Brazilian gems 1 Work as a class. Look at the photos from Brazil. What can you see? What do you know about the country? 1
2 Work in pairs. Read the texts 1-4 and match with the photos A D below. A B C D 2
Brazilian gems Travelling almost anywhere in Brazil is a delight for the eyes and senses, as each region is rich in its own cultural diversity and local and natural attractions. Look a little closer however and you can find some real gems that leave you begging for more and wishing you could stay longer. Here is a guide to some of the best places in the country to visit. 1 Pipa Beach The village of Pipa is a fantastic stretch of sand near Natal in the north-east of Brazil. It is divided into separate beaches where you can swim with dolphins and enjoy the white sand and glittering sea or watch people doing water sports. As the day gets hotter you can wander up to the ecological sanctuary and learn about how local people look after the turtles of the region (I was lucky enough to see hatched turtles being released back into the sea with a group from the local community). Later in the afternoon you can watch the mature turtles feeding off the rocks from the cliffs of the sanctuary. And if the wildlife isn t enough to keep you busy and captivated, take the time to visit the little village of Pipa - admire the local artists at work and have a refreshing ice cream. In the evening there are a wealth of local restaurants and bars with fabulous sea food and typical Brazilian snacks, all accompanied by amazing Brazilian music. 2 Ouro Preto Ouro Preto (meaning Black Gold ) is essential in Brazilian history, being at the centre of the gold rush in the 17 th century and attracting thousands of soldiers eager to make their fortune. Many important baroque and rococo artists settled there too, adding to the charm of the town. Later in its history, Ouro Preto was also important as the centre of the movement to gain emancipation from colonial rule and, as a result, the first Brazilian hero, Tiradentes, entered history. Today the town is a tourist centre and a Unesco World Heritage Site, boasting fabulous churches (with much gold decoration) and secular buildings, as well as local houses from the colonial period. All set in the most beautiful natural surroundings. The local cuisine is called mineira (with influences from African, aboriginal and Portuguese cooking) and considered particularly delicious in Brazil, so make sure you try one or two of the dishes, such as Chicken with Saffron Rice. 3 Salvador If you re looking for a fun, vibrant, city destination, there s nowhere better than Salvador. It is the centre of Afro-Brazilian culture and was the first colonial capital of Brazil (from 1549 to 1763) where many slaves were brought to work on the sugar plantations. The music and dance here is second to none and you can wander around the city centre in the evening and watch well-known bands performing in the streets. During carnival time there are countless street parades 3
and the local population dances, sings and embraces this part of their culture. You can also enjoy shows of Capoeira, the Brazilian martial art which also originated in Africa. The African influence is evident in the food too and one of my favourites is Acaraje - a dish made of peeled black-eyed peas, made into a paste and deep-fried, then filled with shrimp paste and salad. But this is not all that Salvador has to offer, don t forget to leave some time to visit some of the beaches that run alongside the city too. Porto da Barra Beach, for example, was voted the third best beach in the world by The Guardian recently. 4 Pantanal Everyone s heard of the Amazon Forest and its amazing diversity of plants and animals, but relatively few outside of Brazil have heard of the Pantanal (located in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul). It is however the world s largest wetland and straddles Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay and is home to the largest concentration of wildlife in South America. Among its rarest animals are the jaguar and the giant river otter, but if you make the trip, you can potentially see thousands of species of animals (including capybara - the largest rodents in the world), birds and fish (including piranhas). Because of the large distances you need to cover you would need to stay in lodges within the region but these are comfortable and the on-site guides are very knowledgeable. Although considered well-preserved compared to other wetlands throughout the world, the Pantanal is sadly threatened by human activity such as farm-building, the cutting down of trees and illegal mining. It is flooded at certain times but luckily not mid-year. Going to the Pantanal is a rare treat definitely one to consider for the list of things to do before you die! 3 Read the texts again. Match the highlighted words in the texts with the definitions below. 1 attracted or interested 2 freedom 3 something special 4 shining with little bits of light 5 containing something appealing 6 has parts in different regions 7 lively, exciting and dynamic 8 the best of all 4
4 Label the sentences PB (Pipa Beach), OP (Ouro Preto), S (Salvador) or P (Pantanal). 1 Here you can dance all night. 2 Here you can swim with other animals. 3 Here you can hear about a famous Brazilian. 4 Here you can enjoy historic architecture. 5 Here you can enter another country outside Brazil. 6 Here you can appreciate local wildlife preservation. 7 Here you can enjoy traditional Brazilian street culture. 8 Here you might see animals which are not often seen. 5 Work in groups. You re travelling to Brazil for the World Cup this month. After watching the football, you d like to spend some time seeing something really special in Brazil. Decide together which of the places above you d like to visit and why. 5
Teacher s Notes for Brazilian gems Language level: B2 Language areas covered: General description of different types of tourist resorts and holiday activities. Rationale: Brazil and all things Brazilian are very topical this month because of the World Cup. Although many people are passionate about football, some are not. In order to involve those who are not, this lesson focuses on the many places to visit in the country. Time required: around 30-40 minutes 1 Generating interest: Ask students to look at the photos of Brazil and generate discussion from this. This is also a useful point in the class to introduce any vocabulary you think might be relevant. The places shown in the photos are Ipanema Beach in Rio, the cathedral of Brasilia (full name: Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady Aparecida) and Iguacu Falls in the south of the country (which are taller and twice as wide as Niagara Falls and straddle Argentina as well as Brazil). There is also a photo of a young girl in full costume for the Carnival. The last picture shows a church in Ouro Preto (mentioned below) and this might well be a good opportunity to introduce rococo architecture, as students will need to be familiar with this term for the reading comprehension that follows. You might also like to elicit interesting general facts about Brazil, eg: - language spoken: Portuguese - size of population: around 170 million - capital: Brasilia 2 Reading comprehension- skim task To introduce the text you might like to provide a map of Brazil (easily found on Google) which students can label with the names of the places in the texts. Pre-teach any lexis you think your students might struggle with (apart from the highlighted words). Answer key: 1 B, 2 D, 3 C, 4 A 3 Reading comprehension - vocabulary check Ask the students to work in pairs to check the highlighted vocabulary. Answer key: 1 captivated, 2 emancipation, 3 treat, 4 glittering, 5 boasting, 6 straddles, 7 vibrant, 8 second to none 6
4 Reading comprehension - more intensive reading At this point students read the text again, but in greater detail, to grasp a fuller understanding. You might like to provide bilingual or monolingual dictionaries for this exercise if you feel it s appropriate. Answer key: 1 S, 2 PB, 3 OP, 4 OP, 5 P, 6 PB, 7 S, 8 P 5 Final round-up - discussion task As a final round-up to the topic students can now work in groups and discuss where they would like to travel to in Brazil (using information from the text provided) and why. You might like to input some discussion language before they begin: Agreeing / Disagreeing Making suggestions Asking for opinion I agree! I disagree. Why don t we? What do you think? That s a good idea. We could go to Are you interested in? I m not sure about that. How about going to? Do we all agree? After around 10 minutes of discussion, ask students to present and justify their group decision. Encourage final comments. Worksheet by Nicola Gardner 7