Romance languages

[kumlypha]

Is it easier for people who speak one Romance language to learn another Romance language? I speak Brazilian Portuguese (Not sure if this is a Romance language but Portuguese is so I think it counts) and English (I know this isn't a Romance language). My friend who only speaks English said that it would be harder for me to learn French but I said since I can already speak a Romance language fluently then I will have less trouble learning another Romance language, but she thinks this isn't true. So is it easier for people who speak one Romance language to learn another Romance language?




~edited your thread title so that the meaning becomes clear - Taleweaver~

[Destiny]

Yeah, it is
For example, if you have learned french in school then you will have it easier with spanish. If you have learned english, you can learn dutch or danish a lot easier.
Of course goes the same for chinese and japanese.

Those languages are kind like siblings, resembling each other. Some languages differ quite a lot (dutch and german are ver simliar, but german and english are not really or japanese and chinese that use many identical signs with identical meanings, but total different words).
So yeah, you will have it easier.

BUT that can't be really generalized .
It depends on how good you are with your "sibling language" and how good you are in learning languages in general. If you have problems learning other languages, then another roman language will be still problematic, even if it isn't as problematic as learning Zulu or korean. Especially because you are for sure above the age of 5 where you can learn languages in a extreme high speed and without real problems (till the age of 16 it is considered easy, then starts the time where it depends on the person).

But if you're good in learning languages, then you shouldn't have that much of a problem

[Crocosquirrel]

Usually, related languages are easier to learn if you know one already.

[SvenTheViking]

I'm not terribly familiar with Brazilian Portuguese, but, if it's anything like Portuguese Portuguese (that is, Portuguese from Portugal), it should be similar enough to French that it shouldn't be too difficult. I've always heard tale that Portuguese is best described as a mix of Spanish and French (Spanish Spanish and French French, of course), and, from listening to it, that's how it sounds to my (albeit untrained) ear.

In short, knowing Portuguese should make learning French easier, yes.

[LVUER]

I lock the topic because I got a report stating this is a spambot with question ripped off Yahoo Answers. If it's not, feel free to PM me and I'll unlock the topic.