Which language is my Spanish most useful in learning?
Hello, I know this is a Spanish language website however, I am in the process of choosing between Portuguese and French as my second romance language to learn. Eventually, I plan to learn them all. However, I have heard many people speak to the ease with which one can learn Portuguese if they know Spanish. If anyone has any suggestions or comments, I would love to hear.
7 Answers
Hello Nate,
Welcome to the Spanish Dict forum 
I think that I could help you with your question.
I am learning several languages, most of which are Latin-based: Spanish, French, Italian and Brazilian Portuguese.
Spanish is definitely the easiest to pronounce, being very phoentical. The hardest for me to learn is Brazilian Portguese since the language contains words with nasal sounds that are simply not encountered in the English language, and other words that take a lot of practice to pronounce correctly! (eg abacaxi (abacashee) = pineapple) .. I was given my first lessons in Brazilian Portuguese, a number of years ago by a native speaker from São Paolo, Brasil. ...who also happened to be our Youth pastor at the time. 
I wlll give you an example:
Que horas são? =What time is it? (The highlighted word has a nasal sound)
I have spoken to some native Spanish people who can understand some written Portuguese but say that they struggle to make sense of what is said to them in Portuguese. They say that Italian is easier for them to understand! .
Learning different languages is a little like learning different musical instruments within the same instrument family ; ie woodwind. For example: clarinet, flute, oboe, bassoon etc.... I have learnt and played both the clarinet and flute, and although they are in the same woodwind family, producing a sound out of each of them requieres a totally different approach /technique.
Languages can be like them, in the sense that each of the woodwind instruments requieres air to be blown through them, but the sound is produced using a different embrouchure (mouth position) Languages in the same language family requiere you to pronunce words that are spelt the same, and often have different meanings, and yet are pronounced quite differently...you have to move your tongue in a different way to create the sounds of the words!
Let's look at a simple word (preposition) in English, which can, in most cases be translated, with different pronounciations, across these languages as de or di:
Spanish de (Like day) enter link description here
French de (like duh) enter link description here
To listen to the words spoken by a native / by native speakers, on the Forvo website, please click on the triangle next to the word in the chosen language, and if necessary choose the native speaker where various options for pronounciation exist.
Braz Port de (like jee) choose the 4th option Serghino This is the best option I have heard. However, in some parts of the country it is also pronounced dee enter link description here
Italian; di (i is pronounced like light e more like de in deputy or e in deluge not e in eat or even) enter link description here
Spanish ¿Cuándo? (pronounced Kwundo) enter link description here
Portuguese Quando? (pronounced kWEndoo) the o is pronounced like a u enter link description here I would recommend options 4 Derlaymad and 6 mrilke to give a good, clear prounciation
Italian: Quando? enter link description here
An example of a sentence:
(Esp) ¿Dónde está el correo? (O ¿Dónde está la oficina del correo) = Where is the post office?
(Br Port) Onde é la agência dos correios? o Onde é la estaçao dos correios? =Where is the post office?
Having just read Jubilado's post, I would say that for an average Englishman this would be the order of complexity for speaking nd learning: where 1 is the easiest and 5 the most difficult
1.Spanish
2.French
3.Italian
4.Brazilian Portuguese
I believe that Spanish would definitely be the easiest for most British (Anglo Saxon) people and Portuguese the hardest.. My original gut instinct would be to to place Italian next after Spanish and French 3rd but Jubilado could be right in saying that French would ne next because the average English person is likely to have more exposure to the French language as we have assimilated many words into British English,
ex's: Au fait, déjà-vu, fait accompli, and encore just to mention a few!
...and many British people go on holiday to France:
I cannot really comment on where I would place Romanian withiin this language family,in respect of how difficult I think people would find it, as I have never chosen to seriously learn/ study it..I have just learnt a few words from some guys who wash cars at our local Tescos store., and I have forgotten all of it.
I hope this helps (gives you some idea)
Corrijan mi español, si es necesario, por favor
Nunca he estudiado ni portugués ni italiano, pero cuando hablan tuscano (el dialecto principal de Italia ) entiendo casi todo. Cuando hablan portugués es como si hablaran marciano.
The Italian or the Portuguese. No doubt
Actually, Nate, I would suggest deciding which language you want to learn next, regardless of the ease. You have a good basic understanding of the ins and outs of romance language learning, so you'll have a better handle on any other new romance language anyway. Indeed, there's a poster on this site, Faldaesque, who had learned French, and now learning Spanish. He often finds similarities and parallels in spite of the significant differences in some aspects of the languages.
Go with what you want. Good luck!
I understand French and Spanish at about the same level. My prejudice is to learn French next because once you get past the pronunciation hurdle it is easier for an English speaker to learn than Spanish. If you get to the same level in French as in Spanish you will probably be able to understand a good deal of Italian without studying it. I don't know much Portuguese or much about it, but I think it might be the next after French and then you can move on to Italian.
This is my input to your question which may be good advice (only you can tell) or me living vicariously through you (only I can tell).
I see you are fluent in Spanish and English and based in the USA. You therefore speak the two main languages of the country.
What you learn next depends on the why. In other words are you looking at the most challenging language, or one where you will come into contact with native speakers or one where you want to improve your knowledge of a new culture.
Have you thought of learning Latin? At school French was the first foreign language I started then we started Latin - the Cambridge method which is Latin into English then when I was 16 there was the opportunity to learn Russian or Spanish. I chose Spanish.
I have used French when travelling including in Laos. I read many French novels including Carmen by Prosper Merimée. I still enjoy French music and films.
I used to work with some one from Cascais and for fun 6 of us had some basic Portuguese lessons from her. We took it in turns to visit each others homes eat and have a lesson. I can work out meanings reading Portuguese but the pronunciation is very different. Another friend took lessons in Brazilian Portuguese as she and her husband were going to work there but I don't know how different they are.
I know some people from Galicia in Spain and galego has some similarities to Portuguese.
If you love language why not consider Greek - a new alphabet and an ancient language - romance languages are Latin based but they have many words of Greek origin.
My current Spanish teacher has Catalan as his first language which is close to French and Spanish.
I think being fluent in Spanish and English will be a great help in acquiring French.
why not visit New Orleans and see how you get on! Or you could visit the North East of the States or even Canada.
Still learning a language is not a notch on your belt you need motivation and you learn it to be able to communicate so you need to choose.
I remember an Aunt who taught French and was fluent in Italian having no trouble reading my Spanish books. however when we first started learning Spanish we were told not to try to learn Italian at the same time as we would get confused.
I have heard that Romanian is very close to Spanish if you want to try something completely different.
In my opinion, Portugese is the closest to Spanish. As it is spoken the most fluently in Portugal, the country directly west of Spain, I would believe Portugese is the closest in relation.
Another choice is French, as it is the most common language in France, the country directly Northeast of Spain. However, the French language differs from Spanish in a large amount.
So Portugese is the closest to Spanish.
I hope this helps you
