About Obrigado-ish
Last updated: 26 October 2026
Obrigado-ish helps people who have just moved to Portugal get through their first months: the European Portuguese you actually need, and the steps to get things done at the café, the pharmacy, the landlord's door and the town hall.
Why it exists
Obrigado-ish started at our own kitchen table. We're a bilingual family in Portugal, and we once waited months for a Portuguese course that never had a place. Meanwhile, life didn't wait: there were flats to rent, doctors to see and forms to fill in.
So we made the guides we wished we'd had. Not a grammar course, but the sentence you need at the counter, how to pronounce it, and what happens next.
Who writes it
Everything on Obrigado-ish is written by Luis Sousa. Luis is Portuguese and lives in Lisbon. European Portuguese is his first language, so he knows both the words and how things really work behind the counter.
He has worked in design and usability for more than 20 years, making complicated things simple to use. Obrigado-ish applies the same idea to life in Portugal.
Write to him at [email protected]. He reads every message.
What you'll find here
- Free articles in English, French, German and Portuguese: one phrase or one situation at a time, with pronunciation written for your own language.
- Printable guides (A4, US Letter and a phone version) that put a whole situation on a few pages: renting, health, transport, formal messages, food and student life. They're sold on Gumroad.
- Short videos and carousels on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and Threads as @obrigadoish.
What we promise
- European Portuguese, as spoken in Portugal. Never Brazilian Portuguese passed off as the same thing.
- Real-life phrases, checked by a native speaker.
- Official sources for anything official, and a "last checked" date on every article.
- No fees or deadlines that go out of date: we explain how things work and link to the official figures.
How we write and check every page is explained in our editorial policy.