&gt; Consider that &quot;spanish&quot; and &quot;italian&quot; are officially separate languages, while the US and Scotland both officially speak &quot;english&quot;. The terminology won&#x27;t help you predict which pair has an easier time communicating.<p>I&#x27;m not certain, but that doesn&#x27;t sound right to me.<p>I&#x27;m pretty sure Americans and Scots have a far easier time communicating than someone who only speaks Italian and someone who only speaks Spanish.<p>(Assuming Scottish accents that are reasonably mainstream, not an extreme outlier.)<p>If I&#x27;m wrong, I&#x27;d like to be enlightened.