Richard Jernigan -> RE: Paco (Jan. 27 2011 18:02:52)
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quote:
Do Portoguese folk understand spanish or whats the deal here? At the beginning of one summer working for the University of Texas Linguistics Research Center, I returned to my office to learn I was to share it with a beautiful redhead from São Paulo. We shared no common language, but she demonstrated that if she spoke Portuguese slowly and clearly, and I did the same with Spanish, we could understand one another. So, years later, when I went to Rio de Janeiro, I thought I was set--but, no. When I started speaking Spanish, people's eyes clouded up as they thought, "Foreign language! Don't understand!" Next time I went to Rio I had a solution. I had learned enough Portuguese to start a conversation. Then I slowly transitioned to Spanish. Most people seemed to think I had a severe Spanish accent, but followed OK. RNJ
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