A view of the rainforest stretching across Amazonas, Brazil's largest state.

Amazonas is the largest Brazilian state, and is a region of remarkable natural treasures.  It is almost entirely covered by the Amazon Rainforest, called Amazônia in Portuguese. Nearly two-thirds of the Amazon Rainforest lies in Brazil, with portions extending into nine South American countries. In total, the forest covers an area larger than Europe! The Amazon Rainforest represents over half of the planet's remaining rainforest. It has an enormous reserve of natural resources - vegetal, mineral and animal - and directly influences the climatic balance of the Earth.

The mighty Amazon River also flows through the region, fed by over a thousand tributary rivers along its 3,900 miles. The legendary Amazonas, a tribe of warrior women, were said to live in the forests surrounding the river.The Amazon is also the place to experience tidal bore surfing. Catch the action around the full moon near the March Equinox in São Domingos do Capim.

Amazonas also has a rich cultural heritage. Don't miss the Parintins Folklore Festival (Festival Folclórico de Parintins) held each June in the city of Parintins, Amazonas. Often called Festival do Boi-Bumbá or simply Festival, the event takes place during three days in late June. The festival celebrates a local legend about a resurrected ox. Two teams, Garantido and Caprichoso, compete in retelling the story through elaborate dances, singing, and parade floats. Each nightly performance is based on local Amazonian folklore and indigenous culture, but also incorporates contemporary Brazilian rhythms and themes. It is the second-largest annual festival in Brazil; only the Carnival festivities in Rio de Janeiro draw more participants.

For more information, check www.amazonastur.am.gov.br/.

New staff Sueli Cifarelli (top) and Marília Vinson (bottom).

Brazil Station is excited to introduce two new staff members: Sueli Cifarelli, our new Director of Education, and new teacher Marília Vinson.

Sueli Cifarelli is from São Paulo, Brazil. She completed her Bachelor's degree in Pedagogy from the university of the state of  Bahia. After graduating, she worked as a coordinator and teacher for the Board Education for the state of Bahia, and private schools throughout Brazil. She has been teaching since 1994. In the U.S. she has taught Portuguese as a second language, and assists Brazilian parents in providing their children links to Brazilian culture through read and write in Portuguese. Sueli joins Brazil Station as the new Director of Education. She will coordinate teacher training and development, guide class curricula and evaluation, and insuring our instruction meets high quality standards while realizing students' individual interests and goals.

Marília Vinson is a native of Rio de Janeiro. In Rio, Marília taught English for international companies and at language schools. She also worked as a Portuguese-English translator at the Rio 2007 Pan-American Games. In March 2007, Marília graduated from the Simultaneous Interpretation course at Brasillis in Rio, and has worked as a simultaneous interpreter ever since. She holds a Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English, which she passed with high marks, and has completed a post-graduation course in Applied Linguistics.

Learn more about Brazil Station's dedicated staff. 

Meetup members dance at a recent forró class.

After an hour of zouk, we will head to:

Brazil Brazil Grill
328 West 46th St (at 8th Ave)
New York, NY 10036
(212) 957-4300
Click here to get directions

Singer and songwriter Caetano Veloso

Caetano Veloso is among the most influential and beloved artists to emerge from Brazil, a performer The New York Times named "one of the greatest songwriters of the century." A popular and critical success in Brazil since the 1960's, he continues to  develop a strong international following. Veloso will perform at the Nokia Theatre in New York on Monday, November 19 and Tuesday, November 20 at 8pm.

Born in Santo Amaro, Bahia, in 1942, Caetano Veloso began his professional musical career in 1965 in São Paulo. In his first compositions he drew on the bossa novas of João Gilberto, but rapidly began to develop his own distinctive style. He absorbed  musical and aesthetic ideas from sources as diverse as The Beatles, concrete poetry, the French Dadaists and the Brazilian modernist poets of the 1920s.

Caetano, together with Gilberto Gil, Gal Costa, his sister Maria Bethânia, and a number of other poets and intellectuals, founded a movement called Tropicalismo. By experimenting with new sounds and words, adding electric guitars to their bands and utilizing the imagery of modern poetry, Caetano and other Tropicalismo performers sparked a musical revolution. Now universally credited with redefining what is known as Brazilian music, it laid the groundwork for a renaissance of Brazilian popular music both at home and abroad.

Although Tropicalismo set the tone for Caetano's career, his music has evolved greatly over the years. Incorporating elements of rock, reggae, fado, tango, samba canςão, baião and rap - with lyrics containing some of the best poetry in a musical tradition rich in verse - Caetano's music is sometimes traditional, sometimes contemporary, often hybrid. At once an astute social commentator and balladeer of highly emotive love songs, Caetano is one of the most respected poets in the Portuguese language. Indeed he is one of only a handful of artists who has resolved how to be musically modern and still undeniably Brazilian.

For more information on Veloso's upcoming performances, visit http://www.nokiatheatrenyc.com or http://www.caetanoveloso.com.br.

Nokia Theatre
1515 Broadway, at 44th Street
New York City.
(212) 203-4757, (212) 307-7171
Click here to get directions

Portuguese from Brazil (Brazilian Portuguese - indicated below as "BP") and Portuguese from Portugal (Continental Portuguese - indicated below as "CP") have the same structure and grammar; however, the accent and some words are different. See a list of vocabulary differences:

BP: alô
CP: estou, está lá, estou sim, sim
hello (on the phone)

BP: banheiro, toalete
CP: quarto de banho, casa de banho, lavabos
bathroom, toilet

BP: bonito/a
CP: giro/a
pretty, handsome

BP: café da manhã
CP: pequeno-almoço
breakfast

BP: celular, telefone celular
CP: telemóvel
cellphone, mobile phone

BP: garçom / garçonete
CP: empregado/a, criado/a
waiter / waitress

BP: lanchonete, bar, padaria
CP: pastelaria
snack bar, bakery

BP: lugar
CP: sítio
place, site

BP: ponto / parada de ônibus
CP: paragem de autocarro
bus stop

BP: pão francês, bengala
CP: cacete, baguete
French baguette

BP: trem
CP: comboio
train

BP: um pouco / pouquinho
CP: um bocado / bocadinho
a little, a little bit