Spanish and Portuguese long ago separated from a common ancestor and became identifiable as two distinct languages, but they are still close enough to each other to enable us to use the word 'conversion' when describing what the speaker of one language does in order to achieve command of the other. An American speaker of Spanish cannot help but go through a kind of conversion process in his approach to Portuguese. His mind will not let him do otherwise, for he is constantly reminded of the many correspondences between the two languages, of the many areas where they are parallel or nearly parallel. Inevitably and logically he sees the primary task before him to be that of altering his Spanish patterns so as to fit the Portuguese mold. He is going to get at Portuguese via Spanish. He is going to convert.
This manual has grown out of a need to supply students with a guide to making the Spanish to Portuguese conversion. It is written in a casual, informal style, not unlike the conversational style of the classroom, where much of its content had its origin and initial expression. It is written for you, the student. It provides an extensive, non-technical examination of those Spanish/Portuguese correspondences that have proven most troublesome to students, correspondences which you must be particularly aware of if you wish to keep your Portuguese separate from your Spanish. This manual is not exhaustive in its approach; it does not attempt to cover all the differences between the two languages. It concentrates on the known trouble spots.
The terminology used in this manual takes the conversion process into account. It recognizes the fact that in going from Spanish to Portuguese you will see the latter in terms of the former. You will compare nearly everything you learn in Portuguese with its counterpart in Spanish. The word 'conversion' is itself a reflection of this frame of mind. When we talk about 'changing' or 'modifying' Spanish patterns, when we say that a Spanish sound
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