How long for a French-Speaker to learn Italian?
You must surrender to the language .. then you will be able to speak it.
Which is easier to learn, Italian or German?
If you speak a Romance language: definitively Italian, since you already know good part of the vocabulary and the grammar is more or less the same. Written romance languages are always on the verge of being mutually understandable.If you speak a Germanic language: definitively German, for the same exact reasons.What about English? The vocabulary is half Romance, half Germanic. English grammar is Germanic, but German grammar is so different from English grammar that it could be much easier to grok Italian: German is SOV, Italian and English are SVO! On the other hand, Italian verbs will crush your soul, while German verbs will make you realize that all those irregular English past tenses are just regular German past tenses. So I’d say German.And if you spoke another Indo-European language or even a non Indo-European language? The vocabulary will be mostly alien, and the grammars are very similar; German has three genders Vs. two in Italian, and German has four cases Vs. none in Italian. But many other languages have cases, while if your language doesn’t have genders, two is not much better than three.Both languages are very easy to read (German is easier, though: essentially no ambiguity nor problems with stress position) and usually if you can read it you can listen to it. Actually, in a couple of days you can teach someone how to transcribe speech (as far as it is spoken clearly and slowly) without teaching the language!A problem with German is that even a perfect German will always mark you as a foreigner since most Germans don’t usually speak German but the local dialect (and no Swiss speaks German: they all speak dialect!), while in Italy it’s more or less common to have people that speak only Italian.
Is it possible to master English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Latin and Greek at the same time?
It depends on a number of factors.Firstly, some people have the natural aptitude for learning languages, and you might be one of them.Secondly, the ability to learn languages usually tends to fade with age, so, if you're young enough (especially if you're under 16), mastering foreign languages will be less of a challenge for you.You should also take into consideration the origin of the languages. For instance, French, Spanish, Italian - all three descended from Latin, and English has a large Latin superstrate (70% of words are of Romance origin). German is quite close to English, but far from other languages you mentioned. Greek is even farther.I don't believe you can master all of them at the same time. Mastering(!) languages is very difficult, if possible at all, for there may be lots of collocations, regionalisms and special vocabulary you will have to memorise. I have been studying English for a considerable period of time, yet I'm still far from mastering it.So, IMO, mastering all 7 languages you've mentioned at a short period of time is exceptionally hard, but, if you really try, you can learn them at a very good level.
Do Britons speak two or more languages? If so which? Spanish, Italian, French, German?
The vast majority of British students have classes in a foreign language; traditionally, this used to begin at secondary school level, but nowadays more and more primary schools are beginning to tech French.The most commonly taught language is French, followed by German. If the student shows an aptitude for languages, a second language may follow after 2–3 years. The most common “second languages” are German and Spanish. When I was at school, many of the more academically-minded were also taught Latin - to my own personal chagrin, my own secondary school ditched Latin in favour of Russian the year after I left.To answer your question, however, we British vie with our American cousins for the prize of being the world’s worst language learners and few British students who emerge from our education system could say that they speak any language other than English. The situation is slightly different in Wales and Scotland, where Welsh and Scottish Gaelic respectively are the teaching medium in a number of schools, so that their students emerge bilingual.
Which language should I learn: German, French or Spanish?
My grandfather used to say:English: the language of the worldFrench: the language of politics and the eliteGerman: the language of engineersGiven the fact that he was born in 1917 it might be a.bit back dated, still in Europe it largely applies.Traditionally German opens doors to Central, Eastern Europe and TurkeySpanish opens doors to Latin America traditionally, having said so.The choice between Spanish or German is difficult it depends on:LocationBusiness EnvironmentI”d say go for both. German opens doors door other languages like Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, SwedishSpanish opens doors to languages like Portuguese, French and Italian.As i said before if you master both you allow yourself open to some pretty good opportunities
Best language to learn: German, French or Spanish?
