Learning English

Brazilians are friendly and know how to throw a party – nobody doubts that. But will Rio be ready to welcome over 10,000 athletes and all the international visitors for the 2016 Olympic Games?

To do

Read this article about preparations for the Olympics in Rio, which includes different ways of talking about the future. Then answer this question: Which are the two dishes you can find in a typical Brazilian menu? The answer is at the bottom of the article.

Read the text and complete the activity

Part 1
'Cariocas' (Rio natives) must be having a ball, you might think. They have sun, sea, football on the beach and now the honour of hosting the world's biggest sporting event… But their days are also filled with the loud noise and dust of construction work, so you can forgive them if they don’t sound very enthusiastic about the Olympic Games at the moment. They know they will be putting up with a lot more roadworks and infrastructure building before the Olympic torch is lit in the Maracanã Stadium next 5th August.

Part 2
Delays in venue construction and a chaotic appearance gave the International Olympic Committee (IOC) a fright in 2014. The Brazilian government has since cleaned up its act and was praised recently by the IOC for being “on the right track”. But what might be more difficult to clean are the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon and Guanabara Bay. They, among others, will be venues for the sailing and rowing competitions. The problem is they are heavily polluted, which could be harmful to athletes. The issue is likely to be in the news headlines for a while. There have also been stories of corruption. But the authorities hope by the time the summer comes they’ll be celebrating a scandal-free event.

Part 3
Brazil has learnt a lot from hosting the World Cup last year. Some businesses realised they missed a trick by not being able to communicate properly with their international customers. This summer Brazilians will be trying out the English they've been learning and be ready to offer a good service before the first foreign sports enthusiasts stroll down the lively streets of Rio. Restaurants should realise that using the internet to translate the menu literally is not a good idea: ‘bife a cavalo’ isn’t really ‘horse steak’ - it's beef with a fried egg on top! And the intriguingly named ‘contrafilé’, which means ‘against the file’, is nothing more than a sirloin steak.

Part 4
Security was a key challenge for Brazil when hosting the World Cup and it is no different for the Olympics. If London's police were concerned mainly about the possibility of terrorist attacks when the city hosted the games in 2012, Brazilian police will be working to prevent street crime. As with other developing countries, crime rates are high and there are too many guns around. Visitors are to keep their wits about them. Sometimes petty thieves with only quick hands for weapons try to relieve you of your belongings.  

Part 5
For those on a low budget and with a taste for adventure, there will be plenty of options for accommodation in the city’s 'favelas' or shanty towns. These do have a reputation for violent crime committed by drug gangs, as shown in the 2002 Brazilian film City of God. But some favelas have changed since a government policy called “pacification” was introduced in 2008. A number of business-minded favela residents will be welcoming tourists into their homes, which they’ve turned into guesthouses. Some favelas are on the city’s steep mountainsides, so guests will be guaranteed panoramic views of Rio at least. And of the old-style favelas… well, City of God’s co-director Fernando Meirelles is part of the team planning the Olympics opening ceremony.

Part 6
So while Cariocas are already turning into athletes themselves – by jumping and running across construction sites on their daily trip to work - they know that the games might make for a great spectacle. Brazilians are warm and cheerful, and international visitors will have a good time in their company. Preparation for big events is stressful - Londoners were a bit pessimistic ahead of their Olympics. But while Brazilians might have their reservations, deep down, very deep down, they know something others don’t. As an old local saying goes: ‘Deus é Brasileiro’ (‘God is Brazilian’). They hope he will give them a hand. And whatever else, Brazilians will show the world why they have such a reputation as party people!

Answer to our question:

The two dishes mentioned in the text that you can find in a typical Brazilian menu are beef with an egg on top and sirloin steak or ‘bife a cavalo’ and ‘contrafilé’.

To do

Here are more questions for you to check how much of the article you can understand.

End of Session 3

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