In this lesson, Michelle claims that most people give women one kiss on the cheek when greeting and when saying goodbye. Valdo thinks that it is more common to give two kisses, one on each cheek. And there are even places where a third kiss is given. How difficult can it get?
As to grammar, years ago Orlando was once caught saying, in Spanish, María quiere me ayudar. To his surprise he found out that Spanish speakers are not supposed to put the indirect pronoun ‘me’ between the verbs. So, for you who are learning Portuguese, you get to learn the opposite: in Portuguese the pronoun goes between the auxiliary and main verb. There is no problem in saying, Maria quer me ajudar.
PODCAST LINK: Grammar Lesson 16
No kidding, Orlando was in Mexico City one time and saw a man in Chapultepec Park who was selling helados esquisitos. Why would anyone want to buy ‘weird’ ice cream? Turns out, in Spanish esquisito means exquisite, and Mexicans actually like to have their helado esquisito! It’s a positive thing. In Portuguese, esquisito means strange or weird. OK, that’s what we mean by false cognates. Although many words between Spanish and Portuguese are similar, there are others that trick you because the meaning isn’t what you expect.
Culturally, we talk about getting a driver’s license. Unlike the United States where generally people can get their driver’s license when they are 16, in Brazil people need to be 18 years of age.
PODCAST LINK: Grammar Lesson 15
OK, so you are driving down the freeway and you see a semi going 70 mph and there is a mobile home being pulled along. Well, yes, I do see why that would seem rather shocking to a Brazilian. Thanks go to Valdo and Michelle for making that observation.
Grammar-wise, we are also going to talk about dropping direct object pronouns. Better to drop pronouns than mobile homes from semis!
PODCAST LINK: Grammar Lesson 14