Lingusitics Which Language Is Easier to Learn: French or Spanish?

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When choosing a language to learn, Spanish is often considered more practical in the U.S. and for those living in Spain or Latin America, while French is deemed useful in Canada, parts of Europe, Africa, and Asia. The decision may vary based on personal interests, cultural connections, and future travel plans. For hobbyists, the choice of language can be less about utility and more about cultural engagement, literature, and media. Both Spanish and French have rich literary traditions, but French is noted for its complexity in grammar, making it challenging at advanced levels. Other languages like Mandarin, German, and Arabic are also suggested for their cultural significance and historical depth. Ultimately, the best language to learn depends on individual preferences and goals, as well as the cultural experiences one wishes to explore.

which one comes more handy french or spanish?

  • french

    Votes: 12 54.5%

  • spanish

    Votes: 9 40.9%

  • others(explain it in your post)

    Votes: 1 4.5%
  • Total voters
    22
En_lizard
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76
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which 0ne you think is better to know? i want tp learn another language but i don't know which to choose? how about other languages?
 
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If you're going to be living in Spain (or South America), Spanish is probably a bit more useful than French. If you're going to be living in (or dealing with people from) France, then you might find French to be a bit more useful.

How about Mandarin?

What happened to the "ask a stupid quetion" thread...?!
 
In most places in the US, Spanish will be more useful. However, if you plan to spend an extended period of time in or near Quebec, you better know some French.
 
and what if I am not moving anymore and just want to learn another language as a hobby or for getting to know another culture, reading great books and watching good movies? does that mean I am crazy?:biggrin:
 
most places in the US Spanish is most useful, and in Europe (where I'm from) they speak Spanish in Spain (O RLY) and almost Spanish in Italy and Portugal..
 
I should have voted "Other" meaning English.. English come in handy in almost all parts of the world..
 
Both languages are good choices, but in your own interest, you might want to explore media, books, sites- everything you can find on those cultures and decide which appeals most to you. Because learning a language is in large part learning a culture. When you find things about those countries and peoples, you'll be in a better position to decide on your own which is the best choice for you.

Try Wikipedia; look for articles on Spain, Mexico, France, Paris... Look at the pictures and observe your emotional responses. Read the stories about famous persons from those places and notice who you have more questions about. Try some foods from those cultures. Go to bilingual places and Internet boards and get to know what the people are like. Give that some time, though, because first impressions are often misleading. DO NOT judge a people by initial encounters. But get to know them, make some friends and ask them what they think about things- their attitudes towards their heritage, what they like and do for fun... Learning their language can become a lot easier then, because you'll already have support from them.

You're the only one who can decide which is better. And enjoy your adventure.
 
En_lizard said:
and what if I am not moving anymore and just want to learn another language as a hobby or for getting to know another culture, reading great books and watching good movies? does that mean I am crazy?:biggrin:

No, it just means that the question of which language is "better to know" becomes meaningless.
 
Math Is Hard said:
No, it just means that the question of which language is "better to know" becomes meaningless.

:redface: :redface: :redface: :redface:
right! i thought one of them might be greater in art and litreture than the other.
 
  • #10
French, I think I'm biased, because that's one of the main languages they teach here at schools..
And maybe because all the physics and mathematics I know is in French too.
 
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  • #11
Well I voted french. Spanish is mainly a bastardised version of Italian, and while french has its latin roots as well, it has developed a lot beyond that. It is a pain to learn once you get to a certain level because the grammar becomes more complex as you try to form more complex sentences.

for an alternative consider learning German or Chinese.
 
  • #12
Some of older physics and mathematics papers I am interested in are in French, rather than Spanish.
 
  • #13
Definetly french. Look at the UN building. The signs are either in french or english. plus, every high ranked member in the UN needs to know french. Yah, yah Spanish is used in S. America, and Spain/Portugal.
But French is used in Canada, Europe, Africa, and Asia
 
  • #14
En_lizard said:
which 0ne you think is better to know? i want tp learn another language but i don't know which to choose? how about other languages?

I would start with english. o:)
 
  • #15
Learn both French and Spanish.

French is useful in Africa and parts of the Middle East, and Spanish is useful in Spain, S. and Central America, Mexico, . . . I studied Spanish from grades 4-9, then German 10-12 and into university. I can read a little Spanish and French, but I speak, read and write German reasonably well, although I am somewhat out of practice.

I also started learning Russian, Bulgarian, Romanian, and a little Japanese since I interface with folks from these countries.

I would like to learn Chinese, perhaps Hindi and Urdu, Arabic, Farsi and a few other languages since each has a rich literary and historical tradition, not to mention the technical contacts.
 
