I'm super excited right now! Those of you who have learned or are learning a foreign language such as Romanian, as well as, Portuguese or some other Romance language will understand why. Languages are a fickle thing, each and everyone is diverse, but many share similarities. Generally, those that share similarities are languages of the same family, and occasionally they share enough similarities to be mutually intelligible. (That means that someone who speaks one language can understand a speaker of another without any prior knowledge of that language and vice versa.) The reason is that most languages evolve from the same ancestral language. These languages are grouped in what is called a language family or language group.
I didn't know about this when I first began learning Spanish, until one day my mom sent me down the street to an Italian deli and I found I could READ the Italian wording on a bag of snickerdoodle-esc cookies. I was elated because I had never learned any Italian previously. So very excited I got everything else my mom had asked for and rang it up before dashing home and telling the rest of my family about my surprising experience.
Two languages that I'm learning are from the Romance Language family. These languages being Spanish and Portuguese. It's because of this that they share many characteristics and even some words, which makes learning them both at the same time a lot easier. If you're impatient like me and would like to learn as much as possible in as small an amount of time as possible, then you can do this as well. Just pick two or more languages from the same language family (keep in mind there are sub-groups such as in the Celtic language family where there are Q-Celtic and P-Celtic (also called Goidelic and Brythonic)) and begin learning. You'll have the advantage of not having to learn two or more vastly different grammar structures all at once, and you'll probably have some cognates (words that are the same or similar between two or more languages, such as "libro" in Spanish and "livro" in Portuguese) to help you. Just be aware of false cognates (words that look the same or similar between two or more languages but DON'T mean the same thing such as "escritorio" in Spanish which means desk and "escritório" in Portuguese which means office) that will try to embarrass you mercilessly.
I, myself, have exploited this a lot to make learning Spanish and Portuguese very easy and quicker than just learning Spanish and Scottish Gaelic would be. While I haven't personally experienced a moment where I have been caught in an embarrassing trap laid by a false cognate, I know they're out there waiting. It's just a matter of time. You should be aware of them when learning languages from the same language family. In fact, you could probably create a list with a simple Google Search and add them to your learning routine so that you're prepared for those traps. After all, no one likes to ask for a glass of water and accidentally ask for a butt-cheek instead. Oh, the shame and the embarrassment that would set upon one so unfortunate. I pity thee.
I'm absolutely fascinated by this and love exploiting it as much as possible. What about you? Did you know about this before reading this post? If so did you find it interesting and helpful? Have you experienced the embarrassment of using a false cognate? Feel free to comment. I would love to hear your feedback or more realistically READ it.
Now, it's that time again. Adios, hasta mañana! Tchau, falar amanhã! Bye, talk to you tomorrow!