#5: Using podcasts as a source

hi everyone, my name is Seb and welcome back to Pra Caramba, a podcast I created to help you improve your Brazilian accent, one episode at the time.

In the last episode, I was talking about using consistent sources. I’ve heard and read a lot of people talking about series, music and movies, but what personally helped me the most are podcasts. Specifically, podcast that are around 30 minutes and featuring the same hosts telling each other anecdotes. Not only does this help you internalize what we could call “coherent sound systems” but also, a lot of colloquial expressions and the ways of storytelling in your target language. Again, consistency in practice is what matters most at the beginning: you don’t need to understand what they’re talking about for this technique to start working. What I like to do is to listen twice to each episode of said podcast (or listen to the same 30mn segment twice if the episode is longer), then move on. The way I think about it is like a shaken snowglobe: at the beginning, you can hardly see what’s inside but with time, the dust settles and the form emerges. Gradually, you’ll understand more and more what they’re talking about because you’ll have internalized patterns of sounds and meaning.

Alright, now for this episode’s exercise, if this is your first time listening, the method is straight forward i’ll say the sentences, give you some time to repeat out loud, then we’ll do that three times for each of the sentences. All the sentences are in the episode description so that you can read along. If you’re having trouble with a sentence, hit pause and repeat it as slowly as possible until you get closer, then continue the exercise. Focus on perfecting, not on trying to be perfect. LET’S GO.

1. A maçã e a romã estão na saladeira.
2. Ótima pergunta, nunca tinha pensado nisso.
3. Não é possível que só eu seja assim.
4. Rio de Janeiro, a cidade em que não se vê o mar.
5. A praia hoje está lotada, mas o mar está lindo.
6. Hoje o clima está perfeito para um passeio no centro.
7. As ruas do centro são cheias de cultura e arte.
8. O bondinho do pão de açúcar tem uma vista maravilhosa.
9. A gente pode tomar um café num bairro boêmio.
10. Cada esquina no Rio tem uma história para contar.
11. A gente se diverte muito nos bloquinhos de carnaval.
12. A música daqui tem um ritmo que só o carioca sabe dançar.

That’s it for this episode. As always, I recommend sticking to at least one episode per week, repeating it twice a day, back to back, everyday of the week.  Let me know in the comments what your favorite brazilian podcasts are! Thanks, and see you for the next episode!