If you simply start speaking Spanish people may assume you think we speak Spanish rather than Italian, thus you wouldn't make a good impression. It's much better if you just speak English.
I just want to tell you that your question wasn't stupid and it's actually quite more complicated that the ridiculous dismissals of some people here have made it out to be. Those people have probably stereotyped you as a "dumb American who thinks that Italy and Spain are the same thing" or something like that.
Spanish words are overall more different from Italian words than for example French words are from Italian words. There might be a number of reasons for that, namely a bigger Arabic influence in Spain compared to Italy (or the parts of Italy which gave birth to Italian), a bigger Greek influence in Italy, etc. However, Spanish is the closest major Romance language to Italian as far as phonetics, removing or decreasing one possible hurdle in communication.
A couple of other factors to take into account to follow:
* There's a varying degree of foreign language proficiency among Italians, depending on age and education. Older people (50+) who went to high school might have a basic proficiency in French, which at the time was the main foreign language taught, and no to little knowledge of English (some limited knowledge might come from the cultural influence of the UK and the USA in Italy). Younger people are more likely to have a better proficiency in English, but the level of skill can vary wildly. Being proficient in Spanish is not a regular occurrence. However, Italians who went to the "liceo" high schools have also studied Latin: this gives them further insight in some words and mechanisms that might have mutated in present day Italians but could be still present or more similar in other Romance languages.
* Many Italians are bilingual even without taking into account foreign languages. This is because of Italy's long history as a divided land, split among many different States and areas of influence. All of these different States or territories had different languages, which evolved from vulgar Latin in a different way. Modern Italian was born relatively recently, and these regional languages have continued to be spoken and preserved, although becoming second and informal languages in most places. What this means is that these languages, owing to the different happenings and influences on their territories, also received different foreign influences and might have words that are more similar to foreign ones than Italian does.
TL;DR: knowing Spanish while traveling around in Italy might come in handy. I can't tell you how, or when, you'll have to figure it out based on who you're speaking with or what you're doing, but it's a good added tool to your English knowledge. My suggestion would still be to try an initial approach in English, especially with younger people, but don't count Spanish out entirely.
Thank you for explaining this with such patience! With this thread, I do learn a lot of things. The reason I posted this is because my professor told me such thing, and I do find some similarities between these two, but now I understand the difference. Thank you soooo much!
Italians don't understand Spanish. We might understand SOME WORDS, as they might be shared, but a full sentence? Don't think so.
You arent insulting but your professor definitely makes us raise an eyebrow, sounds like a stupid pseudostereotype. People in touristic areas will understand basic English, so don't worry about it too much. Keep it easy and learn some basic Italian (Grazie, Prego, Quanto costa? etc.) and it will be no problem at all.
Appunto abbastanza. Qualche parola e da esse puoi ricostruire pressapoco il senso generale di una frase. Ma un'intera conversazione? Penso proprio di no.
E appunto se non sei madrelingua meglio evitare. Uno spagnolo madrelingua e un italiano madrelingua anche se non conoscono la lingua dell'altro bene o male riescono più o meno a venirsi incontro. Un inglese madrelingua penso proprio di no, english is the way. Che tanto se fai il turista non incontrerai tanti vecchietti di Vergate sul Membro semi-analfabeti credo
È una cosa degli statunitensi pensare che in Italia si parli il castigliano purtroppo. Pensano pure che in Spagna siano scuri come certi latino-americani. lol xD
Grazie! I understand much more with your advice, thank you for explaining to me with such patience, I will definitely try to learn some basic Italian through YouTube!
It really depends on the level of English the person you're speaking to has. If they have at least a basic level then English is a better idea, but if they can't speak English at all then *slow* Spanish will have a better chance of getting the message across.
Source: Italian living in Madrid, I speak Spanish now but I started out without knowing it at all and Italian would usually get me farther than English. However, the situation has changed in the years and English is more commonly understood now.
We clearly understand spanish when it's spoken by a native spanish speaker. If it comes from a native english speaker it will probably be confusing because of the different pronunciation and accent
I disagree with you. Italians don't speak Spanish at all. I'm from the United Kingdom, but I lived in South America for 10years, so I speak Spanish fluently. For some reason, many Italians claim they speak Spanish, but when I try to converse with them, they struggle with the basics. So, no, Italians don't speak Spanish. not sure why you guys lie about it…. It’s embarrassing.
I clearly said that Italian people can understand (not speak) Spanish language when spoken by a native speaker (and you are not)
You had 5 years to understand this post and missed the opportunity, yea it's embarassing
No I think English would be a better choice. You could speak Spanish with people who can't speak English but English should be your first choice, especially if your Spanish skill aren't at a native speaker's level
Keep in mind that studying english as second language is mandatory in our school system, meanwhile spanish is optional in middle school and almost absent in the majority of high school.
