Is English an easy language to learn?

[derspiess]

Did you achieve Portuñol proficiency? Should be doable with your Argentinian connections.

Nope.  I'm only vaguely familiar with the concept.  My wife and her family & friends all seem to be able to understand Portuguese fine, but never really speak it.  The few times we've hung around Brazilians, they all defaulted to Spanish.  Which I kind of liked, because the Brazilians spoke Spanish very slowly. 

I do wonder what my mother- and father in law speak when they travel to Brazil on vacation (which they do fairly frequently).  I'll have to ask them.  One thing I find odd and slightly annoying is that they stubbornly refer to São Paulo as "San Pablo" when they make mention of flying through there.  Seems to smack of Argentine arrogance but I suppose there could be another explanation.

[Caliga]

Related question:  How do you pronounce 'São'?  Is it "sano"?

[Valmy]

Related question:  How do you pronounce 'São'?  Is it "sano"?

That tripped me up to. It is pronounced like a female pig, sow.

[Admiral Yi]

I pronounce it sow, with a very slight nasal n at the end.

[Duque de Bragança]

Related question:  How do you pronounce 'São'?  Is it "sano"?

That tripped me up to. It is pronounced like a female pig, sow.

Except you need to go nasal on this one since it's a nasal diphtong.
Valmy has an advantage here,  since he may use his French phonetic knowledge on this one.  Sã=saint/sein in French (NOT sans).

IPA for those interested
[sɐ̃w ˈpawlu]
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Br-SaoPaulo.ogg

[Jacob]

One thing I find odd and slightly annoying is that they stubbornly refer to São Paulo as "San Pablo" when they make mention of flying through there.  Seems to smack of Argentine arrogance but I suppose there could be another explanation.

Not too different from English speakers referring to Vienna, Moscow, Copenhagen, Naples and so on. Most languages I'm passingly familiar with have names for places that are similar to but different from the name in the local language; it may be arrogance, but I don't think it's Argentine specific.

[Valmy]

"In Naples where love is king" just doesn't work.

[Ed Anger]

raten, abraten, beraten, zuraten, anraten, verraten, bevorraten, braten...

I just had a sudden urge to run off into the forest. 

I laughed.

[celedhring]

One thing I find odd and slightly annoying is that they stubbornly refer to São Paulo as "San Pablo" when they make mention of flying through there.  Seems to smack of Argentine arrogance but I suppose there could be another explanation.

Not too different from English speakers referring to Vienna, Moscow, Copenhagen, Naples and so on. Most languages I'm passingly familiar with have names for places that are similar to but different from the name in the local language; it may be arrogance, but I don't think it's Argentine specific.

Yeah, it's very common to develop particular names in your own language for cities, particularly if your country has historically had a significant relationship with that place. Being adjacent countries, it doesn't surprise me at all that Argentinians have Spanish names for some Brazilian cities. For example, we have lots of Spanish names for major French towns: Marsella, Burdeos, Niza, Estrasburgo, Tolosa...

[Monoriu]

Up to like 10 years ago, Seoul was known in Chinese as the "City of Han".  The Koreans aren't happy about that, because it implies that their capital is a Chinese colony.  So they led a successful PR campaign to get the Chinese to change the name to a neutral translation based on the English pronounciation of "Seoul".  No idea how they did it but they did it.  Now, nobody calls it City of Han anymore. 

[The Larch]

One thing I find odd and slightly annoying is that they stubbornly refer to São Paulo as "San Pablo" when they make mention of flying through there.  Seems to smack of Argentine arrogance but I suppose there could be another explanation.

Not too different from English speakers referring to Vienna, Moscow, Copenhagen, Naples and so on. Most languages I'm passingly familiar with have names for places that are similar to but different from the name in the local language; it may be arrogance, but I don't think it's Argentine specific.

Yeah, it's very common to develop particular names in your own language for cities, particularly if your country has historically had a significant relationship with that place. Being adjacent countries, it doesn't surprise me at all that Argentinians have Spanish names for some Brazilian cities. For example, we have lots of Spanish names for major French towns: Marsella, Burdeos, Niza, Estrasburgo, Tolosa...

Funnily enough this is a quite hit and miss system. For instance I've never heard Sao Paulo being referred to as San Pablo in Spain, but it seems that South Americans do the translation. Rio de Janeiro gets a free pass from becoming Rio de Enero, though.

[Valmy]

I have to say I think Vienna and Viennese sounds sophisticated and better fits the city in English than 'Wien' and 'Weiner'.  The latter makes me think of Jewish last names, ballpark hotdogs, and slang for penises.

[Valmy]

Funnily enough this is a quite hit and miss system. For instance I've never heard Sao Paulo being referred to as San Pablo in Spain, but it seems that South Americans do the translation. Rio de Janeiro gets a free pass from becoming Rio de Enero, though.

Speaking of Spain, calling it España would make you sound more pretentious than culturally sensitive.

[garbon]

Funnily enough this is a quite hit and miss system. For instance I've never heard Sao Paulo being referred to as San Pablo in Spain, but it seems that South Americans do the translation. Rio de Janeiro gets a free pass from becoming Rio de Enero, though.

Speaking of Spain, calling it España would make you sound more pretentious than culturally sensitive.

[Syt]

I have to say I think Vienna and Viennese sounds sophisticated and better fits the city in English than 'Wien' and 'Weiner'.  The latter makes me think of Jewish last names, ballpark hotdogs, and slang for penises.

The strong Viennese dialect would pronounce "Wien" more like it was written "Wean" in German; bit difficult to transcribe into an English equivalent, though. Maybe Veh-un, with a very short "un."