Practice your Portuguese by listening to and translating songs from Portuguese to your native language. This song is called “Óculos de Sol“, by Natércia Barreto.
I’ve translated the song into English after the lyrics below. (this video is not mine or 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 the verbs (actions), which ones are the nouns (names of things and people or animals) and which ones are the 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.
Óculos de Sol (Sun Glasses)
Já arranjei muito bem
Tudo quanto convém
Pra praia levar
O pente, o espelho, o batom
E um creme muito bom
Pra me bronzear
Tenho o meu rádio portátil
E o bikini encarnado
Também está no meu rol
E como é bom de ver
Não podia esquecer
Os meus óculos de sol
Que levo pra chorar uuuuhuh
Sem ninguém ver
Pra não dar uuuuhuh
A perceber
Pra ocultar uuuuhuh
O meu sofrer
Pois eu sei que te hei de encontrar
Talvez deitado à beira-mar
Com outra ao lado
E eu vou passar
A tarde a chorar
Já pensei não sair
Mas aonde é que eu hei de ir
Com este calor?
O que é que eu hei de fazer
Pra não ter que te ver
Com o teu novo amor?
Ver-te-ei com certeza
Mas eu peço à Tristeza
Um pouco de controle
E pelo sim pelo não
Eu vou ter sempre à mão os meus óculos de sol
Que levo pra chorar uuuuhuh
Sem ninguém ver
Pra não dar uuuuhuh
A perceber
Pra ocultar uuuuhuh
O meu sofrer
Pois eu sei que te hei de encontrar
Talvez deitado à beira-mar
Com outra ao lado
E eu vou passar
A tarde a chorar
Vou chorar
Uuuuh uh
Vou sofrer
Uuuuh uh
Vou chorar
Uuuuh uh
Translation
I have already put it together very well
Everything that’s convenient
For the beach
The comb, the mirror, the lipstick
And a very good cream
To get a tan
I’ve got my portable radio
And the red bikini
Is also on my list
And how nice it is to see
I couldn’t forget
My sunglasses
That I take to cry uuuuhuh
Without anyone seeing
So I don’t give uuuuhuh
You can’t see
To hide uuuuhuh
My Suffering
For I know I’ll find you
Maybe lying by the sea
With another one by your side
And I’ll spend
The afternoon crying
I’ve already thought of not going out
But where am I to go
In this heat?
What can I do
So that I won’t have to see you
With your new love?
I’ll see you for sure
But I’ll ask Sadness
A little control
And just in case
I’ll always have my sunglasses handy
That I take to cry wuuuhuh
Without anyone seeing
So I don’t give uuuuhuh
You’ll see
To hide uuuuhuh
My Suffering
For I know I’ll find you
Maybe lying by the sea
With another one by your side
And I’ll spend
The afternoon crying
I’m gonna cry
Uuuuh uh
I’m gonna suffer
Uuuuh uh
I’m gonna cry
Uuuuh uh
For more songs in Portuguese click here. To learn more about the 30-Day Portuguese Challenge click here or sign up below.