Would good knowledge of Spanish get me by well enough?

[moxie]

Okay, so I want to be a fashion designer. One day, after college, I really want to go to Milan to further my experience. Plus going to Italy has always been a dream of mine.
Seeing how similar the two are, would about ten years' schooling in Spanish get me by well enough in Italian? Like, just enough to order in restaurants and understand as much as I need to? I'm almost fluent now in Spanish, and I still have two more required years left of a language. I've been taking it since kindergarten.

[peggymckee]

Hi Moxie,

I'm sure you can "get by" with English. But Spanish & Italian though similar, are different enough that they are not interchangeable. In fact, I think that knowing Spanish is a little confusing when learning Italian--but maybe that's just the kids in my class! Good luck, Peggy M

[JamesBianco]

In fact, I think that knowing Spanish is a little confusing when learning Italian--but maybe that's just the kids in my class! Good luck, Peggy M

You are correct Peggy, I had 6 years of Spanish and spent a month living with a family in Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Spain) two years in a row. My Spanish background made it very difficult for me to learn Italian in College. The pronunciation being so very different. You can have two words spelled exactly the same in both languages and yet pronounced seperately an English speaker would swear they were two different words. I tried twice to take Italian courses, and dropped both eventually.

The languages have so much in common, but that is thrown to the wind when it comes time to pronunciation and communication. I suspect it will be difficult for Moxie to get over not mixing the two together and ending up speaking Italo-Spanish, especially given her strong background in Spanish.

[PeterTimber]

Dear Moxie I am well versed inboth languages and after I learned Italian I majored in Spanish in College and did very well by translating first in italian and then into speanish since that set up the gramatical rules and all you had to do is replace spanish for italian verbs,words and pronunciation. I then went to the University of Perugia for a year after high school and one day I started thinking in Italian and after that I never lost it. I did find when I went to South America my first experience inthe language resulted in my having an "amacoronado" accent in Spanish. Still later, after 5 years stay I became more comfortable with Spanish than Italian and to this day I can think in Italian and need only ahours conversation in italian and it all comes back so don't fret. =Peter=

[Cathynap]

Some of my South American "cousins" have expressed much difficulty with Italian when they have travelled to Italy. The few who spoke english had better luck with that. Personally, I have a very difficult time learning Italian because of Spanish. I mix the 2 up because they are so similiar. Good luck in Milan! We should all be so lucky to live our dreams!

[JamesBianco]

Some of my South American "cousins" have expressed much difficulty with Italian when they have travelled to Italy. The few who spoke english had better luck with that. Personally, I have a very difficult time learning Italian because of Spanish. I mix the 2 up because they are so similiar. Good luck in Milan! We should all be so lucky to live our dreams!

I agree, especially the pronunciation. I did fine with my verb conjugations and class work, but when it came time to express the language verbally (when you have a strong Spanish base) it is a nightmare. I can understand why speaking English would get you further.

[PeterTimber]

It becomes much easier when you are well grounded in grammar and live and work in the enviornment. =Peter=

[PeterTimber]

......alternately it can be called a cosmic moment. =Peter=