I reeeeally need some help!

[kiss_reka]

Please somebody explain the difference between "right" and "proper". Which word would you use to fill the gap and why?

"It was obvious that Tony was going to be successful in his choice of career. When he had just left school and had taken a job as a designer in Glasgow, he was soon in demand from other companies wanting to make him part of their team. For him, music was just something that you did at school. And his interests were always in the visual arts - that was his main area of interest and obviously the _______ thing for him. When our mother was running an Art Gallery for a time Tony, still in his teens, used to organise all the publicity for her - he was incredibly practical."

[indianodin]

I hope that "right" would sound better.

[mykwyner]

The word right has at least 50 different meanings. In your example it means proper. Therefore, I would use the word proper in your paragraph. However, the word right could not be considered a wrong word choice there.

[LwyrFirat]

Of course I shouldn't add anything after a native english speaker teacher stated the answer but;

I feel that “proper” is more formal word than “right”. As the word that follows the blank is “thing” which is informal word , before “thing” “right” sounds better to me. But if the sentence was ";...his main area of interest and obviously the _______ selection for him", I would choose “proper”

I am neither a NES, nor a teacher.

[Niall]

It has little bearing on the passage as to which one you use.
As has been said, the word right does seem to fit in better with the style of the paragraph.

[Zeina.T]

Hi there:

Right and Proper are synonyms, ie they have the same meaning. The only difference between both terms is that one is more formal than the other, that is to say, one is of a high register. Right is an everyday word while Proper is much formal. We would say " This is the right thing to do" while we say "Proper arrangements have been organised". In your case, since your text is unformal and of a low register, you will need to use "Right".

Regards
Zeina