Spanish is one of the languages that make up the Romance language family. Therefore, learning Spanish for a foreigner will be more difficult or not depending on where he/she is from. For example, for a French or Italian person it is much easier than for an English person. Although it may come as a surprise, English and Spanish are not so different, since they both belong to the Indo-European language family, they are more similar than they may seem at first glance.
The richness of Spanish is immense and, precisely for this reason, the language can be difficult to learn. It is full of peculiarities that can make learning difficult for both native and foreign learners. The grammar and vocabulary make Spanish difficult and the proficiency more difficult to master.
Although learning Spanish can be difficult for a foreigner, students who want to learn Spanish are attracted to one of the most widely spoken languages in the world.
What is the most difficult thing about Spanish for a foreigner?
- Let's take a look at some of the aspects that are most difficult to learn or understand when studying the language.
It is the fastest language to pronounce: it shares this position with Japanese, both of which have speakers with a great capacity to pronounce a large number of syllables per minute. - The verbs ser and estar. Most foreigners do not differentiate between these verbs, which is why, when learning Spanish, they tend to err in the use of the second verb.
- There are many words that contain the 5 vowels: Words that contain the five vowels are called pentavocalic and in our language we can find many of them, such as education, bat or town hall.
- Writing. Because the language is so rich and broad, learning to write in Spanish is difficult, making it one of the most expensive skills.
- Intonation. Although Spanish intonation is fairly flat, it is not easy for Asian students, for example, to assimilate Spanish intonation.
- The subjunctive mood. This is a verb mood that, for example, the English do not have in their language because they form it with other verb constructions, which is why it is more difficult for them to learn it.
- The ñ and h. These are graphemes that do not exist in other languages or at least are not used or written in the same way. That is why it is one of the biggest difficulties when learning Spanish.
