One advantage of learning Portuguese is that you pretty much learn Spanish as a by-product (at least understanding and reading) as the languages are so similar. In common with dunkyboy, I can get by in Spanish speaking countries by speaking Portuguese with a Spanish accent and knowing a few of the key differences. It's not uncommon here (in Portugal) to have Spanish people interviewed on TV where the interviewer asks the questions in Portuguese and the person replies in Spanish and there are no subtitles or overdub - people are expected to understand it. Michael.