Context of Conversa Brasileira
The whole idea of Conversa Brasileira came about when we decided that although our materials on Brazilpod have thousands of examples of Brazilian Portuguese, none of the previous materials actually showed Brazilians exchanging information. We were missing natural exchanges that happen when people are talking. We wanted learners to see how Brazilians take turns when talking, how they show that they are listening, how they clarify information, how they interrupt one another, how they show that they agree with something, or disagree with something. All of these are extremely important parts of learning a foreign language. In the previous Brazilpod materials, such as the Portuguese Communication Exercises, we showed people talking about such topics as travel, animals, hobbies, relationships, food, staying in shape, society, children, youth, and elderly, etc. Then on our É isso aí blog we created student projects and videos on those same topics. So, Conversa Brasileira was built on the idea of having Brazilians exchange ideas on those subjects too. The second motivation for creating Conversa Brasileira was to provide materials for intermediate and advanced learners. Up to this point, all of the Brazilpod materials had been focused more on the beginning-level students.
Video Functions
Conversa Brasileira is built around a number of brief video clips (usually around 2-3 minutes long) which can all be found as links in the left-hand column. All of the lessons are independent from one another and can be viewed in any order and in any combination.
- By clicking on the “Video” link, the video opens with the following options:
- 1. Start/stop, pause, and full screen button
- 2. Options to have Portuguese captions, English translation, or no captions
Video Commentary
The pop-up commentary contains brief recordings with analysis, observations, or clarifications about things that are said in the videos. These usually focus on some aspect of vocabulary, grammar, or culture that will help learners to understand the videos better. When clicking on the pop-up commentary, the video is paused and users are taken to a new branch with the brief commentary. At the end of the pop-up commentary, the video continues on where it left off.
Conversa Brasileira Material
All of the Conversa Brasileira lessons also provide downloadable PDF files that have the transcript and translation of the videos, as well as other commentary and notes. Click on “PDF Transcript”.
We also offer the PDFs that are available on the Conversa Brasileira website in a bundled version as a print-on-demand textbook. This textbook includes all 35 Conversa Brasileira video transcripts and notes.
Click here to order your copy now.
Suggested uses of Conversa Brasileira
Conversa Brasileira may be used in a course setting, as supplementary material to any course or it may be used for independent self-study. One method that seems to work particularly well in organized courses is to ask the students to listen to the videos outside of class, write comments and questions on the blog, and then use those questions and comments for follow-up activities in the classroom.
- Other links that are part of Conversa Brasileira:
- Home: Return at any time to the homepage
- Brazilpod: Conversa Brasileira is just one part of the whole series of materials that we have created for learning Portuguese. Click here to view the other materials as well.
- About Us: Click here to check out a brief bio about those who have been instrumental in the creation of Conversa Brasileira.
- Subscribe: Sections on how to subscribe to lessons in podcast apps and how to use RSS feeds.
- Help: Where you are right now.
