Italian or Spanish?

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Calebe98
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Italian or Spanish?

Postby Calebe98 » Sat Jul 07, 2018 1:10 pm

Hi. I've been studying English for the last year at home and I reached a level which allows me to read, to watch youtube videos and watch most of the movies scenes without subtitles to understand(But I rather prefer watch most movies with subtitles to have a full understanding. I never had a chat in English with anyone(I don't think that it would be a nice experience at first, because unfortunately my pronounce is a sh** and I don't have -- yet -- the ability with the language), but that's not a problem in any way. My main goal I reached: to read books in english.
So, as I did this short introduction, I'd like to say one more thing and make a question: I'll not study English as before, I'll continue reading books in english(One day -- I think -- I'll be fluent in this magnificent language) and I'll estudy grammar some times in the month. Now, what do you recommend for me: Start learning Spanish or italian? As a Portuguese speaker, I can understand Spanish a lot, but not in a accurately way, I can't watch movies nicely or read great writers. Italian is far more dificult than spanish to understand at first, but I did some lessons of Spanish and Italian on duolingo and I can't decide which language to learn. Both languages have piqued my interest.
Now, you can say: "Just choose one and put effort in it", Yeah I'd like to do so, but As I will spent time with it, I would be better make this decision with some advices.

*Sorry for any mistakes I made.
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iguanamon
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Re: Italian or Spanish?

Postby iguanamon » Sat Jul 07, 2018 2:38 pm

Bem-vindo ao fórum, Caleb98! Welcome to the forum! You are doing well in your written English. There are a few mistakes but nothing to make what you wrote incomprehensible "estudy" should be "study" and "advices" should be "advice".

As to Spanish or Italian- I am going to assume that you are Brazilian, even if you were Portuguese, Spanish would be the language you'd be most likely to encounter in both countries. Spanish, even though it's very similar to Portuguese, it will be challenging to be proficient at a high level for a Portuguese-speaker. It can take a lot of effort to avoid the dreaded "portunhol".

Italian will present many of the same challenges as Spanish. It's probably different enough to be less likely to turn into "Portaliano" for a Portuguese-speaker. Still, it will present many of the same challenges as learning Spanish to a high and proficient level.

If I were in your place, I'd learn Spanish because as a Brazilian it would make you a more complete citizen of the Americas or as a Portuguese, it would open up Spain and the Americas. That's what I did as an English-speaker after learning Spanish. I learned Portuguese next. Learning Portuguese gave me an entry into the cultures of Brazil and the Lusophone world. I will be forever happy that I made the effort to learn it. Boa sorte!/Good luck!
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Re: Italian or Spanish?

Postby Cavesa » Sat Jul 07, 2018 2:48 pm

Welcome to the forums!

Calebe98 wrote: My main goal I reached: to read books in english.

What are your favourite book genres?
Any originally Spanish or Italian writing authors you like?
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Re: Italian or Spanish?

Postby tarvos » Sat Jul 07, 2018 3:03 pm

Either's pretty good, but I'd pick Spanish just because you'll likely find it easier to practice.
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Calebe98
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Re: Italian or Spanish?

Postby Calebe98 » Sat Jul 07, 2018 4:28 pm

Iguanamon, I think that I wrote "estudy" because In portuguese the same word is with an E and about the word "advice", despite the fact that I already studied a little about uncountable nouns I still forget it. :oops: Yeah, I'm from Brazil. You're certainly right. It is very common to see brazilians underestimating the learning of spanish only because spanish is understandable in a certain way. I appreciate you comment. Althought Spanish is similiar to Portuguese, to read in spanish is very difficult depending on the writer and the matter. Obrigado.

Cavesa, I Like to read a little of everything, but tales, fiction and old movies are my goals. I don't have -- yet -- favorites authors in Spanish and Italian, but I do have many authors and books that I want to read(Miguel de Cervantes, Antonio Machado etc). Italy and Spain have nice film directors. As I don't like to see dubbed movies, to learn a new language becomes more exciting.

Tarvos, Yes, For me spanish is far easier than Italian.

I think that I'll chose Spanish and in one year or less I'll start to study Italian.


