Why does Portuguese sound so different from Spanish?

As Portugal is isolated geographically from the Mediterranean it makes sense that linguistic memetic flow continued more readily among the other proto-Romance speaking countries during the Renaissance, leaving Portuguese to evolve more-or-less on its own. Thus, it sounds different from the other Romance languages.

Which is harder Portuguese or Spanish?

For most native English speakers, Spanish is slightly easier to learn than Portuguese. This is primarily a matter of access. Another reason Spanish is easier to learn is that pronunciation in Spanish is simpler than in Portuguese. Spanish uses five vowel sounds and has very consistent spelling.

What makes Portuguese different from Spanish?

Spanish has 5 vowel sounds, while Portuguese is leading with 9. The vowels with a nasal sound don’t found in Spanish. Portuguese has much more complex phonology than Spanish with many extra sounds. And this is the one reason that Portuguese speakers have an easier time understanding spoken Spanish than vice versa.

What is the best way to learn Portuguese as a Spanish speaker?

As a Spanish speaker, your challenge is first to focus on the very different pronunciation of Portuguese, where words are rarely pronounced the way you might expect. Then you can begin to learn the major differences in grammar.

Is it possible to read Portuguese well?

Most likely you can read Portuguese very well, but you might stuggle to understand the spoken language. When you speak, you might speak with a Spanish accent, or you might speak portunhol. It’s in the everyday spoken language where Spanish and Portuguese are most distant.

How many vowels are there in Spanish and Portuguese?

In general, Spanish has only five vowels : a, e, i, o, u, plus some dipthongs like ue, ie which are just combinations of them. To these five, Portuguese adds an open é, open ó, and a bunch of dipthongs and even tripthongs, and nasalized versions of many of these.