Romance languages mutual intelligibility. (life, country, people, German)

[Gentoo]

Well, we have the Germanic and Slavic language threads so it seems logic to have one for the Romance languages. While I like to study Germanic languages more, I have more exposure to Romance languages having studied French and Spanish a little. Also helps that I live 5 miles from the Mexican border.

I've heard that Spanish and Portuguese are something like 91% mutually intelligible. French and Spanish more like 45% but the written forms of French and Spanish are easier for speakers of either language to figure out. I know in the US we often have French and Spanish printed as second and third languages on some products and at times seem almost like they can be translated word for word when looking at the written forms.

Let's get some input from native speakers.

[Max96]

Is it true that people speaking in different Italian dialects don't always understand each other?

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by Max96

Is it true that people speaking in different Italian dialects don't always understand each other?

I know that's true in Spanish.

[joseanto071]

Originally Posted by Gentoo

I know that's true in Spanish.

I don't think it's that bad. I'm a native Spanish speaker and I can understand them. Probably the most difficult for me to understand is the Cuban Spanish and some other Caribbean Varieties...Also the ones from Andalucia and the Canary islands.

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by joseanto071

I don't think it's that bad. I'm a native Spanish speaker and I can understand them. Probably the most difficult for me to understand is the Cuban Spanish and some other Caribbean Varieties...Also the ones from Andalucia and the Canary islands.

Thanks for the info. What country are you from? I only said what I did because some Mexican and Mexican-Americans have told me that they had a lot of trouble when they traveled to Spain.

[erasure]

Originally Posted by joseanto071

I don't think it's that bad. I'm a native Spanish speaker and I can understand them. Probably the most difficult for me to understand is the Cuban Spanish

Cubans speak Spanish with Russian accent, that's why)))

[saxonwold]

From my perspective, I have an easier time understanding Italian since I speak French well enough, but Spanish/Portuguese are not hard for me either.

[joseanto071]

Originally Posted by erasure

Cubans speak Spanish with Russian accent, that's why)))

hahah lol

And to the guy above me, I'm Mexican-American, I have dual citizenship. I was born in Mexico but, I've lived in the USA for most my life.

[joseanto071]

from what I've heard, Spanish, Portuguese and Galician are very similar and like part of the same sub-family

while French and Italian are part of another sub-family.

Romanian I imagine must have A LOT of Slavic influence..It must be like a mix of slavic and romance even though it's classified as a romance language.

[Tagus Crows]

Originally Posted by joseanto071

from what I've heard, Spanish, Portuguese and Galician are very similar and like part of the same sub-family

while French and Italian are part of another sub-family.

Romanian I imagine must have A LOT of Slavic influence..It must be like a mix of slavic and romance even though it's classified as a romance language.

All romance languages are part of the same subbranch of languages. French, Portuguese, some north Italy regions and Spanish are part of the same group of languages, the western romance.

That means they have a lot in common. The vocabulary in large sections it's almost the same, with small divergences.

I don't know what you mean exactly by sub-families since there are many subdivisions.

For instance, Portuguese and Galician are branches of Galician-Portuguese. The latter is only one of the four branches of west Iberian romance languages. West Iberian is just one of the three branches of ibero-romances languages. Ibero-Romance is one of the two branches of the Western romance.

French, Portuguese and Spanish are pretty close. It's necessary some kind of introduction to all of them, but not that much.