Of course, some gemanic languages ARE really similar . . Dutch is similar to German and Dutch and Flemmish are the same language (okay, maybe technically different dialects of the same langauge, but the point is that the different names are more political than linguistic). Bit like Hindi and Urdu (but even more similar than those).

Here's my question. Are Russian, Ukrainian, Belorussian, mutually intelligible to the same degree Danish, Norwegian and Sweedish are? Or are they more like, say, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian (i.e., further apart, but to a varying extent, somewhat guessable)?

-- Mark