Comments on: Brazil: Much More Than Samba, Rio and Football

By: Fofogato

Fofogato — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 20:49:56 +0000

oiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Thank you for this article, it is very useful. Please keep up the good information!

I am learning Portuguese, I intend to live in Rio one day. IT WILL HAPPEN.

I have known/know Brasilians; yes, they tend to be very friendly. No one speaks bad of them!

People here in England tend to go on the stereotypes, (maybe it’s just the people who I know) and that can get tedious; I come from Northern Ireland, and I always hear bad Irish jokes/stuff about terrorism. I just let it go, life is too short!

(You get used to it, but why do some people seem to enjoy displaying their ignorance, like a badge? Ugh.)

Brazil is in the news more, because the economy is on the rise. The inner city gang violence isn’t romantic, so animated films paint the picture, for now.

Never mind the destruction of the Amazon rainforest.

Oh well.

I won’t complain.

M U C H

RSRS

^..^ )

By: Betânia

Betânia — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 17:32:02 +0000

Thank you so much for this article, I’m brazilian too but I’ll write in english so that
everybody can understand me. This is pretty much what I think, besides, I’m from south brazil
so that’s another different side of this stereotype, but as all diversity brazil have, we’re part of it too,
and I’m very proud of it. I used to think the world liked brazil and brazilian people in a respectful way,
and i got very disapointed when I went to europe and saw how much they don’t respect us, especially
woman, the way you describe fits perfectly: “you’re Brazilian so it means you’re easy (not to say a slut)” kind of look, not to mention we’re just a “third world country”. I agree that sometimes we all make the same mistakes by judging countries and people we don’t know much, but that’s a thing to improve, not to deny it or reinforce it like many people do. There are sluts like in every other place in the world.

By: Henry

Henry — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 22:37:32 +0000

Good stuff! Keep bringing it.

By: Luciana

Luciana — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:23:42 +0000

Priscila,

Muito obrigada pelo post! I am fortunate to live in the San Francisco Bay Area (Calif.) where I have met amazing people who have lived in, or traveled to, Brazil. These folks love the Brazilian culture and enjoy a deep connection with their Brazilian friends. I constantly fall in love with Brazil all over again through the experience of my friends and students here.

Brazil has a certain magic and despite all the economic and social problems, visitors tend to fall in love with the people, the culture, and the language.

You are so right: Brazilians do not expect foreigners to understand Portuguese; they feel honored when a foreigner risks saying a few words in the language and they will praise people for their effort, even if it sounds awful. We Brazilians do not feel upset or mistreat tourists when they cannot speak our language. On the contrary, we will, as you mentioned, speak louder and slower in an extra effort to welcome the other into an attempted conversation. It is an illogical yet natural instinct.

I firmly believe that Portuguese will become more and more popular as a second language. I already see a significant increase in the number of people looking for Portuguese lessons, both for personal and for business reasons.

Portuguese is very beautiful and learning it opens the doors to experiencing the culture at a deeper level and seeing things that were not available to the foreign eye before.

By: kai

kai — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:13:10 +0000

I agree there is much truth in your article, but i think u generalized foreigners a bit too, the most, really, almost all i got to know, asked about football, sure, and i like most brazilians love football, but they mostly knew at least as much about brazil as i know about their country, and their languages. After all many of us think sidney is the capital of australia, johannesburg is the capital of south africa and amsterdam is the important capital of netherlands. Most foreigners i got to know were very interested about brazil and didn`t have any prejudice, but that was just my experience, dont know about u guys.
And gabriel, just because u dont like it, why cant we like it? i love it, after all, its the greatest show in the world…Just try to enjoy it..

By: Benny the Irish polyglot

Benny the Irish polyglot — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:04:49 +0000

Excellent post! There is so much to Brazil that it boggles the mind how people associate it with very narrow parts of the culture. I’ve written my own list of things I like about Brazil and there isn’t a mention of samba, football or Carnaval in it I also echo some of what you say about Brazilian women and the respect they deserve.
I have to say that I really miss Brazilian warmth Saudades de vocês!!!

By: Gabriel

Gabriel — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:41:06 +0000

As a brazilian, I would like my people to care less about football…