Spanish speakers learn to sing 'a, e, i, o, u, el burro sabe más que tú' and it's a way to show that there are only 5 vowel sounds in Spanish. Portuguese, however, complicates things with what are called 'open' and 'closed' vowel sounds. In this lesson we learn about open /ó/ and closed /ô/. Culturally Michelle and Valdo talk about how different it is to ride a bus in the United States. All we can say is that at least they don't have to cram as tightly into limited space and then wonder the whole time how they are going to get off the bus!

Dialog

Portuguese

Valdo: Lá vem o nosso ônibus! Vamos correr!

Michelle: Corre, sobe logo!

Valdo: Cadê o cobrador? Como podemos pagar?

Michelle: Aqui só se pode pagar passando um cartão ou colocando dinheiro na máquina.

Valdo: Que máquina?

Michelle: Aquela do lado do motorista.

Spanish

Valdo: Ahí viene nuestro autobús. Vamos a correr

Michelle: Corre, súbete luego.

Valdo: ¿Dónde está el colector? ¿Como podemos pagar?

Michelle: Aquí sólo se puede pagar pasando una tarjeta o poniendo dinero en la máquina.

Valdo: ¿Qué máquina?

Michelle: Aquella al lado del conductor.

English

Valdo: Here comes our bus. Let's run.

Michelle: Run, let's get on up.

Valdo: Where's the fare collector? How do you pay?

Michelle: Here you just pay by inserting your card or by putting the bills or coins in the machine.

Valdo: What machine?

Michelle: That one next to the bus driver.