For Lent (February 14th to March 29th) I will be giving up my English-language media diet: no books, music, news, film, television, radio or Internet in English. It is a bad habit of mine. And I want to learn Portuguese. I will be on a Portuguese-language media diet (which. if it has some English-language content like songs, that is fine).
Exceptions: I will make exceptions for work-related stuff, this blog (comments, research), anything teaching Portuguese, and, if I get a chance to see it, “Black Panther” (2018).
Suggestions: If there is anything you want me to do a post on, particularly something you think I am missing out on because of my diet, please let me know in the comments below. If it is seconded I will most likely do it.
– Abagond, 2018.
See also:
- media diet
- The Vast Talking Machine – the most powerful filter bubble in history
- My thing for Brazil
- Portuguese
Is there any US mainstream media issued in Portuguese? Where do Portuguese speaking American get their news and information?
(ie, will you be focusing on foreign media or domestic Portuguese language media?)
Will there be any comparison among the worldwide Portuguese media, not only within Brazil and Portugal, but even compared to Cape Verde, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Macau, Sao tome and Principe, Timor Leste, etc. or maybe even places like Japan to which many Japanese Brazilians migrated?
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You seem to be especially interested in Brazil during the fall and winter. Maybe it has to do with the weather. There are a lot of Brazilian immigrants in my area. I knew one couple who lived here during the warmer months and went back to Brazil each year when it got cold.
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@ Paige
LOL. The weather is different, especially this time of year. This is when we get blizzards, while in most of Brazil it is already the summer of 2018
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@ jefe
I have an interest in Brazil and Angola, but I will take any Portuguese-language media. So far most of what I have come across is from Brazil. Comparing different countries would be interesting.
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Feliz Novo Ano Lunar
If you have interest and time, I would like to know if you might want to do a post on the Portuguese language media of Macau.
Some 20-22 years ago, I used to do regular work trips to Macau (before Portugal returned it to the PRC). All the meetings had to be translated successively into Cantonese, Mandarin and Portuguese. Having previously studied French and Spanish, this helped to spark my interest in Portuguese (furthered by a few trips to Brazil).
Macau has 3 Portuguese language dailies, 1 Portuguese weekly and one TV program broadcasting daily in Portuguese. I am curious to know if the Portuguese language media in Macau is subject to the same level of media censorship that English language media in HK is subject to.
Dailies:
Hoje Macau
https://hojemacau.com.mo
Jornal Tribuna de Macau
https://jtm.com.mo
Ponto Final
https://pontofinalmacau.wordpress.com
Weekly:
O CLARIM
http://www.oclarim.com.mo
TV
Teledifusão de Macau (TDM)
http://portugues.tdm.com.mo/index.php
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@Abagond
Brazil and Angola are good, and represent Portuguese influence in South America and Africa.
I would like to know if you might consider posts on
Portuguese language media in North America
Portuguese language media (current and historical) in Asia
There are many places where you might find this:
Portuguese as official language:
Macau (China)
Timor-Leste
plus former colonies / settlements
Goa (India)
Malacca (Malaysia)
Formosa (Taiwan)
Ceylon (Sri Lanka)
Japan (due to the high numbers of Brazilians of ethnic Japanese and other backgrounds, now housing the largest number of Portuguese speakers in Asia)
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Wishing you a holy Lent, Abagond.
Equals:
We must think; We must pray; We must fast; We must give alms; We must do penance. And we must return to the poor, humbled, crucified Jesus Christ!
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That sugary cereal just looks so mightily good. It’s like Lucky Charms without the sugar marsh mellow bits.
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@ jefe
Do you know if young people in Macau speak Portuguese? I was under the impression, possibly mistaken, that only old people still spoke it, meaning that it is dying out there.
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@ Joe
Thank you! I wish you the same.
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is your windows or linux desktop in portuguese?
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or your phone lol that’s one way to learn certain words, most of them problem techy americanizations
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@ v8driver
I converted my iPhone, Windows, Chrome and Google to Portuguese as much as I can. Google is manic about localization, so that was the hardest to change. By default it uses the location of your IP address and your search history to filter your results. Ugh. It seems to think I am always in search of a nearby restaurant. After much effort, I got it to think I am in Goias, Brazil. I would prefer Rio or Salvador, but that is close enough.
