/
RFM: https://rfm.sapo.pt/
Rádio Comercial: https://radiocomercial.iol.pt/

-If you feel a little bit lost a mid so much information at their websites, just click at 'Ouvir' which means 'to listen' and you're ready to go!
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Portuguese language / Gratidão
« Last post by Portugal on May 08, 2020, 11:53:58 am »
Gratitude.

This video speaks about the word 'gratidão', as Sampaio da Nóvoa wanted to thank his Brazillian colleagues before a class.
It's all in portuguese, so if you one day, get to know how to speak portuguese, make sure to listen to this.
Dia Mundial da Língua Portuguesa: 5 Maio.
https://youtu.be/uMrRccaGqCs

Power Point of the palestra:
https://www.metododasboquinhas.com.br/Portals/0/slides%20Palestras%20congresso/Dra.%20Renata%20Jardini-%20AGRADECIMENTO%20.pdf

I will leave you here also this link to another interview he made.
https://tvi.iol.pt/programa/ana-leal/5bec51560cf26bfdcaedf1f9/videos/--/--/video/5eb1d6a50cf2c4d7ff3e8e61/1?fbclid=IwAR3Ykpap3ckocquC0Hm4omxgvLkTTbCeYz_pY2gZW5BN3DddrBgrMBNxnZg
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Portuguese language / Intro
« Last post by Portugal on May 08, 2020, 08:59:16 am »
Portuguese is one of the most spoken languages in the world. 5th place it is, after chinese, english, russian and spanish, being spoken by millions of people all over the world. It is a national language in Portugal and Brasil, and it's an official language in Angola, Moçambique, Cabo Verde, Guiné Bissau, Timor Leste, São Tomé e Príncipe. You can also hear it in Goa (India) along with some crioulos in Malaysia, Macau, Indonesia and many others thanks to Portuguese emigrants.

Our language can be divided in 3 stages:
Anciant portuguese - from the 12th century (Portugal's foundation) until the 16th century (Fernão Lopes)
Classic portuguese - From the 16th century (Renaissance and Camões) until the 20th century.
Modern Portuguese - From the 20th century until now.



PS: In 2018, Portugal made official a new spelling agreement which consists in a transformation of some words to make it simpler.

Fontes de consulta:
Gramática do Português Moderno, Plátano Editora, 2005
Wikipedia
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Portuguese books / A book in Portuguese
« Last post by Portugal on May 08, 2020, 08:21:49 am »
So this is a book for children, but I think that maybe it's one of the best ways to start studying our language =)
It's 101 Dalmatians by Everest Editora (publishing company)

101 Dálmatas
Sou um cão branco com manchas pretas, um dálmata. O meu nome é Pongo.
Todos os dias o meu dono leva-me ao parque municipal. De repente, que vejo?
A dálmata mais bonita do mundo! O meu coração sobressalta-se, o dela também, e atiramo-nos nos braços um do outro...
Esqueci-me completamente do meu dono, e ela da sua dona.
Os dois tentam apanhar-nos, mas as nossas trelas embaraçaram-se... e eles caem dentro do lago.
Não acreditam no que aconteceu. Depois de uma aventura como esta, não houve gritos nem castigos: o meu dono casou com a dona de Perdita (lindo nome para uma dálmata), e eu casei com a Perdita!
Quinze cachorrinhos de uma só vez! O nosso casamento foi um sucesso! Vivemos muito felizes... Até ao dia em que: RIING! RIING!
O meu dono vai abrir e aparece uma horrível criatura vestida com um casaco de peles...
-Quem é a senhora? - pergunta ele
-O meu nome é Malvina Cruela - responde a horrível mulher.
-E que deseja?
-Quero comprar os pequenos dálmatas! - e vai tirando da carteira a caneta e o livro de cheques...
-Os cães não estão à venda! - diz o meu dono indignado.
-Ai não? - protesta ela, furiosa, sacudindo tanto a caneta que o meu dono acaba todo pintado feito um dálmata e até eu fico com manchas a mais!
Malvina Cruela acabou por se ir embora. Mas uma noite...
-Olá, pequenos dálmatas! Os vossos donos saíram e não desconfiam de nada...
E zás! OS dois bandidos apoderam-se dos nossos filhos e levam-nos! Sequestraram os nossos filhos! Foi o que pensámos quando, ao voltarmos , encontrámos o cesto deles vazio.
-Não devíamos ter saído e deixado os nossos filhos sozinhos! - lamenta-se Perdida desesperadas.
Mas eu tenho uma ideia:
-Vamos avisar o Coronel!
O Coronel é um bonacheirão, sempre disposto a ajudar os amigos.
O seu companheiro é um gato ruivo muito esperto. Quando fica a saber da nossa desgraça, lembra-se de uma coisa:
-Na noite passada vi a Mansão Abandonada iluminada. Diabos! Isso não é normal!
E o cão acrescenta:
-Demónios! Vamos até lá!
Dito e feito. Esgueiram-se até ao pátio da mansão, aproximam-se de uma janela aberta e... quem está ali? MALVINA CRUELA!
Afinal os bandidos eram seus cúmplices!
-Em vez de ficarem a ver televisão - uiva Malvina - vão mas é tratar dos cães. Preciso das peles todas para amanhã!
Ao ouvir estas palavras, o gato dá um pulo.
Resolve explorar a casa... Depressa descobre não apenas quinze cachorrinhos, mas um exército de cãezinhos capturados por causa das suas peles!
-A saída é por aqui... Vamos, pouco barulho!
E assim, dez minutos depois, 101 jovens dálmatas atiram-se nos meus braços. Todos querem que eu seja o pai!
Mas agora temos que agir com astúcia. O Sargento Neco, o gato ruivo, tem outra ideia: vamos esfregar-nos no carvão e assim disfarçamo-nos de labradores pretos. Mesmo a tempo, pois Malvina Cruela vem a chegar no seu potente automóvel.
-Cachorros pretos - diz ela, parando o carro à nossa frente.
-Ora eu só gosto de pêlo branco! - Mas no momento em que ela resolve ir-se embora, começa a chover. Imediatamente, o nosso pêlo desbota e Malvina Cruela percebe tudo.
-Ah! Cães malditos! Eu apanho-os!
Um camião pára perto de nós e saltamos lá para dentro.
-Mais rápido,, motorista! Mais rápido! Ela vai alcançar-nos!
Mas no mesmo instante, quem é que aparece a toda velocidade? Os cúmplices de Malvina Cruela noutro camião!
O choque foi inevitável!
Com a pancada, os malvados são disparados pelos ares... até aos infernos!
Perdida, eu e os nossos  filhotes estamos novamente no paraíso!
- Mas, mesmo no paraíso - diz a nossa dona - devem estar limpos. O piano é muito bonito, mas assim que o vosso dono acabar de tocar, vão tomar banho, labradores de uma figa.
Fim!

So with the end of this story, there are some questions to answer! Try to answer it!

1 - Onde é que o Pongo conheceu Perdita?
2 - Quem casa com quem?
3 - O que é que Malvina Cruela tem na mão?
4 - O que vão fazer o magro alto e o baixinho gordo a casa dos dálmatas?
5 - Como é que Malvina Cruela reconhece os falsos labradores?
8 - A família está completa em volta do piano?
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