Krysten (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} likeavirgin690) wrote,@ 2007-05-02 20:50:00 |
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portuguese
i just got back from porto, portugal, where port wine comes from. the portuguese language is so beautiful. everyone should listen to it. i could hear elements of all the romance languages - spanish, french, italian...and the way they speak, the rhythm, really resembles italian to me (as in, "MA-ma MI-a!") ......and i was surprised - because i can speak spanish now, i was able to understand here and there. a lot of the changes from spanish to portuguese are very formulaic - for example, the "s" sound in many cases, as in "mismo", becomes a sound more like "sh" or "zj". and the n's become m's...i mean, it's not an exact science, but what i've realized is that once you know one romance language, it becomes so much easier to learn another.
when i had breakfast at the hotel, i picked up a portuguese newspaper and actually got the gist of most of the stories. the pictures didn't hurt, hehehe.
it was great to try speaking portuguese there too, because i feel like they have a more welcoming attitude towards english-speakers than do spaniards. maybe that's because of their centuries-long alliance with england. .....that's also reflected in the fact that they use subtitles in their movies instead of dubbing, as they do in spain. some spaniards have favorite actors but have never heard their real voices!!!
i wish english were more advantageous, like conducive to learning other languages. i mean, yeah, we have a tremendous advantage because it is one of the world's major languages and THE business and internet language, but i feel like there isn't a language SO similar to english as portuguese is to the other romance ones...english is a germanic language, yes, but i feel like german (for instance) and english are still worlds apart. of course i have never studied german, but i think i would be able to understand more of it already were it more similar to english.
maybe dutch is more similar - they even have the same word for "cholesterol" as we do. ...of course pronounced differently, though. i think dutch would be so hard to learn. i have been there 5 or 6 times but have only retained "goddamit", "the check please", "yes", "really good", and "thank you"
i just got back from porto, portugal, where port wine comes from. the portuguese language is so beautiful. everyone should listen to it. i could hear elements of all the romance languages - spanish, french, italian...and the way they speak, the rhythm, really resembles italian to me (as in, "MA-ma MI-a!") ......and i was surprised - because i can speak spanish now, i was able to understand here and there. a lot of the changes from spanish to portuguese are very formulaic - for example, the "s" sound in many cases, as in "mismo", becomes a sound more like "sh" or "zj". and the n's become m's...i mean, it's not an exact science, but what i've realized is that once you know one romance language, it becomes so much easier to learn another.
when i had breakfast at the hotel, i picked up a portuguese newspaper and actually got the gist of most of the stories. the pictures didn't hurt, hehehe.
it was great to try speaking portuguese there too, because i feel like they have a more welcoming attitude towards english-speakers than do spaniards. maybe that's because of their centuries-long alliance with england. .....that's also reflected in the fact that they use subtitles in their movies instead of dubbing, as they do in spain. some spaniards have favorite actors but have never heard their real voices!!!
i wish english were more advantageous, like conducive to learning other languages. i mean, yeah, we have a tremendous advantage because it is one of the world's major languages and THE business and internet language, but i feel like there isn't a language SO similar to english as portuguese is to the other romance ones...english is a germanic language, yes, but i feel like german (for instance) and english are still worlds apart. of course i have never studied german, but i think i would be able to understand more of it already were it more similar to english.
maybe dutch is more similar - they even have the same word for "cholesterol" as we do. ...of course pronounced differently, though. i think dutch would be so hard to learn. i have been there 5 or 6 times but have only retained "goddamit", "the check please", "yes", "really good", and "thank you"
