How Similar Are Spanish and Italian?

In today's episode I compare Spanish and Italian! How much do these Romance languages have in commmon?
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** A mistake in the video: @10:28 I say that la and le both become l' before a vowel, but this is only true for la (not le). **

Thanks to Edu Tudela for recording most of the Spanish audio samples! And thanks to Jack Le Bourgeois and Anita Bonalumi for their feedback on the Italian parts.

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Special thanks to: Brandon Gonzalez, Ruben Sanchez, BJ Peter DeLaCruz, Michael Cuomo, Eric Garland, Brian Michalowski, Sebastian Langshaw, Yixin Alfred Wang, Vadim Sobolev, Raymond Thomas, Simon Blanchet, Ryan Marquardt, Sky Vied, Romain Paulus, Panot, Erik Edelmann, Bennet, James Zavaleta, Ulrike Baumann, Ian Martyn, Justin Faist, Jeff Miller, Stephen Lawson, Howard Stratton, George Greene, Panthea Madjidi, Nicholas Gentry, Sergios Tsakatikas, Bruno Filippi, Sergio Tsakatikas, Qarion, Pedro Flores, Raymond Thomas, Marco Antonio Barcellos Junior, David Beitler, Rick Gerritzen, Sailcat, Mark Kemp, Éric Martin, Leo Barudi, Piotr Chmielowski, Suzanne Jacobs, Johann Goergen, Darren Rennels, and Caio Fernandes for their generous Patreon support.

Music: "Erykah" by Otis McDonald.
Outro music: "Foundation" by Vibe Tracks.

[Langfocus]

I'm an active member on several Pod101 sites, and I hope you'll enjoy them as much as I do!

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[noober]

For us Italians Spanish people are like the cool brother while French is the one you always end up fighting with.

[claudioestevez]

I went to Italy, specifically a small city called Trento, and had a haircut with a lady that only spoke Italian. I spoke in Spanish and she replied in Italian. It was one of the funnest conversations I have had in my life. We didn't have any problems communicating. If either didn't understand something, we would try saying it another way. Usually, getting the message across. Italians are the most heartwarming people in the world. I think the French would disagree, though. Not sure what's the history there.

[chrysgnt]

I am Greek and I have studied Spanish. When I was in Rome and I wanted to ask for directions, I would speak basically in Spanish and at the beginning I would just say "Scusi, non parlo italiano ma parlo spagnolo", then move on to Spanish. It worked perfectly. Italian and Spanish are two of the most beautiful languages in the world. Italy and Spain are such beautiful countries and I also loved the people in both countries.

[ScottBurden]

I grew up in a small Pennsylvania town. My Italian American grandfather would take us to a local pizza place. He would see his friend there, who was from Cuba. My grandpa would speak Italian and his friend, Spanish. They had no problems understanding each other. It was fun to watch. 😊

[rober]

Well, from this comment section, the only things I get are:
-Italians hate French.
-Spaniards hate French
-Portuguese hate French.
-Anglo countries like Paris because it's the only place they know in Europe, but actually, hate French.

[leandronogueira]

Spanish and Italians writing in the comments:

Portuguese speakers having fun understanding 100%.

[LoreSka]

La cosa divertente è che se scrivo in italiano, molti spagnoli comprendono perfettamente.
Y si escribo en español, los italianos comprenden.

Siamo cugini/Somos primos.

[augustmosco]

This video was great. I was raised in a neighborhood that was half Italian and half Mexican and I was always amazed at the way that the "abuelitas" and the "nonnas" could meet at the little markets and talk to each other. As a very young child, I actually thought that it was one language (the "other" language) but people pronounced certain words differently. My grandmother only spoke Italian. When she spoke to me, I understood her. My best friend's mother only spoke Spanish. When she spoke to me, I understood her also. Funny how you adapt. Thanks again.

[chaos]

Un saluto a tutti I nostri fratelli spagnoli 🇮🇹❤🇪🇸

[enle]

Spanish, Portuguese and Italian are like a combo... You learn one of them and the other two are almost for free.

[TheYostef]

As a native italian speaker, i can understand 80-90% of standard spanish if spoken slowly without ever having studied the language

[joelsays]

I'm Spanish and have many Italian friends. I've found that when we speak in our native languages almost everything is understood. This is not the case with the French or the Brazilians (Portuguese). In addition to the language, I sense that Italians share the most cultural similarities with us than any other culture.

[lez]

I'm from Spain and I can understand 90% of written Italian and Portuguese. French on the other hand...

[OscarGraumusico]

Soy español, de Andalucía, y comprendo perfectamente el italiano escrito y hablado sin haberlo estudiado. Los italianos son como de la familia, cercanos y amigables!! Un abrazo fuerte en esta dura batalla de pandemia mundial.

[coulochonou]

Both Italy and Spain have mesmerizing history and culture, and I am glad to be their brother. Love from France

[ClemensReinkeProductions]

I very much enjoyed your comparison of Italian and Spanish. While born in Germany, my family moved to Italy when I was two years old. Thus, I picked up Italian like a second mother language. When I came to the United State I encountered many Spanish speakers including my ex-wife. I never formally learned Spanish but never had difficulties communicating with my in-laws. I even preached once at a family member’s funeral in Spanish. While I do feel more at home in Italian I can immerse myself into Spanish as well without ever learning it formally.

[MarioBecerraC]

Whenever I'm in an Italian speaking place I just speak Spanish with an Italian accent, and I throw in the few Italian words that I know. It's worked 100% of the time.

[fjrogon]

Los italianos y los españoles con un poco de paciencia nos entendemos perfectamente. Y además por cultura, por forma de pensar...fluye una química especial. Me ha pasado varias veces viajando por el extranjero. Al encontrarme con italianos y darse cuenta ellos de que yo era español la empatía ha sido casi instantánea. Saludos a mis amigos italianos desde España...🇮🇹🇪🇸

[WXSTANG]

My uncle is fluent Italian, and on a trip to Mexico he was conversing to others speaking Italian. He said 90% of the time the words are the same, or close enough that people got it, with small differences requiring him to say it a different way.