Spanish or French easier to learn?

I'm going to be taking four AS levels and want to take a GCSE in spanish or french. Which is easiest to learn/easiest at GCSE?

Thanks

Reply 1

paniking_and_not_revising

21

I personally found Spanish easier to pick up but did better in French because I studied it for 9 years.

Yea I did both at GCSE.

And I found the Spanish accent, sentence structure and grammar easier?

Further on though Spanish can get harder since there are more tenses than in French but you will only work with a few simple tenses at GCSE and I can't remember if we ever went through any of the compound tenses.

Reply 2

scribbledoutname

OP

6

Original post by paniking_and_not_revising

I personally found Spanish easier to pick up but did better in French because I studied it for 9 years.

Yea I did both at GCSE.

And I found the Spanish accent, sentence structure and grammar easier?

Further on though Spanish can get harder since there are more tenses than in French but you will only work with a few simple tenses at GCSE and I can't remember if we ever went through any of the compound tenses.

Do you do any for A level by any chance?
Thanks for commenting x

Reply 3

paniking_and_not_revising

21

Original post by scribbledoutname

Do you do any for A level by any chance?
Thanks for commenting x

I'm sorry no. But my friend took French and said it was awful. Yeah that's not very helpful. Sorry.

Reply 4

audi_turbo

16

What I've heard from most people is that Spanish is easier than French to learn. However, I personally find French very easy to learn because I enjoy the subject, so I guess it probably depends on the person.

Reply 5

callum9999

16

I also found Spanish a lot easier - but this could be down to experience though. Most people start learning French before Spanish, which most likely makes it easier to learn Spanish after that. It's not exactly the same of course, but a lot of the words are similar and you've already practised how to learn new structure/grammar etc.

But I personally found Spanish more enjoyable. Why don't you spend a day teaching yourself French then a day teaching yourself Spanish and compare the two?

Reply 6

Complex Simplicity

14

spanish is easier to write and read but french is much easier to listen to. Spanish listening especially post gcse is a nightmare mostly because most spanish speakers fuse the first and second words together. So instead of hello how are you, its hellohowareyou, and that makes it very difficult to pick out the individual words. Mexican spanish is easier to understand though.

Reply 7

FatCharlie

I would guess French, but I think it's quite individual tbh.

Reply 8

Deziah

15

No language is easy, imo. I took GCSE French and it was undoubtedly the hardest subject I did at GCSE, but definitely the most rewarding. Thirty people took GCSE French in my year, at least two thirds of them failed to meet their target grade and only three people actually want to take it at A-level and I've heard that it was the same with Spanish. They're both similar languages nonetheless, and people usually find that they're more naturally suited to one. A language is quite a lot of work considering it's just a GCSE.

Reply 9

scribbledoutname

OP

6

Thanks for the replies guys!

Original post by callum9999

I also found Spanish a lot easier - but this could be down to experience though. Most people start learning French before Spanish, which most likely makes it easier to learn Spanish after that. It's not exactly the same of course, but a lot of the words are similar and you've already practised how to learn new structure/grammar etc.

But I personally found Spanish more enjoyable. Why don't you spend a day teaching yourself French then a day teaching yourself Spanish and compare the two?

That's a brilliant idea Callum! Never thought of that, thank you :smile:

Reply 10

MidgeLing

I study both French and Spanish at A level and there's not much to choose between them. It really all depends on which you find more enjoyable because languages are something that you have to WANT to learn rather than what you're made to learn.

Hope you make the right decision :smile:

Reply 11

scribbledoutname

OP

6

Original post by MidgeLing

I study both French and Spanish at A level and there's not much to choose between them. It really all depends on which you find more enjoyable because languages are something that you have to WANT to learn rather than what you're made to learn.

Hope you make the right decision :smile:

Yes I think that's really true! I didn't like German and was forced to learn it for 3 years and now I don't even know how to say hello, haha. I love French and Spanish though, they sound really graceful and I really like hearing people speak the languages, although I have no idea what they are saying! How are A levels French and Spanish going? I've heard language A levels are really difficult! Well done for taking them :smile:

IMO, Spanish.

From my experience and reading other people's views, Spanish is easier at the beginning, but as you continue learning it gets harder than French.

Reply 14

cocobubbles

Original post by scribbledoutname

Yes I think that's really true! I didn't like German and was forced to learn it for 3 years and now I don't even know how to say hello, haha. I love French and Spanish though, they sound really graceful and I really like hearing people speak the languages, although I have no idea what they are saying! How are A levels French and Spanish going? I've heard language A levels are really difficult! Well done for taking them :smile:

That is definitely true....which is probably why a lot of people hate/do very badly in French because you are forced to learn it from a young age! I hated Spanish pre-GCSE because my teacher was rubbish so I didn't want to fail a GCSE (irony is that now I really want to learn another language and Spanish is at the top of my list!), but you do need to be motivated for French GCSE and A Level. Based on friends who did both, people say French is easier at GCSE but Spanish is easier at A Level. I think it is because you are used to hearing French and Spanish listening freaked people out because they speak at rapid fire! But then once you are used to it, Spanish A Level is not so bad.

Then you get to more advanced French and realise that actually people speak nothing like what you are taught! But good luck with language learning anyway! I would advise you to listen to some radio (even though you will have no idea what they are saying) in the background, just so you can get used to the tone etc, with whatever language you pick :smile:

Reply 15

kaypc

13

French is amazing :love:

Reply 16

username321708

2

Judging from posts I've seen on here and as the tutor herself at my college has stated....there seems to be a rapid loss of interest in German, whilst Spanish, French & Mandrain hoover up all the language students. I wonder why? Does nobody like the German language anymore? :frown:

There there German; don't cry. I still wub you :h:

Reply 17

aeterno

15

If it's just a GCSE you want, then Spanish. Although, as others have said, it all depends on you - plus if you have prior experience with one of those languages already, that's bound to be easier as you should know basic grammar by now.

Don't think about what seems the easiest but what's the most appealing to you :smile:

Reply 18

Victor-PP

15

For English speakers, I'd say French.

Reply 19

lazaro7

Hi,

My mother tongue is Spanish, so don't take my word for it :wink:

, but I've studied Italian and French and I find French more difficult to learn than Italian (Italian is quite similar to Spanish, so I'm taking it as a point of reference here). The Spanish and French grammars have lots of similarities, but also some crucial differences that make French grammar a bit harder. While in Spanish you can use the auxiliar verb "to have" with every other verb, in French verbs are split in two groups: those that use the auxiliar "to have" and the ones that use "to be", so you must be aware of which auxiliar to use when you're talking (well, something similar happens with Italian to be honest, but for some reason Italian is easier for me).

Also, when I studied Italian (more than 10 years ago), I could speak comfortably in a few months, but I've been studying French for almost two years and though I can understand it to a moderate level, it's still difficult for me to put phrases together and speak fluently.

Anyway, as others have said, it's a matter of personal preference, so you can study a bit of both languages to know which one is easier for you and which one you like the most, and go for it (as someone else suggested).

(edited 11 years ago)

Spanish or French easier to learn?

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