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The similarities between spanish and italian

Hey

I am studying Italian at university, only as a single language. I have heard a lot of people comment on how spanish and italian are very similar languages, and I think I would be interested in learning spanish after I graduate.

If I immersed myself in a spanish country, do you think I would pick the language up quickly? I am thinking of taking a year out after I graduate to perhaps work/volunteer in a spanish speaking country, or to do an intensive language course?

Could anyone give me their opinions/advice
Reply 1
Avatar for *PerSempre*
*PerSempre*
coconutgrove
Hey

I am studying Italian at university, only as a single language. I have heard a lot of people comment on how spanish and italian are very similar languages, and I think I would be interested in learning spanish after I graduate.

If I immersed myself in a spanish country, do you think I would pick the language up quickly? I am thinking of taking a year out after I graduate to perhaps work/volunteer in a spanish speaking country, or to do an intensive language course?

Could anyone give me their opinions/advice


I'm only AS level, but I taught myself some Italian and it is VERY similar. If you had a degree in Italian, or any romance language for that matter, I'd say you'd pick up Spanish no problem. And plus, for any job in the language field, 2 languages are better than 1. I'd say go for it!
Reply 2
Avatar for Lewis :D
Lewis :D
3
My teacher who speaks French and Spanish said she can read most written Italian so they must be similar, but not mutually intelligible when spoken.
Reply 3
Avatar for cuche
cuche
11
Knowing Spanish I can understand about 60% of Italian and also Catalan - I've just finished A2 Spanish.
Reply 4
Avatar for Anatheme
Anatheme
18
Lewis :D
My teacher who speaks French and Spanish said she can read most written Italian so they must be similar, but not mutually intelligible when spoken.


Yeah, I'm French and I did Italian, and if you give me a Spanish text to read or talk to me slowly in Spanish, I understand between 40% and 60% of what it's about. Italian and Spanish have the same roots, more or less the same vocab, they just have different patterns, in the sense that you'll find some letters will be more frequent in Spanish, and also for like verbs endings, or words endings, you start to get a feeling of what it would be like. This page will give you a good idea of what to expect, and it does state that the difficulty is minimal if you already know a romance language, and tells that you should expect to work 200h or around 6 months to reach a good level of fluency, so all in all, a very achievable goal :yep:
Reply 5
Avatar for paddy
paddy
14
coconutgrove
Hey

I am studying Italian at university, only as a single language. I have heard a lot of people comment on how spanish and italian are very similar languages, and I think I would be interested in learning spanish after I graduate.

If I immersed myself in a spanish country, do you think I would pick the language up quickly? I am thinking of taking a year out after I graduate to perhaps work/volunteer in a spanish speaking country, or to do an intensive language course?

Could anyone give me their opinions/advice

After doing my A Level in Spanish I could pretty much understand about 50% of Italian when written or spoken slowly. Even now that my Spanish is a bit rusty I can still make a fairly good attempt at reading Italian (I understand the Italian on the packet of pasta I bought the other day:mmm:).

I reckon I'm going to take up an Italian language module in my final year at uni.
Reply 6
Avatar for coconutgrove
coconutgrove
OP
Hi guys, thanks for your help! If my year abroad in Italy goes really well, I'll definitely think about looking into spanish after. Such a useful language, I may aswell give it a go if I am learning Italian! Is italian definitely more similar to spanish than french?

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