Post: #1

Hey all!
New member here, greetings from Ontario, Canada. First off, great forum and discussions here as has been stated by many, very useful.

I'm landing in Rio Jan 12, planning on spending 1.5-2 months in Brazil. I am sticking in Rio for two weeks which seems like you can get by some-what on english but from what im reading it would be gameless and downright lame to not know some basic Brazilian portugese phrases. My problem is, since i'm spending a good 3-4 months afterwards in Spanish speaking countries (argentina, colombia, etc) i've been rosetta-stoning it up desperately since june trying to learn some spanish whilst working my job to pay for this trip.

Since i've been focusing on Spanish, but in Brazil need Portugese, I was thinking of picking up the lonely planet brazilian phrase book, any experience with it?
Any other suggested readings to learn basic phrases to help me game Brazilian girls?

I don't really want to switch gears and full out learn portugese because i feel it would hamper my spanish progress. All i'm looking for really is enough to get the conversation going with Brazilian girls who speak some english but appreciate the effort, and then switch gears over to english. Basically what the majority of posters here seem to be doing. Also, enough to get me by to travel to less english speaking areas of Brazil.

Sorry for the long post, we canadians, like to talk eh

Post: #2

I actually have the lonely planet phrasebook and brought it with me. It helps, but it's not going to save you either. In my experience, I didn't encounter many Cariocas that spoke English unless they were specifically working in the tourist industry. I got kind of spoiled in Europe where everyone knows English and thought it would be widely understood in S. America, but man was I wrong.

Post: #3

Bronte: Why go to Rio? You have been preparing for Spanish-speaking countries, plus you get a lot more bang for you buck in every other country in South America.

Post: #4

(12-03-2009 10:24 PM)gringoed Wrote:  Bronte: Why go to Rio? You have been preparing for Spanish-speaking countries, plus you get a lot more bang for you buck in every other country in South America.

Well, i'm going to be down to SA for six months, worked out that flying into Brazil was the best price from my airport, so figured what the hell. Also heard the girls in Brazil are great and its not to be missed based on Roosh's site and many of the posters here.

Post: #5

(12-03-2009 10:20 PM)speakeasy Wrote:  I actually have the lonely planet phrasebook and brought it with me. It helps, but it's not going to save you either. In my experience, I didn't encounter many Cariocas that spoke English unless they were specifically working in the tourist industry. I got kind of spoiled in Europe where everyone knows English and thought it would be widely understood in S. America, but man was I wrong.

I have been to europe twice, and yeah totally spoiled like that as well. I think I should be set for my approx. 4 months in spanish countries... rosetta stone is taking pretty good care of me, enough that I can get by decent i think.

Just concerned about meeting girls / getting around safely in Brazil without any knowledge of portugese. For ten bucks on amazon I guess i'll pick up the guide.

Any other resources you recommend speak?

Post: #6

Quote:I don't really want to switch gears and full out learn portugese because i feel it would hamper my spanish progress

You are correct. Six weeks of portuguese has really fucked up my spanish.

Thing about Rio is that there is so much English spoken by the educated class that I'm wondering why i'm studying portuguese so hard when I don't even use it. Portuguese came in handy up north where there wasn't much english, but the past few days in rio i'm only using it at the juice bars and in taxis. I planned on taking a portuguese class but i'm questioning that now, as it's $1,000 for a decent one month course.

I think for you studying the phrase book should be sufficient.

Post: #7

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the upper classes tend to be way more likely to know English.

Post: #8

I'll be arriving to São Paulo next Sunday and staying there for 10 days (I'll play and give masterclasses in a Festival there) and based in my previous childhood trips to Brazil (yep, long time ago) if you speak spanish, just speak it in Brazil, you should be able to get by, I will talk portunhol, that is how native spanish and native portuguese speakers do.

English is much more difficult to get by in Brazil with people on the streets, but believe me, with spanish, you just need a few words of portuguese now and then to sound cute and be understood

Post: #9

I just looked at exchange rates. The Dollar has fallen so much against the Real since spring it's ridiculous. Prices in Rio are now probably about the same if not more than the United States(excepting extremely expensive places here like NYC and SF).

Post: #10

(12-04-2009 12:13 AM)lilactag Wrote:  I'll be arriving to São Paulo next Sunday and staying there for 10 days (I'll play and give masterclasses in a Festival there) and based in my previous childhood trips to Brazil (yep, long time ago) if you speak spanish, just speak it in Brazil, you should be able to get by, I will talk portunhol, that is how native spanish and native portuguese speakers do.

English is much more difficult to get by in Brazil with people on the streets, but believe me, with spanish, you just need a few words of portuguese now and then to sound cute and be understood

U have to do my to do list in SP! hahahaha

Post: #11

If you are going to be that long in Brazil, set up an Orkut account.

Seriously.

Everyone uses that and not facebook.

I had Brazilian chicks ask me for my orkut when we were swapping contact details and were disappointed and suprised when I didn't have one.

