Wilson Silva tells a funny story about the miscommunications that can arise when learning a new language. From Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, he had moved here in 2018 to learn English at a language school. Working part-time as a restaurant waiter, he was asked to display a sign with daily specials close to the till.
“I went to the bar and asked if someone knew where I could find a Durex. Everybody looked at me in silence for a few seconds and they started laughing, I didn’t understand why. One of the guys asked me what exactly I wanted and I said, ‘The Durex, to put this paper beside the till’. It was an embarrassing situation because he said it looked like I was asking if anybody behind the bar had a condom. But what in Brazil we call ‘Durex’, here is called ‘adhesive tape’.”
Silva moved to São Paulo after graduating, and worked in IT and data analytics, and in sales with Getty Images where he got interested in photography and video, editing short wedding video clips. “I had a really tough situation” in one job, with homophobic harassment from a superior, and he quit. Many jobs he was looking at required a good standard of English, so he decided to improve his language skills. He was going to do a short English course in Canada, but discovered he couldn’t work part-time while studying, and a friend suggested Dublin, where he could do so. “The decision to come to Ireland aged 33 was made by a friend, not for me.” That friend had once “spent three days in Dublin and said, I love that place!”
Having come for a six-month course, he ended up doing three courses in two years, working part-time, planning to return home with much better English to look for a job.
But Covid struck and “changed our perspective on so many things”. Alone, far from family and close friends, and unable to travel, “I passed really tough moments, thinking multiple times what are you doing with your life? It doesn’t make any sense to stay in a place that I can’t speak the language properly. I can’t work at the thing that I’m really good at.”
But he tried to focus on the positives: “Look how good is this place. So why not try to stay, and explore more. It’s a nice space, with beautiful landscapes, nice parks. I live in the city centre, but I really like the possibility of just getting the Dart and going to Howth, Bray, Greystones to see the different atmosphere. Dublin, being a small city, we have everything that you need, and you have beautiful things to do.”
Now he works in sales with Nesta, “a good experience, learning new ways to deal with people, how to handle tricky situations”. He shares a two-bedroom apartment with a friend, near Croke Park. “I have my space, so now it’s good. Even with ups and downs, I can say I’m in a good moment, with good friends, a nice relationship, so I’m wondering that more and more good things will continue happening.”
Silva’s brother lives in Brasilia. They are always in touch. “My mom texts me every day.” He visited his parents last November, and took them to the coast.
The plan is to continue living here if he can. He’s had study visas that allowed him to work, and is looking for a job long-term.
Does he miss life in Brazil? “Being very honest, I prefer here. I feel very safe and secure. Nowhere is 100 per cent perfect. We know there’s some complicated situations in city centre in Dublin, in Ireland. But even with everything, I feel I can walk in the streets, not afraid, or carry my phone in my hand, or just go by one of the canals, go to the beach and leave my things and swim, go to a coffee shop and relax and read a book or bring my computer with me. The vibe of the city just leads me to feel very comfortable here.”
But life here is not easy. “Things are quite expensive. Rent, it’s tough. But I am in a better position than before. When I moved to here, I was alone. It was quite tough with the language. I was very shy. I was afraid of saying something wrong, so I preferred not to say. Nowadays, even though my English is not perfect, I can express myself, can make people understand me. I can ask for help if I have to.”
Silva is interesting on the challenges of moving across the world and restarting: “The pressure of having 30-something years, starting many things again.” He recalls frustration at not being able to communicate, “waking up early to go to school to study again, and then I have to find a job, but this job can’t match the skills that I have: because I have the skills, but I don’t have the language, so I have to step back”. After working as a kitchen porter, “I pushed myself to work as a waiter. It was really complicated, but also very good, because I have to talk to people. It was a next step to make things better for me. I had to adapt myself to sharing a house, finding a job and learning the language.”
Doing this is not for everybody, when they’re his age. “Once you’re a teenager, everything is new, a surprise. Everything is easy. But when you had a life already … I was married in Brazil for 10 years, then I got divorced, and moved here. I was with a mindset of life. I have this routine.” His life was upended: house-sharing, new language, studying again. “You have to have a very open mind and adapt yourself to many situations. I’m very proud of myself that I did that.”
“I think slowly everything is just settling down. Once you want your dream, I think that you can make it.”
We would like to hear from people who have moved to Ireland. To get involved, email newtotheparish@irishtimes.com or tweet @newtotheparish