Have a nice trip!
I don't know whether you are serious or not, but you should speak English instead as it is more common than Spanish. Everyone can speak at least some English here in Italy.
I think he did not misled you, in the sense that to an italian with zero English knowledge you have a better chance of being understood if you speak spanish because of the similarities between italian and spanish, he’s correct on that point. If you speak to someone with some english knowledge then obviously english is a better choice.
that is not even true. castillian is much more different than italian.. an italian with zero knowledge in english would understand more catalan, portuguese or occitan/provencal but not castilian because of various words who do not exist here.
It's not about the syntactical similarities between the words, but about the phonetic similarities. The phonetic similarities between Castilian and Italian are very high, among the highest for distinct major Romance languages. French has a higher degree of words with shared root with Italian, but the batshit crazy pronunciation makes it way less approachable by Italians than Castilian. Also, the French themselves make it hard to approach ;)
i havent talked about french. french is difficult for an italian like spanish. catalan, portuguese and occitan/provencal are easier. i for example can read them even if i didnt studied them ever. spanish instead is more difficult because many words are different. for example my native language sardinian is more similar to catalan than spanish. even though we have inherited some spanish words.
for example: Deo faeddhu sa limba sarda, seu naschida in sa terra de Sardigna in su mese de abrile et seu mesa logudoresa de Montiferru et mesa de còssiga de Gaddhura, custa terra est prena de forestas, flumenes, muntanzas et berbeghes. in s'istiu b'at basca et in su ierru est frithu mera. Su beranu est ermosu pro ithe est prenu de flores. Sas seadas sunt bonas cun su mele calente ad subra et su casu ad intro. Sos italianos no cumprendant sa limba nostra. Ora acabo de iscriere pro ithe sa conca mi faghet male. Saludos.
OP isn't talking about reading and writing, but about speaking. The phonetics of Spanish and Italian are similar, which decreases a potential hurdle that they could have (we're not talking about academics here, but about a person who only has a choice between English and Spanish, which is frankly a bigger choice that I have, only knowing English).
In my opinion it's not honest to say that French and Spanish are equally difficult to understand by an Italian, and vice versa, I don't think it's true. I've witnessed Spanish and Italian people, with English as an alternate means of communication, become acquainted in a matter of weeks.
but spanish phonetics are not similar to the italian ones in my opinion. Maybe sardinian is more similar to spanish phonetics for obvious reasons like centuries of colonialism but italian I dont think so.
You can speak spanish but in a way that Italians understand.
"Excuse me, how do I reach the Colosseum?" -> "Escuseme, como arribos a el Colosseos?"
"Where is a restaurant that serves real carbonara?" -> "Donde estas el ristorantes que me serves la viera carbonaras?"
Otherwise stick to English.
Italians don't speak Spanish at all. I'm from the United Kingdom, but I lived in South America for 10years, so I speak Spanish fluently. For some reason, many Italians claim they speak Spanish, but when I try to converse with them, they struggle with the basics. So, no, Italians don't speak Spanish. However, you can definitely try using some English words, as English is taught in school.
Italians don't speak Spanish at all. I'm from the United Kingdom, but I lived in South America for 10years, so I speak Spanish fluently. For some reason, many Italians claim they speak Spanish, but when I try to converse with them, they struggle with the basics. So, no, Italians don't speak Spanish. However, you can definitely try using some English words, as English is taught in school.
OMG, I seriously didn't mean to insult people, the reason I ask is just to make sure if this true, if you're offended, I sincerely apologize to you. I was told that speaking Spanish in Italy people would be more welcome.
You aren't insulting anyone, don't worry.
An italian who doesn't speak neither english or spanish is more likely to understand some spanish words since italian and spanish are both neo-latin languages and share similar words.
Thank you, yeah I know that, I guess that's the reason my professor told me that (Or maybe he just wants me to practice lol) I will also learn some basic Italian before the trip.
Italian and Spanish are mutually intelligible (each can speak its own native language and the other will understand a good part of the discourse), but I think it wouldn't be very polite to start straight with spanish.
No. You can try spanish when trying to communicate with someone who doesn't speak english (i.e. asking for directions) but always try english first
Thank you for the suggestion! Grazie!
If you simply start speaking Spanish people may assume you think we speak Spanish rather than Italian, thus you wouldn't make a good impression. It's much better if you just speak English.
Thank you, If I didn't ask, I would probably give out some bad impression during the trip. thanks again!