Set one up and you should be able to arrange some meetups before you even arrive.

Post: #12

(12-04-2009 07:54 AM)Mrs. Chocolate Wrote:  U have to do my to do list in SP! hahahaha

and then..do write down your to do list for me to examine if it is doable hehe

Post: #13

I have this same problem but the opposite way around. I'm about to go to Argentina but I do not want to learn Spanish, as I'm coming back to Brazil and feel that if I learn spanish it will screw up my Portuguese.

Post: #14

I already posted in Sao Paulo Brazil post!!!

Post: #15

I plan on going to buizos during my stay in rio for 8 days.

any other places within a few hours i should go checkout? maybe like a cool little town with a few chicks and good scenery?

Post: #16

(12-04-2009 08:34 AM)Lumiere Wrote:  If you are going to be that long in Brazil, set up an Orkut account.

Seriously.

Everyone uses that and not facebook.

I had Brazilian chicks ask me for my orkut when we were swapping contact details and were disappointed and suprised when I didn't have one.

Set one up and you should be able to arrange some meetups before you even arrive.

Thanks for the tip. Just opened an account.

Post: #17

I've spent a couple of months in Brazil, never bothered to learn any of the language, and just spoke lame stuff like "tudo bem" "ola" "eu amo popozodas" and got laid many times. The girls there like gringos and want to talk englishj. I don't see the point in trying to blend in with the other guys tht want to get in their pants.

Post: #18

(12-04-2009 07:00 PM)simonh Wrote:  I've spent a couple of months in Brazil, never bothered to learn any of the language, and just spoke lame stuff like "tudo bem" "ola" "eu amo popozodas" and got laid many times. The girls there like gringos and want to talk englishj. I don't see the point in trying to blend in with the other guys tht want to get in their pants.

I call bullshit.

Post: #19

(12-04-2009 07:07 PM)Lumiere Wrote:  

(12-04-2009 07:00 PM)simonh Wrote:  I've spent a couple of months in Brazil, never bothered to learn any of the language, and just spoke lame stuff like "tudo bem" "ola" "eu amo popozodas" and got laid many times. The girls there like gringos and want to talk englishj. I don't see the point in trying to blend in with the other guys tht want to get in their pants.

I call bullshit.

Not really, in fact some of the girls in the clubs like Pink Elephant (SP), Baronetti (Rio), Mokai (SP), Disco (SP) prolly speak/write better in English than me! I've never been anywhere else in Brazil besides Rio or SP though.

Post: #20

Hey regarding Brazil,

They have some unreal surfers in the Triple Crown this year.

These guys have cool names too. The best one is named Marco Polo and he's freaking incredible. He's from Florianopolis.

Another guy is named Charlie Brown, and he was at the bar last night with a chick I know had to be some kind of model.

These guys are great surfers.

Tons of Brazilian spectator girls also made it out. Something called TNT Energy drink had a tent with a bunch of Brazilian promo girls working.

Aloha!

Post: #21

(12-04-2009 07:35 PM)Kona Wrote:  Another guy is named Charlie Brown, and he was at the bar last night with a chick I know had to be some kind of model.

Also a great Brazilian band!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZvwh2yehJU

Post: #22

(12-04-2009 03:18 PM)Mrs. Chocolate Wrote:  I already posted in Sao Paulo Brazil post!!!

I read it, now.
Quite well assembled, we all SP bound are very grateful, indeed. Hope I have time to put a check on that list's suggestions.

Thanks again!

Post: #23

(12-04-2009 07:35 PM)Kona Wrote:  Hey regarding Brazil,

They have some unreal surfers in the Triple Crown this year.

These guys have cool names too. The best one is named Marco Polo and he's freaking incredible. He's from Florianopolis.

Another guy is named Charlie Brown, and he was at the bar last night with a chick I know had to be some kind of model.

These guys are great surfers.

Tons of Brazilian spectator girls also made it out. Something called TNT Energy drink had a tent with a bunch of Brazilian promo girls working.

Aloha!

I'm in Floripa right now. Tomorrow we are going surfing about an hour away from where they had that triple crown contest. I'm not very good at surfing though and I haven't surfed in almost ten years. I tried the other day but the conditions were too bad to relearn on. I'm hoping being good at snowboarding and skating is going to help out some.

Post: #24

(12-04-2009 07:00 PM)simonh Wrote:  I've spent a couple of months in Brazil, never bothered to learn any of the language, and just spoke lame stuff like "tudo bem" "ola" "eu amo popozodas" and got laid many times. The girls there like gringos and want to talk englishj. I don't see the point in trying to blend in with the other guys tht want to get in their pants.

Dude, learning the language opens tons of more offers up. There are way more girl that don't speak English than do. And I don't agree that all girls like to talk English or that it is any easier really for gringos than locals.

Post: #25

Knowing a cool foreign language is a lot more than just picking up girls.