What Romance language should one learn for work?

Septante, huitante   Sun Aug 13, 2006 4:48 pm GMT
Vous devriez tous apprendre la plus belle langue sur la terre. Et on l'appelle 'le français'.
Joey   Sun Aug 13, 2006 8:51 pm GMT
This depends which continent you want to work in.
North America - French and/or Spanish
South America - Portuguese and/or Spanish
Europe - (learn the language of the country you plan on going too even if it
is only a few words)
Africa - French and/or Portuguese
Asia and Australia any language will do as it won't be very used.
JR   Mon Aug 14, 2006 1:52 am GMT
Italian and Spanish pronnounciation is similar, but not the same. Such as the C before E and I, which in Italian is pronnounced like the English 'ch', but in Spanish is pronnounced like the English 's'.

There's also the 'gn' and 'gli' combinations, which are not found in Spanish.

Those can be very important differences. The Italian and Spanish word for Kitchen is spelled the same, but the pronnounciation in Italian sounds like the Spanish word for pig. (Cocina>Cochina).
JR   Mon Aug 14, 2006 1:54 am GMT
And as for which language, I think the list Joey has made is a good indication. Although I think that French can be eliminated from the North America list, since just about every French speaking person on that continent also speaks English. The same cannot be said for Spanish speakers.
Tiffany   Mon Aug 14, 2006 3:24 am GMT
<<Those can be very important differences. The Italian and Spanish word for Kitchen is spelled the same, but the pronnounciation in Italian sounds like the Spanish word for pig. (Cocina>Cochina).>>

Close, but no dice :)

Sp Cocina - koh-see-nah
It Cucina - coo-chee-nah
Sergio   Mon Aug 14, 2006 4:40 pm GMT
Hi JR,

>There's also the 'gn' and 'gli' combinations, which are not found in Spanish.

Oh yes, they exist:

gn.- ñ (there is even a letter for this)
and now the tricky one, which is on the verge to extintion,
gli.- LL
This one is surprisingly still used by some people in Spain. Yesterday I was watching a BBC Documental, dubbed into Castillian Spanish. The narrator used this sound (exactly like the Italian GLI) everytime and consistently when speaking a word written with this LL. (huella, huesecillo, lluvia, llave) In words written with Y, he used the sound that is most used nowadays in Spanish for both of these letters.
Tiffany   Mon Aug 14, 2006 8:31 pm GMT
Hmm, I actually thought he meant that Spanish speakers might not understand the combinations and pronounce them incorrectly, but reading it again, you could be right and he thought the sounds did not exist.

It is important to note that the "ll" corresponding with the "gli" seems to be dying out in Spain.
Aldo   Mon Aug 14, 2006 9:18 pm GMT
Hola Sergio,

<< The narrator used this sound (exactly like the Italian GLI) everytime and consistently when speaking a word written with this LL. (huella, huesecillo, lluvia, llave)>>

How is the sound of "gli" in italian to be used in words like "huella, huesecillo, lluvia" in Spanish ? I can't figure it out.
Sergio   Mon Aug 14, 2006 9:53 pm GMT
Hi Tiffany,
Yes, that is what I meant. This sound, which is the original sound, is actually disapearing.

Hola Aldo,
Primero que nada, no sé si sepas cómo suena GLI en italiano. En caso de que no, pues no se parece nada al sonido de la sílaba 'gli' en español.
El sonido más cercano a GLI en italiano que se me ocurre, es el sonido de "LL" en la palabra inglesa "million", bien pronunciada, claro.
Entonces tendrás una idea un poco más clara de cómo suena esta "LL" quasi-extinta.
greg   Tue Aug 15, 2006 7:06 am GMT
Hot-toffee : commence par n'importe quelle langue romane, ça n'a strictement aucune importance si ton objectif est réellement d'en apprendre plusieurs.

En revanche, si ton désir d'apprendre une langue romane est motivé par des considérations purement utilitaires, le mieux est que tu fasses d'abord le point sur tes objectifs personnels. Le choix de la langue viendra ensuite, en fonction de tes critères perso.