Many who decide how to learn a language and are given a choice - a school of foreign languages or independent studies are wondering what the top of the easiest languages in the world to learn looks like? Similar questions are asked by many ordinary people and specialists, both those who are going to take up the study of a language, and professional linguists.
In this article, we will discuss a number of characteristics that usually determine how easy a particular language is to learn. It should be noted right away that the most important thing in the process of learning a foreign language is the motivation of the student and the fact whether you like to speak this new language for you. These factors determine which languages are the easiest for you. Spanish, French, Esperanto or... Chinese. If you take on the study of a language that you are deeply uninterested in, then learning it may seem difficult and tedious to you, even if in fact it is not. Learning a foreign language, like everything else in study, must include interest and pleasure, otherwise there will be little sense. Of course, you can find additional factors that will make learning a non-native language easy for you. Read the following material, and then decide for yourself which languages are the easiest for you. 
According to the State Department, the easiest languages for people in English-speaking countries are those that require about six hundred hours of class time (we mean more or less high-quality language proficiency). Specifically, these are the languages of the Germanic and Latin language groups. However, directly on German more time is required, about seven hundred and fifty hours: the grammar of the German language is very complicated. 
English
The English language is considered to be quite simple: it has no cases, no word agreement, no gender. English grammar is also quite simple. Also, English is the most widely spoken language, it is spoken almost everywhere. Words in English are short, verbs change exclusively for the third person. Native speakers of this language are quite calm about the language mistakes of foreigners, since there is a very large number of people learning English as a second language. Thanks to all this, English is one of the easiest languages in the world to learn.
It is estimated that there are about 60 English-speaking countries in the world, i.e. without knowledge of English today it is difficult to get a job, so it is gaining immense popularity in preschool institutions. The main English-speaking states today are Great Britain, the USA, Canada (excluding Quebec), Australia and New Zealand. Also, English is one of the two official languages of India, and besides that, it is spoken in most of the southern island states and African countries.
French
Not complicated either French. Many French words are similar to English words. The French language is widely used all over the world. It is not difficult to find an opportunity to learn French and speak it. Given these factors, it can be argued that the French language also belongs to the list of those languages that are easy to learn.
People who learn French are called Francophones. There are 18 countries in the world where French is spoken. The main French-speaking states are France, Belgium, Switzerland and Canada (Quebec). In 14 African countries, this language is the only or one of the two official languages. 
Italian
The Italian language is also simple, it has no cases, its pronunciation is quite simple, the vocabulary has roots Latin, in other words, will be familiar and close to those people who speak one of the languages of the Indo-European group.
Learning Italian will be useful for those who at least know or have studied Latin, one of the two official languages in the Vatican City State. Italian is the language of music. True, the Italophone world is not too large in its area: the language is spoken only in Europe and only in four states: Italy, the Vatican, San Marino and Switzerland. Small Italian-speaking minorities outside of Europe live in Argentina (oriundi). 
Spanish
The easiest language for a foreigner to learn is Spanish. His vocabulary is similar to English, the spelling is very simple (the way it is written is the way it is heard). Spanish is similar to Italian and is quite widely used. It has very simple grammar and pronunciation. Spanish ranks 3-4th in terms of prevalence, number of speakers and its use in speech after English, Chinese and Hindi; it is spoken by about 0.5 billion people, most of whom live overseas. The record holder for the number of Spanish speakers is not Spain, but Mexico! There are 130 million Spanish speakers in Mexico. The largest Spanish-speaking countries are Spain (in Europe), and overseas Mexico (in North America) and Argentina (in South America). 
Portuguese
Portuguese is one of the easy languages. At least there is no one who would not watch Brazilian soap operas, which were once popular among our grandmothers. The pronunciation is almost the same as Spanish, except that Portuguese is slightly sibilant, unlike its Eastern Pyrenean counterpart; this is if we talk about the classic (European) version, which is widely used not only in Portugal itself, but also in African countries: Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome, Goa, Angola and Mozambique. In the world by popularity Portuguese ranks sixth, despite the fact that the population of this country is only about 10 million, which is even less than the population of Moscow. The Brazilian version differs significantly from the standard (for example, there is no sound "sh"). Although these languages are similar to each other, the Spaniards do not always understand their neighbors, so the Portuguese sometimes have to write what they say.
