Brazilian Carnival
Written by: Daniel
Hi, everyone! My name is Daniel, I am originally from Brazil. When I was 16, I moved to China for four and a half years. I have an AA in Economics from the US and a B.A. in Accounting from a university in Brazil. I love to teach, especially kids because I love to see how they develop. I’ve taught Mathematics, Physics, Portuguese and English for the past 10 years and I love a new challenge. I am great at playing video games and use games in my lessons to help students enjoy learning even more! I love to see my students applying their knowledge outside the classroom in real-life situations. I can’t wait to meet you and to share my culture and language, Portuguese, with you!
안녕하세요 여러분! 저는 Daniel이라고 합니다. 저는 원래 브라질에서 태어났어요. 제가 16살 때 4년 반 동안 중국에서 지냈어요. 저는 미국 칼리지에서 경제학을 전공하고 브라질의 대학에서 회계학 학사를 취득했어요. 저는 가르치는 것을 너무 사랑해요. 특히 아이들을 가르치며 그들의 발전을 함께 할 수 있는 것이 보람됩니다. 저는 수학, 물리, 포르투갈어 그리고 영어를 10년 동안 가르쳐왔습니다. 새로운 도전을 하는 것을 좋아합니다. 비디오 게임을 잘하고 그것들을 수업 시간에 긍정적인 방향으로 활용하여 학생들이 배우는 것을 더 재미있게 만들어 줍니다! 학생들의 그들이 배운 바를 교실 밖 실제 생활에서 적용하는 것은 너무 뿌듯한 일이죠. 하루바삐 학생들을 만나 제가 속한 문화와 언어, 포르투갈에 대해 공유하고 싶어요!
大家好！我叫Daniel，我来自巴西。当我16岁的时候，我搬到了中国呆了四年半。我拥有美国经济学的AA学位和巴西一所大学的会计学学士学位。我喜欢教书，尤其是孩子们，因为我喜欢看他们如何发展。我教数学，物理，葡萄牙语和英语已经10年了，我喜欢新的挑战。我擅长玩电子游戏，在我的课上使用游戏来帮助学生享受更多的学习！我喜欢看到我的学生在现实生活中把他们的知识运用到课外。我迫不及待地想见你，想和你分享我的文化和语言，葡萄牙语！
¡Hola a todos! Mi nombre es Daniel, soy originario de Brasil. Cuando tenía 16 años, me mudé a China durante cuatro años y medio. Tengo un AA en Economía de los Estados Unidos y un B.A. en Contabilidad de una universidad en Brasil. Me apasiona enseñar, especialmente a los niños, porque me encanta ver cómo se desarrollan. He enseñado matemáticas, física, portugués e inglés durante los últimos 10 años y me encantan los nuevos retos ¡Soy genial jugando videojuegos y los uso en mis lecciones para ayudar a los estudiantes a disfrutar aún más mientras aprenden! Me llena de satisfacción ver a mis alumnos aplicar sus conocimientos fuera del aula en situaciones de la vida real ¡Me encantaría conocerte y compartir mi cultura e idioma, el portugués, contigo!
Many countries have very specific and well-known holidays like Thanksgiving, St. Patrick’s Day, Dia del los Muertos, Hanukah, and so forth. Brazil is no different. Here in Brazil, we celebrate something called Carnival (or Carnaval in Portuguese), it is celebrated every year starting on the Friday before Ash Wednesday and ending on Ash Wednesday. Since Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a time of cleansing and sacrificing, Carnival was seen as a pre-Lent tradition. A time in which people relaxed and prepared themselves before Lent started.
This meaning was rather lost over the years and nowadays it is a time to celebrate, enjoy life, travel, drink (if you are of age), dance, wear costumes and get to know new people and, sometimes, even a new boyfriend or girlfriend.
In Brazil, Carnival is taken very seriously. A lot of people, mostly the younger generation (20-35), plan their Carnival a year ahead, wanting to enjoy their Carnival to the fullest. This means all five days, starting on Friday and only ending on Tuesday. This is because Carnival is actually a multi-billion dollar business, occurring over a period of five days of the year.
Carnival is celebrated in two different ways: the first is the formal one broadcasted on TV, with samba schools and bloquinhos (where a famous singer or band goes on top of a float and people follow along dancing and singing) performing for the crowds.
The more conventional way to celebrate is by going to watch the samba schools and their parades at the Sambódromo, which is a fixed location where the samba schools perform in the streets. Every year, every school needs to choose a theme, then they come up with a song and their costumes, they then have an hour and a half to show the crowd what they’ve got. They are evaluated based on several aspects. This massive performance is televised and it usually starts at 9 p.m. and goes all the way into the night ending at 5 or 6 a.m. The biggest schools are in Rio and Sao Paulo. However, Rio has a special Carnival culture and you feel it on the streets and everywhere you go.
The bloquinhos are more easy-going. You simply pick up your costume and go to the ones you enjoy most. They usually start early after lunchtime and keep going until 6 or 7 p.m. There are several bloquinhos happening at the same time and they usually have a famous singer on it and people just keep dancing on the streets following that singer (streets are closed down so people can enjoy it even more).
Have you experienced Brazil’s Carnival or are you planning to? Let us know in the comments below. I would be more than happy to share my culture and Carnival with you. Book a free Portuguese lesson with me today by clicking here– I can’t wait to meet you!
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