Comparative Grammar of Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and French: Learn & Compare 4 Languages Simultaneously

by Mikhail Petrunin

Nowadays thousands of grammar books, textbooks, outlines, references and language guides of Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and French are published year by year. However, all of them teach these languages separately. Here you will find a comparative grammar of the four major Romance languages together based on their grammatical and lexical similarities for you, lovers of foreign languages, to learn and compare Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and French simultaneously. It is an audacious endeavor to find or create a novel way of learning to speak several languages and becoming a multilingual person. It took me over 3 years to finish the book. It consists of around 700 pages, 10 chapters covering all the grammatical aspects of these 4 languages. It includes over 1000 examples, 500 easy-to-follow charts and tables. It contains 138 geographical, historical and cultural facts about Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and French countries. Below I will discuss several reasons why I decided to write this book and why you need it. 1) First of all, this book is written for readers like you who are fond of or would like to learn Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and French simultaneously or just to get an all-round knowledge of all these four Romance languages. It is designed not only for beginners who do not have an extensive knowledge of grammar, yet need a guide through the grammatical concepts of all mentioned above languages, but also intermediate and advanced students who would like to have a reference book of several Romance languages at once. 2) Second of all I spent many years learning these languages separately, which was a complete waste of time before I realized it. This book will hopefully save you a great deal of time and allow you to study and compare at a glance the four main Neo- Latin languages. 3) Knowledge of foreign languages is fast becoming a necessary requirement for those who are involved in international business, tourism, culture and education. This book offers you four languages to learn, which will make you feel at home wherever you go, whether as a tourist or businessman. 4) Learning several languages simultaneously or one by one will train and strengthen your memory and can help stave off such terrible diseases as Alzheimer’s. 5) If you have never studied several languages at once before and you like challenges, then you should definitely try it. Because it is a really entertaining and challenging task to do. In conclusion, I would like to sincerely thank you for preordering the book and your interest in it. I hope it will help you improve your languages and become multilingual.

Genres: Language, Nonfiction, Linguistics, Spanish Literature, Italian Literature, France, Textbooks

811 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 24, 2018

Reviews

[Mr. Steven Thomson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great idea! Obviously, I don't know all four languages well, but of the four, I can say Spanish is my best one and Italian my worst. The book has errors, some typos and sometimes grammatical inaccuracies, so it's not perfect , but the writer deserves a lot of credit for putting this together. It helped me fill in quite a few gaps in my knowledge, but the errors that I was aware of made me doubt the accuracy of some other things in the book. Nevertheless, it is worth a read and also for future reference.

[John Rivett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a simply amazing book for someone who is learning 3 of these languages along side each other. The similarities and differences I had noted are laid out to easily understand. This is going to make my life so much easier!

[Vicky Hunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Extensive Resource

This Comparative Grammar provides tips, roots, and lists of vocabulary across these four Latin languages, which are hugely similar. The author explains and illustrates by comparing and contrasting the word changes across this language pallet.

I found this an enormous help with language study, and it gives the learner a boost up with adding languages from the same family. I have it in the thick paperback format. It holds together quite well, even after months of frequent reading and reference.

This is something for anyone who enjoys language, word etymology, and language learning.

[Lingwijournal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect.

[Dvoshe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly enjoyable comparison of Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Italian. Sprinkled with interesting tidbits.

[Mariana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have this book at home and, as a polyglot, I can't stop praising Mr. Petrunin because the content is clear, accurate, and impeccably explained, with examples and cultural tidbits. I even emailed him with a question about the subjunctive in Portuguese, to which he replied with two possible options, one more often found in literary use, and the other was the colloquial version that I was more familiar with. To say that I was starstruck is an understatement. Happy with my self gift and looking forward to polishing my Catalan once the next book is out!

[reveurdart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can voice for this book. It's excellent. Truly the book I wish I'd had when I was younger, when I first started getting into the romance languages and saw the many similarities.

Learning languages take time, dedication and a strong work ethic. But most importantly you need a deep and genuine interest in the language you're learning, in order to have the motivation on a daily basis. You can't do it half way, but this book will sweeten it and make it easier.

[Adriana · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent opportunity to compare romantic languages