Obrigado
Muchas gracias!
Then Paulo said, “I don’t say thank you like that. It’s the other one!”
Oh my gosh, I had to remember his nationality… Brazil! Yes! Haha. That laugh meant I realized I was being silly—like if someone said “Xiexie” to me. It was just totally wrong.
So I asked him, “How do you say thank you in Brazilian?” And he said, “It’s ‘obrigado.’”
We had a small chat before rush hour, and he told me that he used to work as a photographer. I was really interested in his story, and he shared a link to his online photography page.
After finishing work, I checked out his account, and the photos were amazing. I could even feel the vibrancy, movement, and atmosphere of the moments captured in Paulo’s photos. (The photos he took at concerts, parties, and on the street were especially impressive.)
I felt like his perspective was similar to mine when I look at the world. (If I were in those same places, I would have taken photos with a similar point of view.)
Then, the next day, he gave me a photo book about the 2024 Melbourne Photo Festival. At that time, I couldn’t quite understand what he was saying to me. I understood that he enjoyed this year’s festival, got the book, and thought of me when he decided to give it to me.
He introduced me to his favorite photographer, saying he had met them somewhere.
I wanted to tell him about my own photography project, but then the rush hour started. I couldn’t start the conversation.
Anyway,
I felt so excited and smiled because I realized I managed to chat with him using my short English sentences, and I did my best to talk about photography. I’m eager to keep improving my English.
If I didn’t live in Australia, I wouldn’t have met a friend from Brazil and talked about photography like this. Life is fun.
Obrigado (for a male speaker). When a female speaker says it, it’s “Muito Obrigada.” I really want to travel to Brazil someday.
This link is Paulo’s photography page 👍🏻
https://www.flickr.com/photos/paulodimas/