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Portuguese & Spanish Dilemma | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| vikramkr Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6068 days ago 248 posts - 326 votes  Speaks: English*, Portuguese | Message 1 of 9 04 June 2010 at 1:11am | IP Logged |
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Hello,
I am somewhat advanced in my study of Portuguese, and am considering learning Spanish 'afterward'. However, I do not want to learn Spanish if it will interfere with my Portuguese; Portuguese is perhaps my favorite language and the last thing I want is to end up speaking portunhol. What should I do? Additionally, I wish to learn Italian somewhere down the road. Is it safe to say that this language would interfere considerably less with my Portuguese? Thank You, Vikram Edited by vikramkr on 04 June 2010 at 7:36am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| ewomahony Diglot Groupie England Joined 5581 days ago 91 posts - 115 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Italian, French, Afrikaans | Message 2 of 9 04 June 2010 at 6:36pm | IP Logged |
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Spanish/Portuguese syntax is pretty similar. I think you could find it beneficial to learn both at the same time in this respect, and I'm sure if you stayed focused, you would encounter few problems.
But in terms of pronunciation, I think it could be suicidal to learn them both simultaneously. I would admire any linguist who can learn to speak Spanish/Portuguese without being affected by the other's pronunciation at any point. I personally find Spanish pronunciation far more natural for a native English speaker, like myself, although you seem to already have been exposed to Portuguese, so may find this to be the opposite. With regars to Italian, I find Italian to be different enough from Spanish/Portuguese to study it without encountering any problems with my other studies. It's a personal choice in the end. Do what you feel capable and would like to do. Hope this helps!! Ed Edited by ewomahony on 04 June 2010 at 7:59pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| canada38 Tetraglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5494 days ago 304 posts - 417 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish, French Studies: Portuguese, Japanese | Message 3 of 9 06 June 2010 at 10:38pm | IP Logged |
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I'm currently learning Italian and Spanish, and I haven't had any problems. One thing I
have noticed though, is if I don't know a word in Spanish, but know it in Italian, I will substitute the Italian word into a Spanish sentence. This isn't necessarily bad though, as there is a good chance the world will be either correct, or at least, understood. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| vikramkr Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6068 days ago 248 posts - 326 votes Speaks: English*, Portuguese | Message 4 of 9 06 June 2010 at 10:57pm | IP Logged |
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Thanks for the advice, both of you! I'm going to pursue Spanish. Edited by vikramkr on 06 June 2010 at 11:40pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Andy E Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 7102 days ago 1651 posts - 1939 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French | Message 5 of 9 07 June 2010 at 9:44am | IP Logged |
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I found (with Spanish and Italian) that as long as I did a bit of each every day, interference was minimal.
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| John Smith Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Australia Joined 6041 days ago 396 posts - 542 votes Speaks: English*, Czech*, Spanish Studies: German | Message 6 of 9 07 June 2010 at 11:09am | IP Logged |
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^^ Spanish and Italian aren't as close to each other as Spanish and Portuguese.
I had to stop learning Portuguese because it was messing up my Spanish. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| vikramkr Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6068 days ago 248 posts - 326 votes Speaks: English*, Portuguese | Message 7 of 9 07 June 2010 at 9:06pm | IP Logged |
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Indeed, that's what I fear happening John. I'm so unsure what to do! Perhaps I'll learn Italian, since I'm more interested in that language, and learn Spanish sometime in the future when I've mastered Portuguese.
What reinforces this idea of interference occurring even more, is that in my Portuguese classes I'm more or less the only student that is only learning Portuguese. All the other students are Spanish majors. I would say that the majority of them speak portunhol to some extent, although some are better at compartmentalizing the languages than others. Edited by vikramkr on 07 June 2010 at 9:11pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| luhmann Senior Member Brazil Joined 5332 days ago 156 posts - 271 votes Speaks: Portuguese* Studies: Mandarin, French, English, Italian, Spanish, Persian, Arabic (classical) | Message 8 of 9 08 June 2010 at 3:00pm | IP Logged |
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What will help you best to keep languages separated is to work on pronunciation. Each language has its own distinct sounds, so if you remember the proper sound of a word you instantly know what language it is, avoiding any risk of confusion. As long as you refrain from using analogy, and rely on words and expressions you have heard before, you are able to avoid most interference.
I would also recommend that you get hold of textbooks aimed at native Portuguese speakers, that should focus specific issues such as grammar differences and false friends. 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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