Eur.Spanish, Eur.Portuguese, Lat.Spanish, Bra.Portuguese?

Taiwanese   Fri Aug 29, 2008 3:24 am GMT
I'm a Taiwanese, living in Taipei. I know clearly that, Spanish, together with Portuguese, is quite useful and practical especially in Latin America, but I'd like to confirm which language is universally recognized as a better choice, if Spanish is, which kind of Spanish is better, European style, or Latin American style (it also includes several sorts of Latin American Spanish), and if Portuguese is a better choice, then may I say that Brazilian style seems more useful or sounds more beautiful than European Portuguese. Would you kindly help me choose only either of them, not both of them, or even all of them. Actually I've got 4 good textbooks (with CDs) on hand, one is about Eur.Spanish, the other is about Lat.Spanish (but I don't know which kind of Lat.Spanish), the third is about Eur.Portuguese, and the last one is about Brazilian Portuguese, perhaps I'll have to choose only one of them to learn on my own, but would you please make suggestions to help me decide on which I should start learning of all these kinds. Thank you very much!
Guest   Fri Aug 29, 2008 5:23 am GMT
Go for Brazilian Portuguese, and you'll enjoy learning it.
Guest   Fri Aug 29, 2008 6:00 am GMT
actually latin american spanish is a better choice then european spanish, is more clear words are not run all together(depending on the country you go to!!!!)also latin american spansih doesn't have the lisps of european spanish so if i were you i would go for lat.Am. spanish!!
Guest   Fri Aug 29, 2008 6:05 am GMT
I honestly think that Portuguese is more internationally important than Spanish, in the world stage.

Think about it, Spanish is only spoken in Europe and Latin America.

Equatorial Guinea in Africa is a joke.
Philippines in Asia is extinct - Arroyo hasn't done anything about it yet.


On the other hand, Portuguese is spoken in:

Europe (Portugal and Galicia in Spain)

Latin America (Brazil alone has 51% of the continental popuation of South America, versus 9 other Hispanic countries combined)

Africa (5 countries) - not extinct, but very much alive.

Asia (East Timor + Macau) - not extinct, but very much alive.


Vivo Lusofonia

http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lusofonia
Guest   Fri Aug 29, 2008 6:13 am GMT
<actually latin american spanish is a better choice then european spanish, is more clear words are not run all together(depending on the country you go to!!!!)also latin american spansih doesn't have the lisps of european spanish so if i were you i would go for lat.Am. spanish!!>

OK, I see, you prefer Latin American Spanish to European style, but I still have a question, Which kind of Lat.American Spanish do you recommend?
& Is Argentina Spanish the best one of all kinds of Lat.American Spanish?
Taiwanese   Fri Aug 29, 2008 6:14 am GMT
<I honestly think that Portuguese is more internationally important than Spanish, in the world stage.>


Brazilian Protuguese is a little better than European Portuguese? Thanks!
Guest   Fri Aug 29, 2008 6:40 am GMT
European Portuguese sounds like a mix of Arabic and Russian, while
Brazilian Portuguese is very Latin-sounding, like a mix of Spanish, French and Italian.
Guest   Fri Aug 29, 2008 7:23 am GMT
Absolutely Spanish...

Portuguese is a dialect of Spanish.
Guest   Fri Aug 29, 2008 7:46 am GMT
Portuguese is not spoken in Galicia. Galician is considered a different language, with different ortography, and grammar. For example it uses ñ letter and not nh, phonology is more similar to Castilian Spanish rather than to Portuguese, etc.
Guest10   Fri Aug 29, 2008 8:44 am GMT
Well, we can answer seriously, please.

At this moment, Spanish is more important globally. Spanish is official in almost all World organizations and Portuguese not.

At the same time, Spanish is, probably, the most studied World language, according to several reports. According to other reports is French. But, Portuguese is not in the top 6 (English, Spanish, French, German, Chinese and Italian).

That is very important. In European Union, people study European English, French, European Spanish and German.

In USA, for instance, people study Mexican Spanish (in some schools European Spanish too). Colombian Spanish has also an important status. It is considered the best Latin American Spanish by a lot of people. So, in USA, almost all people study Mexican Spanish. French and German are less studied. But Portuguese is not studied in USA.

Finally, in Brazil people study Argentinian (Argentina is near Brazil) or European Spanish (a lot of the books are from Spain)

So, the best choice, in my opinion, is Mexican or European Spanish.

Anyway, Brazilian Portuguese should be more important in the near future, and perhaps will be more studied than Italian (6th more studied).
Guest   Fri Aug 29, 2008 8:53 am GMT
<Anyway, Brazilian Portuguese should be more important in the near future, and perhaps will be more studied than Italian (6th more studied).>

Thank you very much for your careful reply.

But Brazilian Portuguese might surpass Italian to become the 6th studied language in the near future? Is it more difficult than Italian or not? Thanks!
Guest   Fri Aug 29, 2008 8:54 am GMT
Spanish is the most studied language in Brazil, so you will not have any problems communicating with Brazilians in Spanish. On the contrary, people don't understand Portuguese in Mexico or Spain.
Guest   Fri Aug 29, 2008 9:00 am GMT
''But Portuguese is not studied in USA. ''

Not true. All major US universities offer courses in Brazilian Portuguese,and some even in Continental portuguese.
Guest   Fri Aug 29, 2008 9:02 am GMT
-people don't understand Portuguese in Mexico or Spain.-

Bullshit.
When I was in Barcelona, I spoke Brazilian port. and people
responded in Spanish. We understood each other perfectly.
Guest   Fri Aug 29, 2008 9:05 am GMT
They might be catalan speakers. Catalan speakers understand better other languages.