I suppose you are right. The type of employer who would hire me even after I cursed him in elaborate Spanish sentences.

(May 5, 2015 at 5:11 am)pocaracas Wrote:

(May 5, 2015 at 5:10 am)Alex K Wrote: The best we can do is some people who speak a vaguely similar language

spanish?

I find it easier to understand people from Brazil than those from Portugal. It's like they speak gypsy with the European version.

(May 5, 2015 at 8:05 pm)Polaris Wrote:

(May 5, 2015 at 5:11 am)pocaracas Wrote: spanish?

I find it easier to understand people from Brazil than those from Portugal. It's like they speak gypsy with the European version.

Is your first language Latin America Spanish?
If so, don't worry, even those of us who are Brazilian have trouble understanding people from Portugal sometimes. 

More than once I thought I heard people speaking Russian when they were really speaking European Portuguese.
Now after listening to some TV in EU-PT I can understand it naturally. Even though sometimes the manner in which they speak still makes me cringe. Some of it just sounds so formal and antiquated.  But I'm sure they think we butcher their language with our peasant accents  

My first language is English, but I do know some Spanish. Less now than I did a few years ago, however.

(May 5, 2015 at 8:22 pm)Polaris Wrote: My first language is English, but I do know some Spanish. Less now than I did a few years ago, however.

To learn Spanish when your first language is English can be very tough and discouraging.
Languages that originated from Latin tend to have rules that are more complicated than English. (in my opinion)
English is fairly easy to learn after you have absorbed the basics.
Although to be honest it's not like learning Dutch or German are a walk in the park, either.

I've always heard that English is one of the harder languages, due to the amount of variations.

(May 5, 2015 at 8:27 pm)Jericho Wrote: I've always heard that English is one of the harder languages, due to the amount of variations.

They were feeding you lies. 

Well, I am used to that by now (being American and all).

The only issue I had was in thinking Spanish used the same sentence structure as Arabic, a language for which I took a course in college. I was oh so wrong in that assumption.

English is hard because it got rid of much of its grammar in relation to its comparative languages.

(May 5, 2015 at 8:28 pm)Jericho Wrote: Well, I am used to that by now (being American and all).

Yes, you're whole country is based on lies 
Our entire continent is.
Our entire planet is. 

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(May 5, 2015 at 8:29 pm)Polaris Wrote: The only issue I had was in thinking Arabic used the same sentence structure as Arabic, a language for which I took a course in college. I was oh so wrong in that assumption.

English is hard because it got rid of most of its grammar.

Do you mean thinking Hebrew [...] or thinking English [...]?

Actually, because English got rid of most of its grammar rules that it has become much easier to learn in comparison with other languages. (in my opinion)