[2024-04-15] Que legal
On our lunchtime walk today, Mel and I encountered a mother with her young son. The boy, who looked to be about three years old, was on a small bike, which he was gleefully pushing through a patch of mud.
— "How cute!" I said to the mom.
— "He loves going in the mud," she replied. "I just put splash pants on him because I know he'll jump in every puddle he can find."
— Detecting a slight accent in the woman's speech, I asked her: "What other languages besides English do you speak?"
— "Portuguese. I'm from Brazil," she said with a smile.
— "Eu aprendi português, português brasileiro," I said, explaining that I had learned Brazilian Portuguese.
— "Que legal," she responded, meaning "how cool."
— "Minha vizinha é do Brasil e eu aprendi português para falar com ela," I continued, saying that my neighbour is from Brazil and I learned Portuguese to talk with her.
It was such a pleasant exchange. I had suspected that the woman spoke Portuguese, though I can't explain why I thought that.
I always get a thrill out of meeting people who speak Brazilian Portuguese, and getting an opportunity to say a few words to them in their first language.
This is today's what-I-don't-want-to-forget moment.