Edit: If any of you have anything to recommend about Spanish, sites, podcasts, books, etc, leave the link here. Wait, only leave the link if the forum allows it :D. I'm going to see the rules now and if this isn't allowed I'll delete this.
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Re: Italian or Spanish?

Postby iguanamon » Sat Jul 07, 2018 9:35 pm

For you, learning Spanish is different than what those of us who are not native-speakers of Portuguese need to do. You can jump into reading, watching TV, listening to podcasts and grammar study- paying particular attention to the differences between the two, some are small, some are big and some are vocabulary choices that are different between the two.

Yes, you're right. As a speaker of both Spanish and Portuguese, I know how difficult it is to get grammar right in both languages. A few years ago I came across a blog written by some Brazilian students from the Cervantes Institute in Rio de Janeiro Los Insistentes some of the older blog entries talk about the difficulty the students had with becoming proficient in Spanish as Portuguese-speakers.

If you can find it, the book Como dizer tudo em espanhol will be a big help in getting started right away speaking and shows the differences in everyday vocabulary. The series from Globo- Curso De Idiomas Globo Espanhol looks to be quite good. Assimil has a course from a Portuguese base for Spanish O Novo Espanhol Sem Esforço and O espanhol . I've never seen it so I don't know if it's from an Iberian base to Iberian Spanish- but it's probably a good bet that it is- though I may be wrong.

For free resources, there are quite a few from an English base- all the usual suspects: FSI, DLI, Destinos. I'm learning Catalan now by "getting used to it". I've read two books so far and am 2/3 of the way through the third one. I have a dictionary, a good grammar book and I am noticing the differences. If I decide to continue with it, I'll start doing a course- either monolingual or from a Spanish base I also made some parallel texts with Catalan and Spanish and Catalan and Portuguese. The Cervantes institute has an online grammar course- Centro Virtual Cervantes Aveteca which goes from A1 - C1. The interface is a bit clunky but the information and what is taught is superb. The Aveteca is monolingual but explanations and directions are easy to follow. FSI has a lot of drills but most of the grammar is similar, except there's no personal infinitive and no future subjunctive and plenty of other differences.

Also, ask our member Expugnator, who's a fellow Brazilian from Minas. He's slowly learning Spanish and has been reading and listening to podcasts. It's ok to write in any language you want in someone's log- as long as they understand it. Expugnator can give you much better advice than I can from a Brazilian perspective. He's also learning Italian. Boa sorte!
Last edited by iguanamon on Sun Jul 08, 2018 1:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Italian or Spanish?

Postby Expugnator » Sat Jul 07, 2018 10:08 pm

iguanamon wrote:Also, ask our member Expugnator, who's a fellow Brazilian from Minas. He's slowly learning Spanish and has been reading and listening to podcasts. It's ok to write in any language you want in someone's log- as long as they understand it. Expugnator can give you much better advice than I can from a Brazilian perspective. He's also learning Italian. Boa sorte!


Expug is baiano :P He's also had some background on Spanish, both from high school and language schools, so his Portuñol is more leaning towards Spanish proper, even if far from spontaneous (also, where did I become a synonym of slow learning?).

I'm not putting much effort into Spanish because what if need now is spoken feedback, and I'm not trying hard on it. Even so, I do around 50 minutes of Spanish a day. I should get back to my Gramática de español para brasileños for fine-tuning.

Learning French taught me the importance of actually studying a language instead of relying on vocabulary discount. Before I started my latest incursion in Spanish, I had been studying French and my French listening skills were far superior to my Spanish ones, even if Spanish is phonetically more accessible; the amount I learned from French made up for the higher level of vocabulary coincidence between Portuguese-Spanish and actually surpassed it; as for active skills, what more can I say? I can speak French, I know several cultural and social contexts,I can predict where a conversation is heading, while in Spanish it is still a fairly Portuñol-based wild guess.
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Corrections welcome for any language.

Calebe98
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Re: Italian or Spanish?

Postby Calebe98 » Sun Jul 08, 2018 12:43 am

Iguanamon, Yeah, as I decided to start learning spanish I'll reduce the time I spend with English by filling it in with some spanish movies only for learning purposes. I already know the book "Como dizer tudo em espanhol" and I'm looking for a way to acquire it. I don't even know any of those sites you linked here. They will be very useful for me. Thank you for your answer.
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