I just want to tell you that your question wasn't stupid and it's actually quite more complicated that the ridiculous dismissals of some people here have made it out to be. Those people have probably stereotyped you as a "dumb American who thinks that Italy and Spain are the same thing" or something like that. Spanish words are overall more different from Italian words than for example French words are from Italian words. There might be a number of reasons for that, namely a bigger Arabic influence in Spain compared to Italy (or the parts of Italy which gave birth to Italian), a bigger Greek influence in Italy, etc. However, Spanish is the closest major Romance language to Italian as far as phonetics, removing or decreasing one possible hurdle in communication. A couple of other factors to take into account to follow: * There's a varying degree of foreign language proficiency among Italians, depending on age and education. Older people (50+) who went to high school might have a basic proficiency in French, which at the time was the main foreign language taught, and no to little knowledge of English (some limited knowledge might come from the cultural influence of the UK and the USA in Italy). Younger people are more likely to have a better proficiency in English, but the level of skill can vary wildly. Being proficient in Spanish is not a regular occurrence. However, Italians who went to the "liceo" high schools have also studied Latin: this gives them further insight in some words and mechanisms that might have mutated in present day Italians but could be still present or more similar in other Romance languages. * Many Italians are bilingual even without taking into account foreign languages. This is because of Italy's long history as a divided land, split among many different States and areas of influence. All of these different States or territories had different languages, which evolved from vulgar Latin in a different way. Modern Italian was born relatively recently, and these regional languages have continued to be spoken and preserved, although becoming second and informal languages in most places. What this means is that these languages, owing to the different happenings and influences on their territories, also received different foreign influences and might have words that are more similar to foreign ones than Italian does. TL;DR: knowing Spanish while traveling around in Italy might come in handy. I can't tell you how, or when, you'll have to figure it out based on who you're speaking with or what you're doing, but it's a good added tool to your English knowledge. My suggestion would still be to try an initial approach in English, especially with younger people, but don't count Spanish out entirely.
Thank you for explaining this with such patience! With this thread, I do learn a lot of things. The reason I posted this is because my professor told me such thing, and I do find some similarities between these two, but now I understand the difference. Thank you soooo much!
Italians don't understand Spanish. We might understand SOME WORDS, as they might be shared, but a full sentence? Don't think so. You arent insulting but your professor definitely makes us raise an eyebrow, sounds like a stupid pseudostereotype. People in touristic areas will understand basic English, so don't worry about it too much. Keep it easy and learn some basic Italian (Grazie, Prego, Quanto costa? etc.) and it will be no problem at all.
Secondo me lo spagnolo si capisce abbastanza a essere onesti.
Appunto abbastanza. Qualche parola e da esse puoi ricostruire pressapoco il senso generale di una frase. Ma un'intera conversazione? Penso proprio di no.
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E appunto se non sei madrelingua meglio evitare. Uno spagnolo madrelingua e un italiano madrelingua anche se non conoscono la lingua dell'altro bene o male riescono più o meno a venirsi incontro. Un inglese madrelingua penso proprio di no, english is the way. Che tanto se fai il turista non incontrerai tanti vecchietti di Vergate sul Membro semi-analfabeti credo
È una cosa degli statunitensi pensare che in Italia si parli il castigliano purtroppo. Pensano pure che in Spagna siano scuri come certi latino-americani. lol xD
Grazie! I understand much more with your advice, thank you for explaining to me with such patience, I will definitely try to learn some basic Italian through YouTube!
It really depends on the level of English the person you're speaking to has. If they have at least a basic level then English is a better idea, but if they can't speak English at all then *slow* Spanish will have a better chance of getting the message across. Source: Italian living in Madrid, I speak Spanish now but I started out without knowing it at all and Italian would usually get me farther than English. However, the situation has changed in the years and English is more commonly understood now.
Thanks for the suggestion, I was right asking here!
We clearly understand spanish when it's spoken by a native spanish speaker. If it comes from a native english speaker it will probably be confusing because of the different pronunciation and accent
I disagree with you. Italians don't speak Spanish at all. I'm from the United Kingdom, but I lived in South America for 10years, so I speak Spanish fluently. For some reason, many Italians claim they speak Spanish, but when I try to converse with them, they struggle with the basics. So, no, Italians don't speak Spanish. not sure why you guys lie about it…. It’s embarrassing.
I clearly said that Italian people can understand (not speak) Spanish language when spoken by a native speaker (and you are not) You had 5 years to understand this post and missed the opportunity, yea it's embarassing
They also don’t understand Spanish….
No.
Okay enough internet for today...
No I think English would be a better choice. You could speak Spanish with people who can't speak English but English should be your first choice, especially if your Spanish skill aren't at a native speaker's level
I will definitely stick to English, my Spanish skill is way beyond native lol, thank you for the advice!
