Italians: do you understand French or Spanish more easily?

[gixajo]

Because Spanish from wherever has horribly lazy enunciation, making New World speakers sound, more or less, like Mexican Wetbacks, or, even worse, guttaral Chulos. And yes, Spain has lazy enunciation, minus the Wetback and Chulo factor. Italians can also hear what I'm hearing, and they reasonably assess it as unpleasantly sounding.

[gixajo]

I'm afraid you won't reap many answers to that question.
For some reasons, the Italians are reluctant to admit that their language might be closer to Spanish. As if they were frightened at the thought of being confused with Mexicans in America.

I think there are more Frenchs that are reluctant to be associated with Iberians than Italians.

Although maybe is only one issue of the two French who participate the most in this forum, which coincidentally are the two half Italians.

As a French, what do you opine about this?

[Defcon2]

The listened Italian I understand perfectly without having a fuc*** idea of Italian. French is another story, neither written nor spoken.

[kkk77]

I'd be very surprised if it is not Spanish.

[Tooting Carmen]

bump

[Fraisod]

I'm very amused that nobody touches this.

[Luso]

I saw like a billion videos ab this. Most Italians say Spanish is easier to understand (and Portuguese for that matter). French I'd imagine is way harder to understand in reading and in phonetics for an Italian (and Spanish, Portuguese) unless they have some decent background in learning the language.

[Fraisod]

I saw like a billion videos ab this. Most Italians say Spanish is easier to understand (and Portuguese for that matter). French I'd imagine is way harder to understand in reading and in phonetics for an Italian (and Spanish, Portuguese) unless they have some decent background in learning the language.

I'm a native Spanish speaker, and I learned French in high school & later for 3 years at university (rusty now after not using it irl for many years). I studied Italian for 6 months in the 7th grade, and bits of vocab acquired naturally from hearing speakers, and watching movies, etc.
If I watch movies in those languages, Italian and French are equally straightforward, but Italian vocab is "naturally" understandable because the phonetic similarities to Spanish make it easier to start with.

[Hasien]

Because Spanish from wherever has horribly lazy enunciation, making New World speakers sound, more or less, like Mexican Wetbacks, or, even worse, guttaral Chulos. And yes, Spain has lazy enunciation, minus the Wetback and Chulo factor. Italians can also hear what I'm hearing, and they reasonably assess it as unpleasantly sounding.

Mexican Is not race educate yourself the mexicans In U.S doesn't really represent the middle class population of Mexico.

And yes many mexicans are highly European to pass as Italians such as my mother family side.

[zebruh]

Because Spanish from wherever has horribly lazy enunciation, making New World speakers sound, more or less, like Mexican Wetbacks, or, even worse, guttaral Chulos. And yes, Spain has lazy enunciation, minus the Wetback and Chulo factor. Italians can also hear what I'm hearing, and they reasonably assess it as unpleasantly sounding.

Im not sure what you are talking about. Spaniards muffle their speech, yes but latin americans talk more sharper in General. Spanish and italian is actually much more alike in enunciation then any other language. Its probably why italians assimulate easier when they move into places like argentina. Definitely more so then english french and possibly portuguese. In enunciation the only other language I can think of similar is greek. Although greek sounds like spanish enunciation to a person who speaks a non romance language, its very different language.

Knowing no italian, spanish speakers can still understand some degree of italian. They have degree of mutual understandibility. But theres alot of italian words that are different from spanish also. Honestly alot of these languages like spanish portuguese and italian sound the same but with weird or different accents.