Semantica Portuguese is a site that offers Portuguese lessons on DVD or for your iPod. If you are the type to buy audio or video lessons, this might help you out, starting with some basics. Here’s a sample lesson…
‘Dar mole’ means to not give resistance to something, frequently used to refer to social situations when a woman is being receptive to a man in a bar, etc. Can a guy dar mole to a woman? Not sure. The term ‘dar mole’ can also be used in the sense of not being alert to something in a situation where you can be taken advantage of, as I explain in the example with the purse robbery.
Here’s an exageration on what it means to “dar mole”.
On a side note, I think my R on daR can be improved. Automatically, I want to pronounce words that end in R with a carioca accent but I don’t wish to teach Portuguese from Rio (carioquês) as I hope to be without bias, thus my R can sound like a Spanish R or something else entirely. Perhaps, I should stop trying to control my R for the videos.
“There are four ways to say “come here!” in Portuguese. There’s “chega aqui”, “chega aí”, even though ‘aí’ technically means ‘there’ (within proximity). The other two ways are “vem ca” and “vem pra ca”. If you wish to add some color to the phrase, just repeat the verb at the end, such as “vem pra ca, vem?”
“Lots of ways to say “go away!” in Portuguese. There’s “sai!”, “sai daqui” (get out of here), “sai fora” and “cai fora”. One slang term would be “vaza!” from the verb “vazar” (to leak) and a clever way to tell someone to buzz off would be “vai ver se eu estou na esquina” (go see if I’m on the corner). That’s about it.”
