Bici = bike, bicicleta = bicycle

Would this be real blog if I didn't link to other blogs?

Luis, an avid bicycle rider in Porto Alegre, keeps a blog called BiciBrasil about his travels around Rio Grande do Sul. His recent entries are provided in both Portuguese and English. He's not a native speaker and his Portuguese isn't always perfect, but he does tell good stories. Almost every post uses a few words that I don't know.

My favorite entry describes a trip that I'd love to take. He travels the full length of the Lagoa dos Patos to Pelotas. You'll find that in his March 10, 2005 entry (the second entry in the March archive). I hope it inspires someone from the Twin Cities to join me in a bicycle trip through southern Brazil.

A Mônica

A great way to learn a new language is to see short phrases in both your native language and the language you're trying to learn. For Portuguese, one great source is the comic A Turma da Mônica or Monica's Gang -- let me know if you have a better definition for Turma. This cartoon is as well known and widespread in Brazil as Peanuts (Charlie Brown) is in the United States.

The comic features a link at the bottom of each page offering a translation into English. For example, in this series Mônica is cast as the little mermaid. Look at the bottom of the page for the link that says "Clique aqui para ver esta página em Inglês" to see it in English. Of course, if little mermaid isn't your thing there are other comics to choose from.

DLPO

One of the things that you need when learning a new language is a good dictionary. While I haven't found a great English/Portuguese dictionary online, there is a great Portuguese dictionary. This resource may not be that useful for those just starting out, but at some point the best explanation of a new word comes from other Portuguese words.

Without further ado, I bring you the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa On-line (DLPO) published by Priberam. Enter a Portuguese word in the text box on the left and click the arrow next to it. In the future I'll do some posts to suggest places online to find Portuguese words that you might need to look up.