I was just wondering what your feelings on the subject were?
I can speak fluent Spanish and when I went to Brazil this summer I could understand 90+ % of what was said (although I probably couldn’t produce it on my own). I had studied Portuguese for about two months before the trip, and I found that once you recognize the relatively minor differences in pronunciation and spelling, they are quite mutually intelligible.
Has anyone else had this experience or are the differences broader than I had thought.