  • #16
Of course French without question. Which is the more romantic? :wink:
 
  • #17
Physics_wiz said:
Of course French without question. Which is the more romantic? :wink:

Is Latin the most "roman"tic language? :smile:
 
  • #18
robphy said:
Some of older physics and mathematics papers I am interested in are in French, rather than Spanish.

You know, I ran across an old dynamics book from the late 1800's written in french by poincare in the engineering library.
 
  • #19
Ok, seriously I voted for french. It seems more useful to me than spanish. Most of Africa, Europe and Asia knows french, not spanish.
 
  • #20
cyrusabdollahi said:
Ok, seriously I voted for french. It seems more useful to me than spanish. Most of Africa, Europe and Asia knows french, not spanish.

Most of Europe knows french? I wouldn't say so.
 
  • #21
Adding something , here in Lebanon, everyone who went to school speak French, it's actually an official language of the country, after Arabic.
In the last few years(the last 10) English became official in schools too.
We are trilingual.
Few schools, specially private who teach other like Spanish and German ...
 
  • #22
radou said:
Most of Europe knows french? I wouldn't say so.

Do most know french or spanish?

France, Belgum, and Switzerland speak french.

I can only think of spain speaking spanish.
 
  • #24
radou said:
Most of Europe knows french? I wouldn't say so.

French and English are the two 'official' languages of europe. Although in holland and Germany you'll find it hard to get a response out of anyone if you do speak french.
 
  • #25
Kurdt said:
French and English are the two 'official' languages of europe. Although in holland and Germany you'll find it hard to get a response out of anyone if you do speak french.

French an "official" language in Europe?
Wow, I thought German and Spanish were as "official" as French. But no language comes close to the officialness of English.
 
  • #26
cyrusabdollahi said:
Do most know french or spanish?

France, Belgum, and Switzerland speak french.

I can only think of spain speaking spanish.

Whole Switzerland doesn't speek french.

Btw, Belgium and Switzerland are small. And of course france speaks french. And they speak only french.
 
  • #27
But I am not talking about number of people. I am talking about number of places one can travel and speak a certain language.

LOTS of people speak chinese...in china. So unless your in china, knowing chinese is not all that useful elsewhere.
 
  • #28
EL said:
French an "official" language in Europe?
Wow, I thought German and Spanish were as "official" as French. But no language comes close to the officialness of English.

The European parliament and other collaborations such as ESA all only use French or English as the official language.
 
  • #29
Here's a summary for Europe:
http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_237.en.pdf
 
  • #30
Kurdt said:
The European parliament and other collaborations such as ESA all only use French or English as the official language.

Really? But everyone speaks their own language in the Parliament?
 
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  • #31
EL said:
Really? But everyone speaks their own language in the Parliament?

No, us Croats, for example, speak french in our parliament. :biggrin:
 
  • #32
radou said:
No, us Croats, for example, speak french in our parliament. :biggrin:
Sure.:-p
Actually I mean the European Parliament!
 
  • #33
EL said:
Really? But everyone speaks their own language in the Parliament?

Well the elected members of the parliament from member states can't be expected to know one of either english or french but the permanent staff there adhere to this rule. Why german isn't a third option is beyond me because its the second most common language in europe with french being third.
 
  • #34
Kurdt said:
Well the elected members of the parliament from member states can't be expected to know one of either english or french but the permanent staff there adhere to this rule. Why german isn't a third option is beyond me because its the second most common language in europe with french being third.
Probably because the French are so stubborn and refuse to learn English...
 
  • #35
¿Francés? o ¿español?, vaya pero que tremendo lío. Bueno, que tal si vos aprende la lengua de Cervantes?
 
  • #36
Cyclovenom said:
...que tal si vos aprende la lengua de Cervantes?
I thought for a second that this was a very crappy French..
Never realized how similar Spanish and French are..
I always knew Italian was similar...
 
  • #37
which one is easier to learn?
 
  • #38
EL said:
Probably because the French are so stubborn and refuse to learn English...

That's exactly the reason why I feel a bit sorry for learning french for 4 years.

En_lizard said:
which one is easier to learn?

French grammar is hard, but then, I don't know about spanish grammar, since I didn't learn spanish.
 
  • #39
radou said:
Btw, Belgium and Switzerland are small. And of course france speaks french. And they speak only french.
More than 60 % of the Belgian people speak Dutch as their mothertongue ! But, yes , we also speak French. I agree with Cyrus though, French is more spoken in Europe than Spanish.

You are right when you say that the French suck at speaking other languages, but so do the Italians and the Spanish. Trust me, i know from a daily experience LOL :)

marlon
 
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  • #40
radou said:
French grammar is hard, but then, I don't know about spanish grammar, since I didn't learn spanish.

I studied French for 8 years in high school (which is required here in Belgium) and i also studied Italian in evening classes. I assure you that French grammar is much harder than Spanish/Italian grammar.

marlon
 

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