Practice your Portuguese by listening to and translating songs from Portuguese to your native language. This song is called “Anel de Rubi“, by Rui Veloso.
I’ve translated the song into English after the lyrics below. (the music video is not mine nor was it produced by me).
If you’re here from the 30-Day Free Portuguese Challenge for your daily goal, the task for today is to listen to the song a few times and try to follow along with the lyrics in Portuguese. At the end of the task, try to rate yourself and include the date. This is so you can later come back to this exercise and see how you have improved over time. Let’s jump in. (You don’t need to be a part of the challenge to do these suggested exercises 😉 )
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Tasks for the 30-Day Portuguese Challenge
- Beginners: Really actively listen to how the words are being pronounced. Before looking at the translation, underline the words you know and circle the ones you don’t. Write the words you don’t know into a list on your paper and save them for later. The main goal is to listen to the sounds of the language and be introduced to new vocabulary. If you’d like to take a step further, now look up words in the online dictionary and make notes if they are used in other contexts.
- Intermediates: After listening and looking at the lyrics – BUT NOT the translation yet – analyse the words more closely. Write down a summary of what you think the song is about. Then compare that to the translation. Then separate the words into different categories such as which ones are verbs (actions), which ones are nouns (names of things and people or animals) and which ones are adjectives (descriptions). You can go a step further and indicate what tense the verbs are in. The main goal is to see how your comprehension is progressing and what you need to work more on.
- Advanced: After listening and looking at the Portuguese lyrics, your task is to translate the lyrics without any help. If you come across a word you’ve never seen, try an educated guess before looking it up in the dictionary. It doesn’t always have to make perfect sense. As I’m sure you know, sometimes artists will use a word or pronounce it in an uncommon way so it fits with the rhyme. Then compare it to the translation and see how you did. If you have the opportunity to go a little further, write a composition stating your opinion on the song. And that can be anything you like: the lyrics, the melody, the voice, the feelings, how you would change it if you didn’t like it, you name it. Try to include compound tenses and the subjunctive mood in your composition.
Anel de Rubi (Ruby Ring) by Rui Veloso
tu eras aquela
que eu mais queria
pra me dar algum conforto e companhia
era so contigo que eu sonhava andar pra todo o lado e ate quem sabe talvez casar
ai o que eu passei so por te amar
a saliva que eu gastei para te mudar
mas ese teu mundo era mais forte do que eu e nem com a força da musica ele se moveu.
mesmo sabendo que nao gostavas
empenhei o meu anel de rubi
para te levar ao concerto que havia do rivoli
e era so a ti que eu mais queria
ao meu lado no concerto nesse dia
juntos no escuro de mao dada a ouvir
aquela musica maluca sempre a subir
mas tu nao ficaste nem meia hora
nao fizeste um esforço pra gostar e foste embora
contigo aprendi uma grande liçao
nao se ama alguem que nao ouve a mesma cançao
mesmo sabendo que nao gostavas
empenhei o meu anel de rubi
para te levar ao concerto que havia do rivoli
foi nesse dia que percebi
nada mais por nos havia a fazer
a minha paixao por ti era um lume
que nao tinha mais lenha
por onde arder
mesmo sabendo que nao gostavas
empenhei o meu anel de rubi
para te levar ao concerto que havia do rivoli
Translation
you were the one
I wanted most
to give me some comfort and company
You’re the only one I dreamed of walking everywhere and maybe even getting married
I’ve been through just to love you
You’re the only one that’s ever dreamed of me
You’re the one who’s got the best of me and you’re the one who’s got the best of me
Even though I knew you didn’t like it
I pawned my ruby ring
to take you to the Rivoli concert
and it was only you that I wanted most
I want you to be at my side at the concert that day
I’d love to see you in the dark hand in hand
I’d like to hear the music that’s going on and on
I don’t know what to say
I don’t know what to say to you
I learned a great lesson from you
You can’t love someone who doesn’t listen to the same song
Even though I knew you didn’t like it
I pawned my ruby ring
to take you to the Rivoli concert
that was the day I realized
there was nothing else for us to do
my passion for you was a fire
that had no more wood
to burn
Even though I knew you didn’t like it
I pawned my ruby ring
to take you to the Rivoli concert
For more songs in Portuguese click here. To learn more about the 30-Day Portuguese Challenge click here or sign up below.