O prisioneiro da Azkaban

Continued reading Harry Potter e o Prisioneiro da Azkaban. Books for older kids are perfect for me at this stage - the vocabulary is quite advanced, but not drenched in confusing metaphorical/emotional floweriness. And the plot buzzes along so quickly. When it takes you half an hour to read a page, it's rewarding when something actually happens - someone falls off a cliff or a train blows up, or even just a silly joke. Makes it seem worth while.

My first real books in Portuguese, last year, were Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. (I started with books I'd previously read in English, since my half-memory of the plot can carry me through the unfamiliar parts. Plus, I found a lot of English classics, translated to Portuguese, in cheap paperback racks at the newstands.) With those, and now with the Harry Potter books, each day I read a few chapters and underline the words & phrases I don't know. Then later (this is the part that takes some discipline), I try to make myself go back and look up all the underlined words. And then, a few days later, re-read the chapter again and see if I remember what all those underlined words are. They don't really stick unless I go back a few days later and see them again.

It takes a while at first, but pretty soon you can just buzz right along and pretty much read at full speed. It's enjoyable reading in Portuguese now.

New words & phrases today included: attack, hum, venomous slug, sprinkle, half-open door, be on guard, in over your head, that's not funny at all, mark my words, make a face at (em portugues, it's "tie a face at"), bump into, deafening crash, and, of course, "third brick from the left" - terceiro tijolo a contar da esquerda.

I was startled at a mention of a "new wand of Salgueiro" until I remembered that Salgueiro is not just the name of a samba escola, it's the word for "willow". Harry's friend had bought a new wand made of willow wood. It made me think of some famous escola names as they must appear to native speakers:

Big River
Mountain Empire
Willow
Hummingbird
Garden-hose (or, mango tree)
Independent Youth
Stone Harbor
Isabel Village
Empress
Bog United

Recognize them?