[mettamage]

I know a bit of Italian and I found out that if I think hard enough there are cognates! Or, at least, something close to it anyway. I used your example of fingir/fingere and asked ChatGPT. See for yourself:

Me:

Is there a word in English that looks like fingir and is related to "to imagine"?

ChatGPT:

The English word "feign" is related to the Spanish word "fingir." Both words share a common Latin root, fingere, meaning "to shape" or "to form." While "feign" often means pretending or giving a false appearance, it can be connected to "imagine" in the sense of fabricating or creating a scenario in the mind. So, "feign" might be what you're looking for!

[satvikpendem]

I found learning Latin (and to some extent, ancient Greek) to be far more useful for learning new words in the Romance languages (and English) in general than actually learning the Romance languages themselves.