Dia de Reis, or Epiphany, is celebrated on January 6 in Brazil. It commemorates the day when, according to the Christian tradition, os Três Reis Magos, the Magi, visited baby Jesus.
Another note-worthy event that takes place on that same date is Dia da Gratidão, Day of Thankfulness.
Ser grato, being thankful, is not something one should do on only one day of the year though, and dizer obrigado(a), saying thank you, is but a part of the general feeling of gratidão, gratefulness.
Being thankful contains feelings of amor, love, amizade, friendship and carinho, tenderness. All these increase people’s happiness and produce overall joy.
Below you’ll find some tips in Portuguese that will help you cultivate a year-round mood of gratitude. Click on the link to hear the sentences in Portuguese and repeat. The verbs in bold are in the imperativo, command form. The English translations are also below, but are not in the right order. Can you match the Portuguese to the English translations? The answers are at the end. Obrigada! Thank you!
1. No final do dia, faça uma lista com três coisas que aconteceram no dia e você gostaria de agradecer.
2. Antes de dormir, lembre-se de duas ou três vezes em que disse obrigado(a).
3. Cada vez que você pensar em algo negativo, pense também em algo positivo.
4. Quando você observar um defeito numa pessoa, procure também uma qualidade.
5. Olhe diretamente nos olhos de uma pessoa ao dizer obrigado(a), ao menos uma vez por dia.
A. Look directly in someone’s eyes when saying thank you at least once a day.
B. At the end of the day, make a list with three things that happened during the day for which you are grateful.
C. When you notice a flaw in someone, also look for a quality.
D. Before going to sleep, remember two or three times you said thank you that day.
E. Each time you think of something negative, think of something positive too
Answers: 1. B; 2. D; 3. E; 4. C; 5. A
