Lesson 24: Intonation

Lesson 24: Intonation

Author: College of Liberal Arts, University of Texas at Austin March 28, 2007 Duration: 15:05
asset title: Lesson 24: Intonation filename: tafalado_24.mp3 track number: 25/46 time: 15:05 size: 10.61 MB bitrate: 96 kbps Today's lesson is totally different. Instead of listening to a dialog and comparing the sounds to Spanish, our team discusses a number of audio clips that illustrate Brazilian Portuguese intonation patterns. Do not worry about understanding what they clips are saying. The objective of today's lesson is to listen to the music, rhythm, and pitch of Brazilian Portuguese. And yes, Brazilians do think of Halls Mentho-Lyptus as candy! Clip #1, from Lesson 13 dialog Valdo and Vivian Portuguese: Ah, é mesmo. Dentro de alguns cinemas aqui eles servem comida. Gostoso, né? Spanish: Ah, es cierto. Dentro de algunos cines aquí se sirve comida. Qué chévere, ¿no? English: That's right. In some of the theaters they serve food. That's cool, right? --- Clip #2, Lesson 13 dialog Michelle and Vivian Portuguese: Então tá. A gente come massa com espinafre e toma umas bebidas enquanto assiste o filme. Spanish: Está bien. Nosotros comemos pasta con espinacas y tomamos unas bebidas mientras miramos la película. English: OK then. We'll have pasta with spinach and we'll have a few drinks while watching the movie. --- Clip #3, 'Hot Dog' or 'Hoti Doggie' Michelle, Valdo, José Luis, and Orlando - Eu quero ver ele pronunciar 'hoti doggie.' - É porque foi uma controvérsia porque ela queria que eu falasse 'fasti foodi' mas eu não falo 'fasti foodi.' - Eu também não falo 'fasti foodi', mas eu vou forçar aqui porque todo mundo fala! - No cultural note vamos fazer ... - O que cê fala geralmente? - Cachorro quente. - Não, mas a gente fala 'hoti doggie.' - Mas se você dissesse ... - Se falasse no Brasil ... - Ele, como sabe ingles, ele vai falar 'hot dog' ... - Ninguém vai entender o que é, né? É lógico. - ... mas as pessoas falam 'hoti doggie.' É como falar 'fasti foodi.' - Eu queria salientar isso nos cultural note, que eu não falo 'hoti doggie' ... --- Clip #4 Michelle, Valdo, Jose Luis, and Orlando: - 'Fasti Foodi' - Eu também não falo assim Valdo, mas eu vou dar uma forçada porque as pessoas falam. - O que cê fala? - Não, a gente fala 'fast food' mas as pessoas falam 'fasti foodi' com 'i' no final. - Mas o objetivo é esse, né? da lição. - Exatamente, - Mas eu queria que ... - ... enfatize que nós não falamos assim. - Que nós dois, né? - Nós não falamos mas o resto é normal. --- Clip #5 Michelle, Valdo, Jose Luis, and Orlando: - Na verdade eu não escuto muito a gente falar 'hoti doggie'. O pessoal fala ... - Sim, fala mais cachorro quente, mas quando vai falar. - É que a gente precisava de usar essas palavras para ... - We'll play with it, we'll let people know that cachorro quente is also said a lot. - Mas, quando as pessoas vão falar, fala 'hoti doggie'. - If they ever say it. - Sim. - Porque Orlando lo dirá en inglés, hot dog. - Eu diria cachorro quente, para falar a verdade, eu falaria em português ... - Eu não falaria hot dog nunca - Sim, mas tem lugares também - We need to come up with some epenthetic vowel ... - I fully understand what we are doing. --- Clip #6 Michelle, Valdo, Jose Luis, and Orlando: - Outra coisa que você pode incluir, se cê quiser, que eu lembrei agora, Halles... - O que é Halles? - Halles. - Eu nunca ouvi as pessoas pronunciarem Halles. - É Halles. - Escuto pronunciar Halls - É, eu sempre falo Halls. Gente, eu sempre falo assim. - Una clase divina. - For us, Jose Luis, you will not believe this, but for us Halls is a medicine. You know, throat lozenges, when you have a sore throat you have Halls. - Oh yea. - In Brazil, they eat it like candy! - Candy. - They sell Halls like candy! - Yea, - Yea. It's like... - E eu pronuncio Halls sempre. Eu nunca ouvi Halles. - Is it candy, I mean the Halls? - No. A primeira vez que eles ofereceram para mim Halls como se fosse candy eu pensei, what is this? - Para mim foi estranho achar que o povo usa aqui como remédio. - Não, não, no Brazil não. Imagina! Uma balinha, que cê compra todo dia, toma todo dia. - Toma não, chupa todo dia, uma balinha... - Pra botar bom hálito na boca. - Sim. - Oh, I like that. - OK, we better get rolling here.

