Karen Jacobson-Sive (formerly Keller) is a journalist who lived and worked in São Paulo, Brazil, for three years as a business reporter. Before moving to Brazil, the California native, who has also lived in Spain, spent a couple of years teaching Spanish for a foreign language education website in New York City. Jacobson-Sive is a published Brazil travel guide writer. She spent many years working as a newspaper reporter for American newspapers in New Jersey and New York. She currently lives with her husband and two children in the Boston area, where she is a freelance journalist/writer. She holds a master’s degree in Journalism from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.
To my dear non-Brazilian friends from the São Paulo days, for our chuckles over the maravilha that is Brazilian Portuguese
I’d like to extend my profound thanks to the editors at Wiley who helped me through the writing process: Paul Levesque and Christy Pingleton. My gratitude also extends to my technical editor — Nola Senna (MA, MBA, Director, Portuguese Language and Brazilian Studies Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) for ensuring that I don’t accidentally steer people wrong with the information I provide in this book.
I must also thank my Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism professor Tim Harper for putting me in touch with my literary agent for the book, Jessica Faust. Jessica, thanks for putting good faith in me.
Next, my warmest gratitude goes out to my former boss in Brazil, Matthew Cowley. Your job offer made my Brazilian adventure possible, and you gave me my very first Portuguese lessons. I still remember sitting in my office in New York and talking with you in Brazil over the phone before we met. “Rodrigo has an ‘h’ sound at the beginning,” you said. That was my first glimpse of the language that would soon mesmerize me.
Now for those non-Brazilian friends I dedicate this book to: Ivan, Mario, Ainhoa, Anna, Diego, Andrea, Juan, Sophia, and Marisol. The sharing of our perspectives on life in Brazil and on that língua esquisita is the stuff of my best memories. Thanks, too, to the Brazilian who always helped set us straight. Dayanne Mikevis, you became my closest Brazilian confidante.
Chloe, thanks for all the sensible advice you’ve ever given me and for inspiring my first trips abroad. Jenny, you’re my linguistic soul mate and the best person ever for last-minute queries on Portuguese. Yolanda, si no fuera por ti y tu obsesión sobre Brasil, jamás hubiera ido.
Finally, to my family: I’m not that crazy, after all. After having melted away into the Southern Hemisphere, I came back. And Mom: My open mind, curiosity, and word-wonder all stem from you. Thank you, all!
Publisher’s Acknowledgments
Acquisitions Editor: Kelsey Baird
Senior Project Editor: Paul Levesque
Copy Editor: Christy Pingleton
Tech Editor: Nola Senna
Production Editor: Pradesh Kumar
Cover Image: © Gonzalo Azumendi/Getty Images