Those who study Portuguese are called Lusophones (from Lusitania; the ancient name for Portugal). In total, there are about 1/4 billion people who speak Portuguese (250 million speakers) 
Esperanto
You will probably be very surprised, but Esperanto holds the palm for ease. In it, as in Spanish, "as it is heard, so it is written exactly." This language is artificial, that's why it's so simple. But the bad thing about it is that so far relatively few people speak it (about 2-3 million worldwide) - compared to languages such as Spanish, French or English. However, if you speak Esperanto, other Esperanto speakers will be very fond of you.
Esperanto is NOT official language IN ANY STATE OF THE WORLD! That is why knowing and studying it, you can find friends absolutely anywhere. Linguists have conducted studies that it takes only a month to master colloquial speech, and in order to know it perfectly - from 3 months to six months, while the basics of the same English will have to spend at least a semester or a year. I will add that next year, at the end of July, this language will celebrate its anniversary - 130 years since its birth! Recently, a petition appeared on one of the sites to make Esperanto official language EU! Anyone can sign it, including you! 
Summary
An additional set of conditions that can make the language easy for you personally:
1) Is the new language similar to your native language? In the event that the chosen language is similar to yours, has a vocabulary (vocabulary) and grammar similar to it, then this language will be easier for you personally. For example, a person who speaks Arabic will learn Farsi more easily than Spanish, even though Farsi is considered very difficult.
2) Do you personally like to study? If the answer is yes, any language can be simple - or at least interesting. And this circumstance will help you learn the language faster.
3) Availability additional resources. With their help, you can achieve more effective and faster results. Additional resources include vocabulary and grammar books, audio, conversations with native speakers given language and so on.
The material is based on an article by Frantisek Langer.
Now the dominance of English as the language of international communication seems obvious, it is spoken on all continents and it seems that it will always be so. However, do not forget that English has become an international language not so long ago. Now the main rival is Chinese, since the number of speakers in it is much larger, however, it has many disadvantages. Firstly, it is distributed mainly in China and to some extent in Singapore and Malaysia. Secondly, it is divided into separate languages, and if the majority speak Mandarin (northern dialects), then the largest economic zones A: Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Taiwan are in the zone of other dialects. It turns out that in order to develop a business, you will have to study different variants language. In addition, the Chinese language is difficult for foreigners and hieroglyphic writing is not very familiar to the majority of the world's population.
The English language has another rival, devoid of such shortcomings. According to the Etnologue website at the SIL International Institute, in 2016 the number of native speakers of English is 339 million people, and Spanish 427. The preponderance is very significant and, in addition, the number of Hispanic population is growing faster than the English-speaking one. Now the English language has an advantage due to economic power English-speaking countries, primarily the USA. and the UK. As a result, many people choose English as a second language, and in terms of the total number of people who know foreign languages to some extent, it is, of course, the undisputed leader (as a second language). However, this is not a very reliable indicator. The second language can be changed much easier than your own, if necessary. If our country used to focus on French and German, and now English, in the future, students can choose Chinese or Spanish, depending on the situation.
The main factor supporting the English language now is the United States. The role of this country in the world is still quite high, although it is declining every year. At the same time, the role of the Spanish language in the U.S.A. grows pretty fast. If in 1980 English was native for 89% of the population, now it is for 80%. The share of Hispanics, on the contrary, is growing rapidly, 5% in 1980, 7% in 1990, 13% in 2015. It is important that the Hispanic visitors do not assimilate, but retain their language. Many of them live compactly and do not need to learn English. The authorities have to go to a meeting, and the Spanish language has already received official status in the state of New Mexico. It can be expected that in other southern states, as the proportion of Hispanics grows, it will be officially recognized. Of course, it is still far from being recognized as the second state, but its role will grow and, perhaps, foreigners who want to do business with southern states, you have to learn it. From the position of the Spanish language in the U.S.A. largely depends on its role in the world.
