Learn the similarities between Spanish and Portuguese
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Intro |
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| Michael: Is Spanish similar to Portuguese? |
| Ninoska: And are they mutually intelligible? |
| Michael: At SpanishPod101.com, we hear these questions often. In the following situation, Ben Lee, a college student learning Spanish, finds himself confused between Spanish and Portuguese. While out shopping with his friend, Ricardo Roman Garza, Ben picks up the Classic, |
| Portuguese voice actor: A Sombra do Vento. |
| Much to his surprise, he finds it difficult to read. He turns to Ricardo, and asks, |
| "Is this in Spanish?" |
| Ben Lee: ¿Esto está en español? |
| Dialogue |
| Ben Lee: ¿Esto está en español? |
| Ricardo Roman Garza: No, está en portugués. |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Ben Lee: ¿Esto está en español? |
| Michael: "Is this in Spanish?" |
| Ricardo Roman Garza: No, está en portugués. |
| Michael: "No, it's in Portuguese." |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: In Portuguese, the title is changed from the Spanish |
| Ninoska: La sombra del viento |
| Michael: to |
| Portuguese voice actor: A Sombra do Vento. |
| Michael: As you can see, they sound very similar when said out loud, but, in fact, they are written slightly differently. Although the word for "shadow" remains the same in both languages, |
| Ninoska: Sombra, |
| Michael: the word for "wind" is slightly different, having the addition of an i in Spanish: |
| Ninoska: Viento. |
| Michael: Despite many differences, both Portuguese and Spanish are Romance languages, derived from Latin, |
| Ninoska: Latín, |
| Michael: and thus they have many similarities in vocabulary and grammar, which we will discuss later on. |
| Another similarity between these languages is their important presence throughout the world due to colonization and, lately, globalization. Spanish has over 450 million native speakers, and it is the language of Spain and the Hispanic-American nations. Portuguese has almost 230 million native speakers and is spoken in Portugal, Brazil, and in São Tomé and Príncipe. It is also a minority language in a few African countries. |
| Michael: There's another question we sometimes hear at SpanishPod101.com. |
| Ninoska: Does knowing Portuguese make it easier to learn Spanish? |
| Michael: Due to similarities in the languages, speakers of either language usually have a general understanding of the other language, even if they are not native speakers. Some similar words, for example, are "heart," which is |
| Ninoska: Corazón |
| Michael: in Spanish and |
| Portuguese voice actor: coração |
| Michael: in Portuguese. |
| Michael: Another similar word is "emotion," which is |
| Ninoska: Emoción |
| Michael: in Spanish and |
| Portuguese voice actor: emoção |
| Michael: in Portuguese. There are many such words which are similar in both languages. |
| Michael: However, some words sound the same and are written the same, but mean completely different things! |
| Michael: For example, although |
| Ninoska: Polvo |
| Michael: means "dust" in Spanish, in Portuguese |
| Portuguese voice actor: Polvo |
| Michael: means "octopus!" |
| Practice Section |
| Michael: Let's review the sample conversation. Try to respond to the following prompts by saying the Spanish translation out loud. Then, repeat after Ninoska with the focus on your pronunciation. |
| The first prompt is "Is this in Spanish?" |
| Ninoska: ¿Esto está en español? |
| Michael: Did you get it right? Listen again to Ninoska and repeat what she says. Remember to focus on the pronunciation! |
| Ninoska: ¿Esto está en español? |
| Ninoska: ¿Esto está en español? |
| Michael: And do you remember how to say "No, it's in Portuguese." |
| Ninoska: No, está en portugués. |
| Michael: Listen to Ninoska again and repeat what she says. |
| Ninoska: No, está en portugués. |
| Ninoska: No, está en portugués. |
| Expansion |
| Michael: Did you know that Portuguese is one of the closest languages to Spanish? Portuguese, or |
| Ninoska: portugués, |
| Michael: and Spanish share many similarities. On top of vocabulary, they have the same word order, which makes it quite easy to learn either of them if you already speak the other. Portuguese nouns, just like Spanish nouns, also have a gender, or |
| Ninoska: género. |
| Michael: Most times, if the word in Spanish and in Portuguese is similar, they will share the same gender. Another similarity lies in verbs, or |
| Ninoska: verbos. |
| Michael: As you might know, verbs in Spanish have conjugations, or |
| Ninoska: conjugaciones. |
| Michael: Just like those in most romance languages, Portuguese conjugations follow the same logic and are quite similar to their Spanish counterparts. But, of course, there are also differences between the languages. The main difference between these two languages is in pronunciation, or |
| Ninoska: Pronunciación. |
| Michael: There are many differences in pronunciation, but we'll only give you a few basic examples. One of them is that Portuguese has nasal vowels, while Spanish doesn't. There are quite a few more sounds that appear in one language that don't in the other. For example, Spanish doesn't make a distinction between b and v, but Portuguese does. There are also differences in intonation, or |
| Ninoska: entonación, |
| Michael: as well as other differences in pronunciation that would require more technical explanations. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Ninoska: ¡Hasta la próxima! |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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