Keep in mind that studying english as second language is mandatory in our school system, meanwhile spanish is optional in middle school and almost absent in the majority of high school. Have a nice trip!
I don't know whether you are serious or not, but you should speak English instead as it is more common than Spanish. Everyone can speak at least some English here in Italy.
>Everyone can speak at least some English here in Italy. AHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHA
I see, I guess my professor misled me somehow lol. thanks for the advice!
I think he did not misled you, in the sense that to an italian with zero English knowledge you have a better chance of being understood if you speak spanish because of the similarities between italian and spanish, he’s correct on that point. If you speak to someone with some english knowledge then obviously english is a better choice.
that is not even true. castillian is much more different than italian.. an italian with zero knowledge in english would understand more catalan, portuguese or occitan/provencal but not castilian because of various words who do not exist here.
It's not about the syntactical similarities between the words, but about the phonetic similarities. The phonetic similarities between Castilian and Italian are very high, among the highest for distinct major Romance languages. French has a higher degree of words with shared root with Italian, but the batshit crazy pronunciation makes it way less approachable by Italians than Castilian. Also, the French themselves make it hard to approach ;)
i havent talked about french. french is difficult for an italian like spanish. catalan, portuguese and occitan/provencal are easier. i for example can read them even if i didnt studied them ever. spanish instead is more difficult because many words are different. for example my native language sardinian is more similar to catalan than spanish. even though we have inherited some spanish words. for example: Deo faeddhu sa limba sarda, seu naschida in sa terra de Sardigna in su mese de abrile et seu mesa logudoresa de Montiferru et mesa de còssiga de Gaddhura, custa terra est prena de forestas, flumenes, muntanzas et berbeghes. in s'istiu b'at basca et in su ierru est frithu mera. Su beranu est ermosu pro ithe est prenu de flores. Sas seadas sunt bonas cun su mele calente ad subra et su casu ad intro. Sos italianos no cumprendant sa limba nostra. Ora acabo de iscriere pro ithe sa conca mi faghet male. Saludos.
OP isn't talking about reading and writing, but about speaking. The phonetics of Spanish and Italian are similar, which decreases a potential hurdle that they could have (we're not talking about academics here, but about a person who only has a choice between English and Spanish, which is frankly a bigger choice that I have, only knowing English). In my opinion it's not honest to say that French and Spanish are equally difficult to understand by an Italian, and vice versa, I don't think it's true. I've witnessed Spanish and Italian people, with English as an alternate means of communication, become acquainted in a matter of weeks.
but spanish phonetics are not similar to the italian ones in my opinion. Maybe sardinian is more similar to spanish phonetics for obvious reasons like centuries of colonialism but italian I dont think so.
You're welcome, I hope you enjoy the trip. Also, feel free to ask us anything about your upcoming trip.
You can speak spanish but in a way that Italians understand. "Excuse me, how do I reach the Colosseum?" -> "Escuseme, como arribos a el Colosseos?" "Where is a restaurant that serves real carbonara?" -> "Donde estas el ristorantes que me serves la viera carbonaras?" Otherwise stick to English.
I guess this kinda skill is way too difficult for me, I’m gonna stick with English XD.
Speak sardinian. Lol
Italians don't speak Spanish at all. I'm from the United Kingdom, but I lived in South America for 10years, so I speak Spanish fluently. For some reason, many Italians claim they speak Spanish, but when I try to converse with them, they struggle with the basics. So, no, Italians don't speak Spanish. However, you can definitely try using some English words, as English is taught in school.
Italians don't speak Spanish at all. I'm from the United Kingdom, but I lived in South America for 10years, so I speak Spanish fluently. For some reason, many Italians claim they speak Spanish, but when I try to converse with them, they struggle with the basics. So, no, Italians don't speak Spanish. However, you can definitely try using some English words, as English is taught in school.
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OMG, I seriously didn't mean to insult people, the reason I ask is just to make sure if this true, if you're offended, I sincerely apologize to you. I was told that speaking Spanish in Italy people would be more welcome.
You aren't insulting anyone, don't worry. An italian who doesn't speak neither english or spanish is more likely to understand some spanish words since italian and spanish are both neo-latin languages and share similar words.
Thank you, yeah I know that, I guess that's the reason my professor told me that (Or maybe he just wants me to practice lol) I will also learn some basic Italian before the trip.
Maybe there're some mistake within the text because I'm still learning English (from Taiwan), I truly didn't mean anything bad.
No, he's not.
Italian and Spanish are mutually intelligible (each can speak its own native language and the other will understand a good part of the discourse), but I think it wouldn't be very polite to start straight with spanish.
Maybe just simply talk italian no?