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@Abagond,
Portuguese Macau had three main groups of people, Chinese, European and “Macanese”. Portuguese Europeans tended to use Portuguese, and other Europeans probably used English more. Macanese are a sort of “local Portuguese” who usually had Portuguese surnames, but whose families had lived in Macau for generations and were racially mixed. They spoke a local Portuguese creole among themselves, but also could speak Cantonese and standard Portuguese. Ethnic Chinese did not speak Portuguese, but only took a couple of years of Portuguese in school. Very few learned it well enough to work in the government.
I do have a Macanese friend who can speak Cantonese, Portuguese and English all quite well. And there were some ethnic Chinese at the meetings I attended 20 years ago who could speak Portuguese.
I do not like how the question of nationality in Macau after the return of sovereignty to China split by race. Ethnic Chinese automatically became Chinese citizens regardless of any foreign passport (eg, Portugal or other EU passport) they may hold. European Macau residents were not eligible for Chinese nationality (and thus not eligible for a Macau passport) even if they were born and raised in Macau and regardless how many generations their family had lived in Macau. Macanese, however, were forced to make a choice: either become Chinese and give up their foreign passports (ethnic Chinese did not have to do this), or retain their foreign passports and give up their opportunity to become Chinese.
Portuguese has declined quite a bit in just the past 20 years in Macau. 20 years ago, they had 3 schools that taught all subjects in Portuguese but today there is only one left. Young ethnic Chinese students do not even take Portuguese language classes in school any more. If they study any language apart from Cantonese and Mandarin, it would be English.
21-22 years ago, I traveled to Macau once a quarter, but now I only go about once very 1-2 years. It has changed quite a bit since the 1990s with the explosion of new entertainment casinos and Mainland Visitors (so you hear as much Mandarin on the streets as Cantonese now). It is unlikely that you will meet people on the street who can speak Portuguese (although you can still find some shops where you can use it, and of course some of the government offices).
I think Macanese who remain in Macau may eventually assimilate into the Chinese population. In a few generations, they may be gone. I am not sure what will happen to the ones who immigrated overseas.
To think, Macau was the first and last European colony in Asia, a period of nearly 450 years of Portuguese rule. I don’t think any other location outside Portugal was ruled by Portugal for so long a time. Yet, the impact of Portugal could be erased in just a generation.
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@ jefe
Wow. Thanks. It does sound like Portuguese is on the way out in Macau.
I once knew someone who was a descendant of the Portuguese in Sri Lanka. Because of his mixed-race appearance he had a hard time in the US. It took him by surprise. He wound up going back to Sri Lanka.
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I said:
On the other hand, Rio has been dealing with floods, yellow fever and drug gangs. President Temer last weekend sent in the army! Even though Rio is hardly the most violent city and tanks can do nothing to bring down the money laundering network that keeps the drug trade going.
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^^^ During Carnaval in Rio President Temer was shown as a vampire, complete with blood dribbling down from the corner of his mouth.
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The favelas are quite tragic so much poverty.
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That sugary cereal in the bowl looks yummy.
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The Christ The Redeemer Statue has always been beautiful to me. Reminds me of that television show from back in the day The Flying Nun starred Sally Fields.
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Is it Alpha-Bits cereal?
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@ Solitaire
Yes, Alpha-Bits – letters that you eat – media diet.
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@Abagond,
Speaking of the devil, this article was just posted today (which is actually based on a news release from AFP):
Macau re-discovers its future through its Portuguese past
https://www.hongkongfp.com/2018/02/25/macau-re-discovers-future-portuguese-past/
Maybe a Portuguese language revival in Macau is on the way.
On my next trip to Macau, maybe I should scout out avenues to practice Portuguese or get some Portuguese reference materials. The ferry boat from HK to Macau takes one hour but it is basically a full day trip with local transportation and immigration and all.
Did you stop in Macau when you passed by HK in the 1990s? 25-30 years ago, there was still a large Portuguese speaking contingent there.
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@ jefe
I am glad at least some in Macau are coming to their senses.
I spent a day in Macau in 1992:
https://abagond.wordpress.com/2017/09/22/seeing-china/
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