What's harder to learn - French, Italian or Spanish?

Question

I can't decide between learning French, Spanish or Italian. As I live in the UK, I guess French would be the most useful overall, but it also seems to be the hardest - mainly because of the very unphonetic spelling, difficult pronunciation and amount of irregular verbs, but I'm also told that both Italian and Spanish have an equal amount if irregular verbs? Also, I do like Italian, but I'm a bit worried about it being essentially useless in comparison to the other 2, as it's only spoken in Italy, while the others are spoken in multiple countries. Also, out of interest, could only tell me how hard Portuguese is in comparison to these 3?

So, what's easier to learn for a native English speaker?

Answer 1

I'm from Argentina, therefore Spanish speaker but I've learnt some Italian and a little French and I would say that the 3 of them are pretty much the same to learn from scratch, as they have the same amount of irregular verbs and conjugations. You may find French grammar a little bit more difficult because it has 3 different types of stress marks: ´, ^ and ` (written, of course) whereas Spanish has only ´ and Italian only ` , but that's all. I haven't learnt any Portuguese but from what I've heard and been told, the grammar is simpler and therefore easier. Regarding pronounciation, you will have to see for yourself which you find easier or you like the most, that's up to the person. Anyway, between Spanish/ French and Italian, I think you should choose the one you are more interested in/ you like the most, as there is not a big difference in difficulty.

Pronounciation rules are very definite in the 3 of them (unlike in English).

Answer 2

Definately Spanish!!

I have studied all three languages and have studied them in all 3 countries and would definately recommend learning Spanish.

French is a beautiful language, and depending on where you want to work/live, or which sector of work you want to be involved in, can be very useful. But I would say it is the hardest yes.

   French is spoken primarily in France and some parts of Africa, so would be a good language if you want to work there or something, or have links with there. There is also a good amount of resources available to you to learn, so it could be a good contender.

But nothing beats Spanish I am afraid, I have studies both French and Spanish for an equal amount of time and find that I am much more fluent in Spanish than French. Yes it has some irregular verbs, just like French, but if you can learn these then there is no problem, after you have the basic grammar it gets so much easier. The pronunciation is also very simple, everything you see is pronounced how it should be, so it is easy to read.

   Spanish is also spoken in Spain, Asia, North America and MOST of South America, and will be a big advantage to have if you plan on visiting/studying or whatever in North America.

As for Italian, I have just been to Italy and I love the language :) But I definately think that it would be worth learning a more worthwhile language before doing this one. If you learn Spanish for example, it is so much easier to learn Italian as many words are the same, and the grammar is quite similar. Although it is not spoken in a great variety of places.

There is nothing stopping you from learning all three! I have studied them all and I love it. But for your first one to learn, I would advise you to learn Spanish, as a basis for many other latin languages, and just cos it's the best ;)

Living in the UK means we can learn a variety of languages that will be beneficial as we have many links to many international organisations, so any will be a benefit.

As for Portuguese, I am learning than at the moment and it is quite easy. It is only easier for me as I learnt Spanish before hand, and Portuguese is unbelievably similar. It is about the same 'difficulty' level as all of them, although the pronunciation is a bit more complex.

Good luck!

Answer 3

I'm italian and I can assure you that italian grammar is about a nightmare for foreign people. And also for italian people, sometimes.

I really don't know about spanish and french. Somebody told me that spanish grammar is difficult too, but I can't be sure. Good luck!

Answer 4

You have to go with your hearth,the language that is the most interesting to you ,will be the easiest to learn.My wife is american and speak very well french,because she was interested in the french culture to begin with,that's why i'm saying that.I'm french and english was difficult for me to learn,but the reward is great.I can pick up  books,magazines,cd,dvd,and i do a lot of that.It's twice the pleasure in comparison to knowing only one language,and it open my world to the english culture.Hope this will help you .

Good luck

Answer 5

i find french the hardest for pronunciation, spanish and italian are more phonetic (sound how they are written)  

Answer 6

Conjugation : the three languages are equally difficult, they all have a lot of irregular verbs, French doesn't have more. The main problem about irregular verbs in French are the various endings of the verbs in infinitive form (Spanish : ar ; er; ir/Italian : are ; ire ; ere/French : er ; ir ; oir ; dre ; re..). The conjugation is just a little easier in Spanish because they only use one auxiliary in past tense, whereas Italian and French use two (with all the difficult rules of agreement it gives). But French doesn't have a present continous as in Italian and Spanish. Spanish on the other hand uses two kinds of "to be", which is a little confusing. To conclude, about the conjugation, from the hardest to the easiest 1. French/Italian 2. Spanish (but there is not a big difference).

Grammar : the three languages are very similar.

Genders=1. French (In Spanish and in Italian, the ending helps you to know if the word is feminine or masculine most of the time, unless French) 2. Italian (more exceptions) 3. Spanish

Plurals : 1. Italian (really more difficult) 2. French (more irregular plurals) 3. Spanish

pronouns and propositions : 1. French/Italian 2. Spanish

Spelling=1. French (way harder) 2. Italian 3. Spanish (very easy, once you know that only the "c", the "rr", the "l" and the "n" can be double, you wan write whatever you want just by hearing the word)

Pronunciation : 1. French (difficulties : "r", "u", "an", "on", "in", "eu"); 2. Spanish (difficulties : "r", "rr", "g/j") 3. Italian (difficulties : "r", "rr")

Stressed syllables : 1. Italian/Spanish (have to learn how the accents work) 2. French (no stressed syllables at all).

Idioms : equal

Vocabulary : 1. Spanish 2. Italian 3. French (the most similar to English).

So to conclude French is the hardest, then Italian, then Spanish. But you know, a language always seems easy when you like to learn it, so you should definitely choose the language you're the most interested in. French is the most useful in Europe, then Spanish, then Italian. On the other hand, I think it's too bad that so few people learn Italian just because it's less useful, because it's a very beautiful language.

And I don't speak Portuguese at all, so I couldn't tell.

Answer 7

the italian it's very harder to learn because i'm italian.

ciao e buona fortuna

Answer 8

French is definitely easier to learn than Spanish or Italian.  Once you learn the rules of spelling (and they are very definite, unlike with English) it is quite easy to remember that, for example "eau(x)" sounds like "oh", etc.  Also, even though all these languages are spoken rather quickly, I personally think it's easier to get the gist of spoken French than the other two.  Sometimes it can be difficult for an English speaker to get their tongues around these foreign languages, but overall, French is most similar to English.  So...that's why I chose to learn French!  

Answer 9

The grammar is equally difficult in all three. They all derive from Latin and the structures are similar; yes, you may find French most difficult because of the pronunciation so, I´d advice you to take Spanish. If you´d  apply a Scottish accent you´ll be doing great. And it´s a beautiful language that will give you a lot of joy learning + it´s spoken in Spain, Middle and South America and the Philippines.