don't you hate when people assume that all spanish/portuguese speaking people

[so elektrikkxx]

are mexican or brazilian?
(this is not making fun of the thread about asians, i honestly want your opinions)

all i know is, whenever someone finds out that i can speak portuguese, people automatically assume i'm brazilian. this bothers me because first of all, the language originated in portugal (hence its name) and secondly, the accent i speak with sounds so different from a brazilian portuguese accent that if you heard one after another and were not a portuguese speaker, you'd never know they were the same language unless you had a really good ear.

i've heard similar complaints from my friend whose mother is from spain, saying she hates when people assume her mother is from mexico just because she speaks spanish.

i think it shows ignorance when people lump all spanish speakers together as 'mexican' and portuguese speakers as 'brazilian'.

thoughts?

[Chocolate Moose]

As I said on the other thread, it's an ignorance.

[ekkostar]

I can tell the difference between the languages and I'm not a linguist and I don't know how to speak any Spanish or Portuguese. I can tell by the area the language is coming from. Portugese is derived from Spanish, but it's not. Most of South America speaks it.

[so elektrikkxx]

what i meant was, it aggravates me when people forget that spain and portugal speak their respective languages, and write off every speaker of either language as a central or south american.

[TripperFan]

Originally Posted by ekkostar

I can tell the difference between the languages and I'm not a linguist and I don't know how to speak any Spanish or Portuguese. I can tell by the area the language is coming from. Portugese is derived from Spanish, but it's not. Most of South America speaks it.

Portugese is still derived from Spanish. The reason it's spoken in South America is because they settled there (as did the English with the U.S. and Canada and the French in Canada).

It amazes me how many Americans think we all speak French up here, and the French that's spoken is the same in France - it's not. The languages get "bastardized" over time. The American ear probably can't hear the difference between the two (like your friends with Portugese and Spanish) but we sure can. I was shocked that Palin could get pranked by those French Canadian DJs because to me, the accents are VERY different but I don't think most Americans are aware of that.

[so elektrikkxx]

Originally Posted by TripperFan

Portugese is still derived from Spanish. The reason it's spoken in South America is because they settled there (as did the English with the U.S. and Canada and the French in Canada).

It amazes me how many Americans think we all speak French up here, and the French that's spoken is the same in France - it's not. The languages get "bastardized" over time. The American ear probably can't hear the difference between the two (like your friends with Portugese and Spanish) but we sure can. I was shocked that Palin could get pranked by those French Canadian DJs because to me, the accents are VERY different but I don't think most Americans are aware of that.

I agree with you completely. Like when I hear Brazilians speaking Portuguese, it sounds to me very different from what my grandmother speaks and it sounds so strange, especially the way some sentences are constructed and the pronunciation of certain letters.

Having never been exposed to French, I can't distinguish the two but I'm sure with time I'd be able to.

[so elektrikkxx]

Originally Posted by TripperFan

Portugese is still derived from Spanish.

Actually it's not. Both evolved from Latin.

[InspectorExstead]

yeah, it's annoying. not everyone who speaks spanish is from mexico. i remember at my old job, two of my co-workers were talking and one of them asked the other "well...aren't you from mexico?" because he had talked in spanish to a customer. and he was like...no...i'm from el salvador that's not in mexico. not everyone who speaks spanish is automatically from mexico.

[TripperFan]

Originally Posted by vernacular decay

Actually it's not. Both evolved from Latin.

Well technically sure - you can say the same about English for that matter. I didn't mean that far back.

[TripperFan]

Originally Posted by InspectorExstead

yeah, it's annoying. not everyone who speaks spanish is from mexico. i remember at my old job, two of my co-workers were talking and one of them asked the other "well...aren't you from mexico?" because he had talked in spanish to a customer. and he was like...no...i'm from el salvador that's not in mexico. not everyone who speaks spanish is automatically from mexico.

I recently worked in a very diverse office and you could easily tell the difference between a Peruvian gal, a girl from Brazil and a lady from Colombia even though they were all speaking "Spanish".

[so elektrikkxx]

Originally Posted by InspectorExstead

yeah, it's annoying. not everyone who speaks spanish is from mexico. i remember at my old job, two of my co-workers were talking and one of them asked the other "well...aren't you from mexico?" because he had talked in spanish to a customer. and he was like...no...i'm from el salvador that's not in mexico. not everyone who speaks spanish is automatically from mexico.

try asking someone from spain if they're anything central/south american or caribbean and it won't go over well either