Spanish for Portuguese speakers: common difficulties

Mei is from Taiwan but grew up in Brazil, and she speaks several languages. In this advanced-level video she gives her opinion on the advantages and disadvantages that Portuguese speakers have when they learn Spanish.

In the following videolesson our student Mei explains to us her opinion about the advantages and disadvantages of Portuguese-speaking students to learn Spanish.

Key points

Portuguese speakers understand a lot of Spanish from the start, because both languages share much of their vocabulary and grammar.
That closeness also causes mistakes: false friends and Portuguese words or structures that slip into Spanish.
Pronunciation needs attention: Spanish has only five vowel sounds and no nasal vowels.

Frequent doubts

Is Spanish easy for Portuguese speakers?

It is easy to understand at first but harder to speak correctly, because it is tempting to mix both languages.

What are typical false friends between Portuguese and Spanish?

Exquisito means delicious in Spanish, while esquisito means strange in Portuguese. Portuguese polvo is octopus, but Spanish polvo is dust.

What is portuñol?

A mixture of Portuguese and Spanish used by speakers who rely on the similarities between the two languages to communicate.

Part of Spanish Sessions, the YouTube channel of the teachers at Tilde Madrid — more than 3 million views.

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Spanish for Portuguese students

Key points

Frequent doubts

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