[Course Forum] Brazilian Portuguese 1 - 7 by Memrise

Hello @HarmjanK.

You are right. Thanks for letting us know that!

I’ve just fixed this string. To make sure the updated version is reflected in your course, please log-out and log-in at the app again.

Do let me know in case you have any other questions or comments.

Kind regards,

Ignacio

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Yeah it’s fixed! Thank you!

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Hi @IgCostaBR,

In Brazilian Portuguese 2, level 15, is ‘inteligente’ translated to ‘clever; inteligent’. But in English it has to be ‘intelligent’ with an extra L in the word.

Hi @HarmjanK, how are you?

You’re right. It was a typo.

Fixed now!

Thanks again.

Regards,

Ignacio

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Hi IgCostaBR, I’m fine. How are you?

I have another question about Brazilian Portuguese 3, level 2.
“Where is the train station?” is translated to “Onde está a estação de trem?”

But wouldn’t “Onde é a estação de trem?” be more logical,
because “estar” is “to be” but then in a temporarily way?

Kind regards,
Harmjan

Hello @HarmjanK. I’m fine too, thanks!

Interesting question!

Technically, you are right and “Onde é a estação de trem” would sound more correct and should make more sense to someone studying Portuguese. That’s why I’m fixing it right now.

Anyway, just for your reference:
I probably instinctively opted for “Onde está a estação de trem” because, in this case, we are implicitly using the word “located” (“localizada”) just after “está”.
So, the phrase should mean: “Onde está localizada a estação de trem” (“Where is the train station located?”).
I know the temporarily x permantly issue would still be confusing here, but we do say “Estar localizada” much more than “ser localizada”, even for fixed things like buildings, addresses, etc.

As another option, we might still say “Onde fica a estação de trem” (which literally should mean “Where stays the station of train”). That’s very usual as well.

Well, I hope this may have helped you (and not made things more confusing! =P)

Let me know in case you have any other questions.

Kind regards,

Ignacio

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Very well explained! Thank you very much, @IgCostaBR!

Hi @IgCostaBR,

I noticed two very small errors in the course:

  • In Brazilian Portuguese 3, level 36, I guess “2,001 (numner)” should be “2,001 (number)”.
  • And in Brazilian Portuguese 3, level 37, there is a question mark missing after “quanto tempo dura”.

Kind regards,
Harmjan

Hey @HarmjanK.

All fixed! =)

Thanks a lot!

Best regards,

Ignacio

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Hey @IgCostaBR,

In Brazilian Portuguese 4, level 5, I believe “taxi” should translate to “táxi” (instead of “taxi”). :slight_smile:

we took a taxi -> nós tomamos um táxi

Kind regards,
Harmjan

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You’re right @HarmjanK.

Fixed!

Thanks and have a nice weekend!

Regards,

Ignacio

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Hi @IgCostaBR

I’ve noticed a previous a post about ‘where is the train station?’ in level 3 of Brazilian Portuguese, I’d just to point out that there is now a discrepancy the oral and written versions.

Written: ‘Onde é a estação de trem?’

Spoken: ‘Onde está a estação de trem?’

Thanks!

Lucy

Oh, you’re right @spiderlucy.

Considering that, I’m excluding the audio and we’ll order a new one to replace it.

Thanks for raising it.

Regards,

Ignacio

Hello @IgCostaBR
On the 2nd course on level 6 (Fuel Your Vocab: Out and About), there’s a spelling mistake for the English literal translation for “o cliente tem sempre razão”. It should say “the customer has always reason” for the literal translation, but instead it says “costumer”, not “customer”.
Thank you

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Fixed @heathr96. Thanks! =)

Você and Vocês are classified as “formal” on the advanced course, wheras - as far as I’m aware - they are actually informal in Brazil, and only formal in Portugal. This is confusing to me, especially on the speed sessions! @IgCostaBR is this your domain?

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advanced speed review Level 4
pela manha:

  1. in the morning (a.m.)
  2. a pity
  3. a fish
  4. in the morning
    I selected (1) but the “correct” answer was (4), and I ran out of hearts because of it.

over to you, @IgCostaBR :wink:

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Hi @FerencCollins82.

Thanks for your messages! I’ll take a look at your request and work on any necessary adjustments this week, ok?

Thank you!

Regards,
Ignacio

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Hi @FerencCollins82.

I’ve just checked your questions.

For “você/s” not being formal, you are right. This works only for European Portuguese and was added to the Brazilian course by mistake. Sorry for that! I’ve just fixed those entries.

As for your "in the morning" question, it’s not wrong, but can be clearer. Here’s the explanation:
"In the morning (a.m.)" refers to the way we say time in Portuguese. So, "10:00 a.m. / in the morning" would be "10 da manhã", whereas "pela manhã" refers to "in the morning" as a general way to mention the morning period of a day, like in “we did that in the morning” = “fizemos aquilo pela manhã”.

Thus, your speed review probably presented "da manhã" in that question, instead of "pela manhã".

Anyway, I’ve also changed this one, which now is presented as “da manhã” = “in the morning (time; a.m.)”. Same goes for “in the afternoon = da tarde” and “in the evening / night = da noite”).

Hope this can avoid other mistakes. :slight_smile:

Do let me know in case you have any other questions!

Thanks,

Ignacio

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Thanks and I understand your reasoning. On a language course, and with these speed cards, I would suggest to be clearer you might consider having just one phrase that corresponds to another phrase, for example “pela manha”=“in the morning” and “da manha”=“a.m.” . Now clearly an English speaker might translate “10 da manha” as “10 in the morning” but they would already be clear on choosing the correct context. Similarly, I have heard archaic uses of the much less-commonly used construction, “I’ll see you in the a.m.” (~“pela manha”). Now, context is key, and for some things like the flash cards, there is only really time to consider a single translation, not figure out which context works in which set of instances. So you might want to consider specifically a primary translation that is a context clarifier and (possibly several) secondary translations that could be used. Then on some screens it’s more appropriate to show the secondary translations and on some screens, like the flash cards, maybe it’s less appropriate. So in my example I chose “in the morning(a.m.)” for “pela manha” because it looks to me like the “(a.m.)” is an explanation of “morning” and it is not clear from the context of the exercise that it is actually a secondary translation, whereas in effect, the primary(ie, context disambiguating) translation of “da manha” is “a.m.” with the secondary being “in the morning”.
Perhaps less something for language course builders like yourself to consider, perhaps more one for your programmers.

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