Another important factor in the advantage of Spanish over English is that English is far from other languages, and Spanish is very close to Portuguese and Catalan, and even Italian is closer to it than German is to English, and British pronunciation is nothing at all. does not look like it. Spanish could well be used by over 200 million Portuguese speakers and, with some effort, by 60 million Italians. In general, there are many more speakers of Romance languages other than Spanish than Germanic languages other than English, and the difference increases over time.
In addition, the Spanish language itself is easier in terms of pronunciation and the ratio of spelling and pronunciation. It is generally considered the easiest to learn. For Russian speakers, it is obviously closer, simpler and more pleasant to the ear. English speech is difficult to understand for several reasons: spelling and pronunciation mismatch, different pronunciations, unusual sounds, less clarity in pronunciation compared to Spanish.
At the same time, of course, the main factor still remains the role of countries in the global economy. Spanish-speaking countries are developing faster than English-speaking countries, but their share is still several times smaller. If ever the countries of Latin America find a way to accelerate their development and experience economic growth comparable to that of China, the Spanish language can greatly displace English and even come out on top.
The Romance group of languages, spoken by many Europeans, is considered the most beautiful in pronunciation. Separately, it is worth highlighting Spanish and Italian, distinguished by their melody and linguistic temperament. These languages sound spectacular in any form: live speech, official speeches, theatrical performances, songs. Even without understanding the meaning of the words, you can listen to euphonious, melodious combinations.
Spanish and Italian are similar, in some respects synonymous, but at the same time they have many cardinal differences. In the article we will try to answer the question which of these languages is easier to learn.
Spanish. Its origins and features
To give a comprehensive picture of the language, let's dive into history, find out how spanish was born, what changes it has undergone over the years and what it is today. Political weight, popularity, features of the study - first things first.
On the origins of the Spanish language
The birth of Spanish took place in medieval Castile. The spread occurred naturally, thanks to the conquistadors - sea travelers who introduced their language to the inhabitants of new lands. This is how they learned about español in Asia, Latin America, Africa and other countries of the world.
Like other European languages, it was formed on the basis of Latin and then gradually acquired dialects. Linguists believe that among modern languages spanish is phonetically closest to Latin. Portuguese and Italian changed more intensively, absorbing the features of local dialects.
Separately, it is worth mentioning the dialects spoken by Spaniards in different parts of the country.
- Regional groups can be divided into Catalan, Aragonese, Galician, Occitan, Asturian, Aranian, Valencian.
Each of the adverbs has its own phonetic and lexical features. State Spanish is considered normative, it is used in literature, on television, radio, and business communication.
Today, Spanish is spoken by about six hundred million people in the world - on almost all continents, in 57 countries. Español is distributed not only in Spain, it is considered the official language of the African Union, the UN, the EU. This is its primary difference from Italian - a large degree of demand.
Language features
According to teachers, Spanish is much easier to learn than, for example, French. Of course, it all depends on the level that the student wants to achieve. You can reach perfection, hone your conversational speech, and master grammar perfectly in a few years. It is possible to pump the language to communicate with foreigners during the trip in three to four months.
One of the features of spanish is accents, with which a beginner can easily get confused. It is important to remember the rule here. The stress should be placed on the last syllable, if at the end of the word it is in agreement (exceptions are n and s). We put the stress on the penultimate syllable if there is a vowel or n, s at the end of the word. Graphically, stress is indicated in the same way as in many other languages: á.
Another moment characteristic of español is the complex-vector system of tenses, which requires careful immersion. Total- fourteen. They include seven complex and seven simple tenses. The imperative mood is used in two forms, the difference of which is not only in the negative particle, but also in the lexical structure itself.
It is better to study grammar with a teacher who will gradually dedicate to all the subtleties of the rules. The face of the verb and moods have a huge number of endings that need not only to be remembered, but also understood. Among the verbs there are deviant and irregular. If you want to learn how to build speech correctly, delve into grammar step by step, relying on the experience and professionalism of the teacher. It is difficult to learn a language from scratch on your own.
- Spanish has similar features with Russian, namely, in the wealth of synonyms! For almost every word, you can pick up analogues that repeat the meaning, but differ in sound and spelling.
