Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[listentohimrave]

Hi, I am a native English speaker who is mostly fluent in Spanish. I recently found the opportunity to travel to Portugal and teach ESL. I am very excited for such an opportunity and I think that I will do okay because Spanish and Portuguese are the same language, right?

What do Portuguese speakers think of the differences between the two?

[pugachevV]

Well, they're not the same by any means although you'll probably be able to understand a lot of it...
Anyway, I wish you good luck with your new venture.

Here's the gospel according to Wikipedia (q.v.) on the subject...

http://en.wikipedia.or/wiki/Differences_between_Spanish_and_Portuguese

Portuguese and Spanish are among the most widely spoken languages in the world today. Although they are closely related, to the point of having a considerable degree of mutual intelligibility, there are also important differences between them, which can pose difficulties for people acquainted with one of the languages who attempt to learn the other. Both are part of a broader group known as West Iberian, which contains also several minor languages or dialects with fewer speakers, all of which are mutually intelligible among themselves to some degree.

There are also some significant differences between Brazilian and European Portuguese as there are between British and American English or Spanish in Spain and Spanish in Latin America and the United States. This article notes these differences below only where:

* Both Brazilian and European Portuguese differ not only from each other, but from Spanish as well
* Both Spanish and Latin American Spanish differ not only from each other, but also from Portuguese.
* Either Brazilian or European Portuguese differs from Spanish with syntax not possible in Spanish (while the other dialect does not)
Portuguese and Spanish are among the most widely spoken languages in the world today. Although they are closely related, to the point of having a considerable degree of mutual intelligibility, there are also important differences between them, which can pose difficulties for people acquainted with one of the languages who attempt to learn the other. Both are part of a broader group known as West Iberian, which contains also several minor languages or dialects with fewer speakers, all of which are mutually intelligible among themselves to some degree.

There are also some significant differences between Brazilian and European Portuguese as there are between British and American English or Spanish in Spain and Spanish in Latin America and the United States. This article notes these differences below only where:

* Both Brazilian and European Portuguese differ not only from each other, but from Spanish as well
* Both Spanish and Latin American Spanish differ not only from each other, but also from Portuguese.
* Either Brazilian or European Portuguese differs from Spanish with syntax not possible in Spanish (while the other dialect does not)

Portuguese and Spanish share a great number of words that are either spelled identically (although they may be pronounced quite differently), almost identically (though they may be pronounced more or less the same) or similarly predictable. Consider for example the following paragraph, taken from the Gram�tica Esencial del Espa�ol, by Manuel Seco, and compare it to the Portuguese rendition below, noting the extensive lexical similarity and the only slight changes in word order:

Pero, a pesar de esta variedad de posibilidades que la voz posee, ser�a un muy pobre instrumento de comunicaci�n si no contara m�s que con ella. La capacidad de expresi�n del hombre no dispondr�a de m�s medios que la de los animales. La voz, sola, es para el hombre apenas una materia informe, que para convertirse en un instrumento perfecto de comunicaci�n debe ser sometida a un cierto tratamiento. Esa manipulaci�n que recibe la voz son las "articulaciones".

Por�m, apesar desta variedade de possibilidades que a voz possui, seria um instrumento de comunica��o muito pobre se n�o se contasse com mais do que ela. A capacidade de express�o do homem n�o disporia de mais meios que a dos animais. A voz, sozinha, � para o homem apenas uma mat�ria informe, que para se converter num instrumento perfeito de comunica��o deve ser submetida a um certo tratamento. Essa manipula��o que a voz recebe s�o as "articula��es".

[davidbailey]

I am a native English speaker...but I live in Brazil and speak fluent portuguese. And I can attest to the fact that spanish is totally different from portuguese. Some similarities maybe...like say 'English' and 'German'. But that's about it.
_________________
Warm Regards,
David A. Bailey, Jr

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