For anyone who speaks Spanish and wants to learn the distinct sounds of Brazilian Portuguese, Tá Falado is a focused and practical resource. This podcast comes from the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Texas at Austin, and it’s built on a simple, effective idea: your existing knowledge of Spanish is a powerful starting point. Each episode deliberately contrasts the two languages, breaking down specific pronunciation challenges like vowel sounds, nasal consonants, and intonation patterns that often trip up Spanish speakers. You’ll hear clear comparisons and practice examples that highlight these differences directly. Beyond the mechanics of speech, the podcast naturally weaves in cultural notes and real-life scenarios, offering glimpses into daily life and social interactions in Brazil compared to common experiences in the United States. It’s this combination of linguistic precision and cultural context that makes the lessons stick. As part of the broader Brazilpod project, Tá Falado is academically informed but entirely approachable, turning a potentially difficult learning curve into a series of manageable, insightful steps. The goal isn’t just to be understood, but to sound more authentic and confident when speaking.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 46

Tá Falado: Brazilian Portuguese Pronunciation for Speakers of Spanish
Podcast Episodes
Supplementary Lesson 2: Portuguese Consonant Sounds [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 5:33
asset title: Supplementary Lesson 2: Portuguese Consonant Sounds filename: tafalado_suppl_02.mp3 track number: 26/46 time: 5:33 size: 3.90 MB bitrate: 96 kbps Unlike the regular podcast lessons, we've included some other…
Lesson 23: Cool Little Words,  Nicknames [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 9:11
asset title: Lesson 23: Cool Little Words, Nicknames filename: tafalado_23.mp3 track number: 24/46 time: 9:11 size: 6.46 MB bitrate: 96 kbps Let's see if we have this right? Michelle's family gave her the nickname 'witch…
Lesson 22: Epenthetic Vowels (wow, fancy word!),  Fast Food [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 11:50
asset title: Lesson 22: Epenthetic Vowels (wow, fancy word!), Fast Food filename: tafalado_22.mp3 track number: 23/46 time: 11:50 size: 8.32 MB bitrate: 96 kbps Epenthe ... what? Epenthetic vowels. We know, it sounds lik…
Lesson 20: Pronunciation of 'lh', Automatic Sprinklers [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:38
asset title: Lesson 20: Pronunciation of 'lh', Automatic Sprinklers filename: tafalado_20.mp3 track number: 21/46 time: 12:38 size: 4.44 MB bitrate: 48 kbps The 'mulher molhada trabalhava' is rendered in Spanish as 'muje…
Lesson 19: Pronunciation of 'nh', Laundromats, Really? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 11:25
asset title: Lesson 19: Pronunciation of 'nh', Laundromats, Really? filename: tafalado_19.mp3 track number: 20/46 time: 11:25 size: 4.02 MB bitrate: 48 kbps Valdo and Michelle still can't get used to the idea of taking t…
Lesson 18: Pronunciation of 'ch', You Call That a Steak House? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:42
asset title: Lesson 18: Pronunciation of 'ch', You Call That a Steak House? filename: tafalado_18.mp3 track number: 19/46 time: 12:42 size: 4.47 MB bitrate: 48 kbps For the meat lovers of the world, we present the Brazil…
Lesson 15: Pronunciation of 'r' sounds (alt),  Good Tippers [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 10:12
asset title: Lesson 15: Pronunciation of 'r' sounds (alt), Good Tippers filename: tafalado_15.mp3 track number: 16/46 time: 10:12 size: 3.59 MB bitrate: 48 kbps Our carioca is back! Once again Vivian Flanzer joins Michel…