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| Issue #37 | News and Tips for a Multilingual World | February 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||
Archives 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 |
Flying Down to Rio...for Carnival Special Brazil Issue
Carnival, for those who don’t know its meaning, is a celebration common in predominantly Catholic countries. It is a festival in preparation for Lent, the period before Easter when Catholics traditionally gave up eating meat as an act of penitence. In fact, the word "carnival" derives from Latin words meaning, approximately, "Goodbye, meat." The origins of the celebration, however, long pre-date Christianity. In many places the celebration is limited to Mardi Gras (Shrove Tuesday), the day right before Ash Wednesday when Lent begins. But in Rio, the festivities start on the Saturday before Ash Wednesday and continue through the following Tuesday. This year it runs from March 5 through March 8. But before we tell you more about Carnival ("Carnaval" in Portuguese), let’s look a little more at Brazil and the reasons that it is included, along with Russia, India and China, in the grouping known as the BRIC countries – countries considered to emerging economic powers. Brazil, the emerging power
One sign of Brazil's new status – a status that Brazilians are only just getting used to – is the fact that it will play host to both the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics. Although the official language of Brazil is Portuguese, its population is very diverse, mixing descendants of indigenous tribes, Portuguese settlers, and former African slaves with those of immigrants from all over the world. And Brazil’s large area is as varied as its population, with large cities, coastal beaches, the bulk of the huge Amazon rain forest, and some of the most breathtaking waterfalls in the world. Carnival (cont.)
If you can’t make it to Rio for Carnival, you can get a wonderful taste of it through the photos of the 2007 celebration on Sergio Luiz’s Flickr album, or sample some of the "most over the top moments" from 2010 in the Huffington Post. Or, to get a broader taste of the country, take a virtual tour of the Amazon jungle or of the world-famous Iguassu Falls. And, if you’re doing business, or thinking of doing business, with Brazil, don’t forget to contact us to discuss how we help you with your language needs.
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Translation for Brazil Soars The fact that more companies are focusing on the Brazilian market is clearly reflected in our translation requests. In 2008, translation into Brazilian Portuguese was a negligible part of our work, but by 2010, the volume we handled was over ten times higher and inquiries were also increasing. Click HERE to see just one sample translation and desktop publishing job that we did for a glass manufacturer. Soccer, a Way of Life  Many people immediately think of soccer when they think of Brazil. And the Brazilians are extremely proud of their special style of play. As the online soccer forum, Big Soccer, puts it: "The English invented it, the Brazilians perfected it." The 2006 book by Alex Bellos, Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life, tells the story of modern Brazil through the lens of soccer. One question the book answers is why so many Brazilian players seem to have only one name, like Pelé or Ronaldinho. It turns out, Brazilians commonly use first names or nicknames to refer to people in all settings; for instance, the immediate past president of Brazil, Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva, was commonly referred to by one and all simply as "Lula." And national sports commentator, Galvão Bueno, became the brunt of a international joke simply as "Galvão." (See the story in last year's special soccer issue of this newsletter.) A Colony Takes Over?  |
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