My brain is always pretty bored and jumps from language to language, so I learn a bit of Language A, then Language B, then switch back and forth. French has shorter chapters on the app I learn it with, Busuu, and I already know a good amount of Spanish (which I study in school) and Portuguese. However, while Italian might cause me to mix up Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian, it’s easier to pronounce. It also, however, has longer lessons on Busuu.
French is spoken in many countries, though, and I’m also LGBTQ if that makes any difference, since some people study languages from countries that don’t support/respect the group they’re part of.
My Spanish teacher used to say:
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if you speak Spanish and French you already know 80% of Italian.
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If you speak Italian, Spanish and French, you already speak Portuguese.
And I have found this to be mostly true. Native French speaker, good Spanish: I can read 80% of any Italian text I come across.
Oh, and don’t forget Romanian is also very close.
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I’m fluent in English and Spanish and know French well enough to converse with native speakers.
French is a lot more globally applicable. Outside of France it can be used in Canada, Belgium, Switzerland, and basically anywhere France has stuck their dick. Italian is mostly limited to Italy and parts of NYC (/s). Italian will put you closer to Spanish than French if that’s something you seek.
For comparison, per Wikipedia, French is the 6th most commonly spoken language worldwide while Italian sits at 32nd. That said, learning a new language can only ever benefit you so you can’t go wrong either way
(Mais surtout, je vais te recommander le français simplement parce que c’est celui* que j’ai appris et aime)
French is also used in quite a few African countries as well iirc!
Yep, there’s a lot
(celui* que j’ai appris 🙂)
Merci
If it matters to you at all French will be vastly more practical and useful in the real world
Yes for French directly – lots of Africa, the Caribbean, and ofc solidarity with Canada 🇨🇦
BUT! – consider that, knowing Italian, you get a pretty good grip on Spanish as well. And there are ~6x more native Spanish speakers than native French speakers
That makes sense.
That really depends on location and what you want to do. I want to go tour Italy one day, learning French instead of Italian would be silly.
Beware that if you learn french, you might have to engage with french people though.
Selon moi, je trouve que les Québécois sont plus amicaux que les Français en apprenant la langue, tant qu’on ne dit pas «parking» 😂
amicaux, ça s’accorde quand c’est le verbe être. Signé: un français.
L’autocorrect n’est pas mon ami 😂
Haha, trueee
French will be more useful, Italian probably easier.
True, true. Merci !
I think Italian is more fun. Incidental: Italian with Grammar by Mark Twain has always stuck with me. I think it’s a pretty good read.
I also frequently mix up my Spanish and Italian.
As for the LGBTQ-ness of it, I think they’re both fine choices. If I know anything as an American, it’s that France and Italy are two of the gayest countries in Europe, the gayest continent.
Even my heritage country of Norway is pretty damn gay and that’s in Europe, so yeah.
Italian of course!
Why? Because I am Italian
Seriously, french is much more useful. But Italian is much more fun!
Italian is much more fun
“They say Italian blood runs the hottest”
Still 36.7°C I guess…
Anyway, it’s wine not blood! (And I prefer beer, alcoholfree)
Italian might cause me to mix up Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian
For speaking the language, that’s a consideration. But if you’re listening or reading, I’ve found they tend to strengthen one another.
I suggest the following:
- do you want a “quick win”? Then go for Italian
- do you want a challenge, to keep building on in the future? Then go for French.
My experience starting with Spanish, and then trying French was that it still warded off most of the difficulty others in my class had.
There were loose patterns for grammatical gender for others to follow, but it mirrored Spanish well enough that it was ignorable. The next big thing that tripped classmates up was the subjunctive. French didn’t seem to use it as often, but the concepts largely translated.
There were a few false friends, but it seemed rare. Hearing spelling may be harder in French, there are a lot of homophones or near homophones.
All that to say, French should still largely be a quick win (in as much a language ever can be).
I still have a big problem understanding spoken French, especially if it’s by one native speaker to another. And I’ve discovered that my French accent is literally laughable. In contrast, I find Italian much easier to understand and speak.
Subjunctive is used very frequently in French actually, especially in day-to-day conversation.
“Il faut qu’on y aille” “Ça se trouve qu’on puisse…” Etc.
It’s a little challenging, but once you wrap your head around it, it becomes natural.
Italian is essentially a cross between Spanish and French. If you know both, you’re basically 80% of the way to knowing Italian.
Given how much more practical French is, I’d say learn it first, then learn Italian later.
Whichever brings you more happiness.
Which are you most likely to visit & / stay in?
Which ‘culture’ appeals the most to you?
Learn whichever one you’re more likely to actually use or practice. I learned French in high school and college to the point I could listen to French news and (mostly) follow along and read simple fiction books.
As soon as I left that environment where it was constantly practiced and reinforced, my comprehension slowly decreased. With no one to speak it with and being unwilling to dedicate practice time to it, over the course of nearly two decades, I’ve forgotten nearly all of it.
French has more real world application, and in former french colonies it is still spoken a lot. Italian is closer to latin, which for someone already speaking spanish or portoghese might be interesting. I would not worry about mixing up, that might happen but is not really a bad issue, mostly a conversation item in my experience.
