Fun experience
 

I just got called to interpret (the person who called couldn't tell the difference, apparently) for a Brazilian couple. It ended up being fun. I haven't thought about Portuguese for quite awhile (too long to tell you guys), but I did understand them and just answered back in Spanish. It went just fine. :rolleyes:

Marsopa

Sounds like a riot! So Portuguese and Spanish are pretty much mutually intelligible?

For me it's a lot easier to understand Portuguese than Italian

Well, David,

I think they are mutually intelligible but only if you have some prior knowledge or exposure. I think that if I hadn't studied Portuguese, I wouldn't have been able to do it. But ironically, although it is the language I studied for the shortest time, I scored the highest on it (except for Spanish) on those online tests that someone had the link for (or else I found myself).

So, even though I can't speak it, apparently I am able to hear it and read it...

I guess I need to get studying then. German is the language I've studied the most (apart from Spanish), and I'd like to study up on French, Portuguese and Italian. I think Portuguese would be the easiest, since it's the closest to Spanish.

Portuguese may be closer to Spanish than Italian, but ...
Portuguese has nasal vowels. Brazilian Portuguese also has vowels that change sounds (like o to u, e to i), and a softening of some consonants when followed by e or i (like onde being pronounced onji, eu gosto de (I like) is pronounced eu gostu ji, restaurante is pronounced restauranchi).

So.... In phonology, Portuguese is probably harder, but in vocabulary, Italian would be harder than Portuguese?

I studied both languages, more out of curiosity than anything else. I found it easier to read Portuguese because the vocubulary is closer to Spanish (once you apply differences in spelling and learn important differences in articles and recognize certain phonemes that have a direct correlation to Spanish). Someone who speaks Portuguese can usually understand someone who speaks Spanish much better than the other way around.

Here is an interesting tidbit:
The double consonants that end in the letter 'l', like 'bl' in Spanish, end in 'r' in Portuguese and in 'i' in Italian. Here are some examples, showing Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian words:
blanco; branco; bianco
placer; prazer; piacere
playa; praia, spiaggia

Here's another little tidbit:
The 'ción' ending in Spanish becomes 'ção' in Portuguese and 'zione' in Italian. Here are some examples:
acción, acção, azione
atención, atenção, attenzione

Great info Rusty! Now I've got a headstart on Portuguese and Italian.

Hello,

Wow! It's nice to hear that easier for you to understand Portuguese. In my side it’s easier for me to understand Italian.

But I love to study both languages.

Good luck to each and everyone.