Comparative Grammar of Spanish and Portuguese: Learn & Compare 2 Languages Simultaneously (With Useful Phrases to Survive a Conversation)

I learned Spanish relatively thoroughly through several years of high school and university classes as well as travel to Honduras and Bolivia (as well as plenty of time of individual study and consuming Spanish language media). Once I felt confident enough in the language I decided to dip into Portuguese for several reasons, one of them being the close relationship between the two major (but not only) Iberian Romance languages. For this I used several workbooks, dictionaries, language guides and apps (including Duolingo). I bought this book along with those resources, but for some reason, I never got around to thoroughly utilizing it.Since then I have risen to a conversational level (CEFR level B1/B2) with Portuguese. Since I hit that intermediate plateau and will not have an opportunity to pursue a true immersion experience anytime soon I decided to get down the basics of French, once again for several reasons one of them being the large overlap with other Romance languages as well as its shared vocabulary with English. I have mainly been using Duolingo for learning the phonetics and basic grammar, Living Language French for more repetition and exercises, an Anki deck for vocabulary, and this book for filling in the gaps.As others who have taken a crack at multiple languages and learned at least one of them very thoroughly, I also have noticed that learning or speaking several closely related languages can be both helpful and harmful. I remember learning new concepts and vocabulary early on in Portuguese awfully quickly, but always hit a mental block when a small rule or word differed from that of Spanish, especially when false cognates are involved. I partially mitigated this anxiety/issue by doing Duolingo exercises in the Spanish format of the app (translating from Spanish to Portuguese and vice versa), and would highly recommend this approach to anyone who is learning a closely related language to one that they already have a strong knowledge of.Having that side-by-side comparison between the two languages was extremely helpful while learning Portuguese and having access to this book which now compares French to two other languages I already have a working knowledge of has improved my understanding of all three of this languages which much less effort on my part. Sure, there are subtleties that may not be completely accurate or typical of any one specific language, but overall they do not detract from the whole much at all and are easily clarified by cross referencing other resources (which is a habit any good language learner should develop anyway). Anyway, I would like to commend and thank the author for producing such a comprehensive and high-yield guide for those passionate about learning any foreign language, especially more than one. Would highly recommend to anyone who already is very familiar with at least one foreign language (especially a Romance language) and trying to learn another.DISCLAIMER: As hinted to in the title, if you haven't thoroughly studied at least one language as an adult, this book is likely less useful to you. I found it most useful after several years of relatively intense study in several languages. For that first foreign language you learn, it's best just to stick to your target language and not muddy the process, because during this process you're not just learning a new language, you're learning HOW to learn a new language. Once you've been able to compare at least two different languages (your own maternal tongue and your target language) thoroughly, then you become much more efficient at pattern recognition and anticipate common pitfalls suffered from among beginners. This is the type of learner who will find the most use from this book in my opinion, and for those learners I give this my whole-hearted endorsement.Also, as there is no audio component to this resource, it is important to have at least one resource which allows you to go through spaced auditory and speaking repetition, whatever that resource may be. As mentioned above, while this is an invaluable resource, I wouldn't recommend it as a sole resource for learning any language.

I really like this book. It gives clear explanation and you see the differences in all these languages . It is a book I have been looking for.

Love the comparison. I am a fluent native Spanish speaker and I'm trying to learn Portuguese. I love seeing the comparisons because they can be and are helpful. I also prefer to learn Portuguese from the Spanish language point of view because the words are similar and just overall easier for me. Absolutely love the verb charts as well!

Definitely worth buying its a well resarched and written book

I'm native Portuguese speaker. The comparison is deep with a lot of details that I've missed in my own mother tongue. I'm trying to learn Spanish, and this book is perfect reference guide between Portuguese and Spanish with a lot of examples.* Grammar explanations need to be read carefully and always read the examples.* Dialogue sentences are for beginner or intermediate level but enough for a socialization.* It is missing a workbook.

A very good and easy to use book

I speak Spanish and am learning Portuguese. I thought that the book would be helpful, however it is not reliable. I have just started reading it and alreadt found a mistake!!Page 268Spanish luego que, así quePortuguese logo que, assim queEnglish as soon asIt should be "en cuanto" or "tan pronto como" in Spanish! The Spanish translation is wrong.Don't trust the writer. He is not bilingual Spanish/Portuguese.

Thorough, accurate and easy to learn two languages at once. (Ok, it's not easy, but this book makes it as easy as possible)