It depends on your reasons for learning a foreign language, and also where you live. I studied German in high school, then got a bachelors degree in it, because I wanted to do something different from what most people do. I've never regretted it, as it allowed me to spend my junior year of college studying in Germany, and now I speak, read and write a language none of my friends can. The downside is that it's hard for me to find people to practice with. I've also studied French (two semesters) and picked up quite a bit of Spanish just by living in Southern California, and I find both of those easier to learn than German. If you live in an area with many Spanish speakers, Spanish would be easiest to practice. Be aware, however, that you will study academic Spanish in school, which is as different from everyday Spanish as academic English is different from how most of us actually speak. French is a good middle road--not as complicated to learn as German, not as "ordinary" as Spanish. Again, however, your opportunities for practice may be limited.
Should I learn French or German first?
It depends. For me, the choice of a foreign language to learn has a lot to do with the countries where it is spoken and whether I can identify with the culture, or whether I can imagine living in one of the countries where I'd rely on the language. I believe it is important that the style of life in that foreign country resonates with you; this makes it a lot easier to get in touch with the language, with the people, and you'll have fun discovering what makes the language special (e.g. the French subjonctif which neither English nor German has, or the German way to create composite nouns (like Problemlösungskompetenzratgeber).And what's in it for you, personally? Can you use one of the languages in your job, or use it as an asset in your CV to help you advance in your career? Or is it purely for pleasure? I think what Marc-Olivier Meunier said is quite important: both are world languages, but a lot more people speak French than German.As for learning the languages, both are not easy to learn. German tends to be more rational, direct, and logical, while Fernch is more emotional and subliminal. Both have a lot of exceptions, but I think the German case system and verbal constructions (English: I go, you go, s/he goes, we go, you go, they go - German: ich gehe, du gehst, er geht, wir gehen, ihr geht, sie gehen...) are very hard to learn if you don't actually use the language.If you want to learn both - what kind of a learner are you? Do you like challenges, or would you rather start with something not too hard? If you like a grammatical challenge, go for German first - knowing that German words are easier to pronounce than French ones, if you are a native English speaker.And take a look at these answers as well:Is learning German more like learning French or English?Which one is the easiest to learn, French or German?How difficult is it to learn French after German?Which language is more useful to learn: French or German?Should I quit German to learn French?
Which language is easier in learning ..Spanish or Italian?
I have learned both as second languages. Spanish is a little bit easier than Italian. The main difference is the fact that Spanish is a completely phonetic language - once you have learned the rules of stress and the correct placement of accents, you can always predict the correct pronunciation from the writing with total accuracy. Italian is also very phonetic in the way it is written, but unlike Spanish, the position of the stressed syllable in a word cannot always be determined from the way it is written. The Spanish verb system is also a bit easier than the Italian one - firstly because there are many fewer irregular verbs, and secondly because Italian (like French) uses two auxiliary verbs to form the compund tenses (avere and essere), whereas Spanish only uses one (haber). And the subjunctive tends to be used rather more in Italian than it is in Spanish. But on the other hand, Spanish has two verbs for "to be" (ser and estar), which are both used a lot, and the correct choice of verb is a major learning challenge. Italian also has two (essere and stare), but "stare" is used much less in Italian than "estar" is used in Spanish, so Italian does not give learners significant difficulty in this context. In summary, from my experience as a student of both languages, I would say that Spanish is easier than Italian, but the difference in the degree of difficulty is not very large. I would also say, although you didn't ask for this opinion, that Italian is the most rewarding language to learn. It may also be worth bearing in mind, as a French speaker, that you will find Italian grammar and vocabulary is closer to French than it is to Spanish ... so you may in fact find Italian slightly easier. My perspective is that of a native English speaker, but your position is different. Given that the difference in difficulty is not great, I think you should give more weight to other criteria - do you want to learn for career advancement or work opportunities (in that case, Spanish would be best), or for cultural interest (in which case, I would lean towards Italian, but I am biased - it's a purely personal decision).