Español phonetics is easier to learn than French or English, but more difficult than Italian. There are more intonation nuances, difficulties with stress. The sound of words is accompanied by expression, dynamic, bright, temperamental. Significantly different from English. So, for example, k, t, p are pronounced clearly, without aspiration.
Basics and subtleties of Italian
An elegant boot washed by the Mediterranean Sea, two hundred years ago was not single state. Italy was formed gradually from separate nationalities, each of which had its own culture and language. Modern Italian dialects and today are very different from each other. A single normative language was adopted, but mental linguistic features remained. Sometimes even situations arise when the native southerners do not understand the inhabitants of the north of Italy.
Language origin
Italiano comes from volgare - Latin vernacular seasoned with regional dialects. Modern Italian is based on the Tuscan dialect, which was first spoken by the Florentines. The father of the literary italiano is Dante, who introduced the world to the cult “ Divine Comedy”, today published in all languages of the world. From this work began the development of Italian in the form in which it was in the middle of the 16th century.
Today, the language of sunny Italy is considered one of the most beautiful and melodic. It is easier to learn than Spanish. This applies to both grammar and vocabulary, phonetics. But still there are difficulties and nuances that you need to be aware of.
Features of Italian
First, about pronunciation. There are no complex transcriptions that need to be read several times before being spoken aloud. In most cases, the word is pronounced the same as it is spelled. The consonants are clear, sometimes sharp, there are no muffles, grassing, or protraction. Vowels are also phonetically simple and transparent. The main thing is to correctly place stresses, intonations and make competent semantic accents.
A feature of phonetics is multiple and long vowels, which are not found in other languages of the Romance group. Due to this combination of letters in words in Italian, they are melodious, melodic. You have to master the technique of full-sounding pronunciation, which requires the tension of the speech apparatus.
There is nothing supernatural in this, skills come with experience. Conversational practice will allow you to quickly learn these phonetic nuances and learn to speak the beautiful and temperamental italiano.
Grammar is easier in español. There are three main tenses: present, future and past, the constructions of which are mostly formed on the basis of auxiliary verbs. One of the challenges is the shape. irregular verbs. There are many of them, it is better to learn by heart. An important point on which the literacy of constructing sentences depends is the rules for conjugation of verbs, they should be given special attention.
- Study grammar in parallel with phonetics. So the process will be more efficient and will allow you to consciously immerse yourself in the subtleties of the language.
How to learn Spanish and Italian fast
Want to own a beautiful español or italiano - set yourself up for effective learning. Linguists recommend making a motivation list that will help you tune in to the process and bring it to the end. So, what you need in order to easily and quickly immerse yourself in the features of Spanish:
Decide on a goal. Ask yourself the question - why do you learn a language? This will depend on the intensity of the program and the way of learning. If you are not in a hurry, you can gradually immerse yourself in the linguistic features of the language in classical courses. There are clear limits, get ready for a meeting with foreign partners - you should speed up by choosing the option with a tutor. Preferring self-study, be aware that the process will be long and labor-intensive.
Practice, practice and more practice. At the end of the lesson, improvement should continue. Don't stop when you close the tutorial. Practice what you learned during the day at home. Repeat material, write out difficult moments. Get a notepad for independent work. Transcriptions, grammar rules, poorly remembered words - such a mini-book will become your assistant and help you avoid mistakes.
Practice speaking. If a language classes do not give you the proper skills of live communication in Spanish or Italian, find yourself an interlocutor on Skype or a good tutor, which will help to understand intonation, logical and phonetic stress.
Reinforce your knowledge with listening. Language school does not support this technique - choose your own. Consult with the teacher on what to choose. So save time and in the end you will not go wrong with the auditing program.
Abstract from knowledge of English (if you have it basic). Spanish and Italian are very different from it. Do not seek to find similar features, thereby facilitating the task. So confusion will arise, the grammar here is completely different, the pronunciation features are fundamentally opposite.
Whatever language you choose for yourself, both Spanish and Italian are worthy of your attention and will come in handy when traveling around Europe, communicating with business partners, building a career in the EU countries. Can't choose one of them - learn both!
So, what language to learn after English? There can be a huge number of options, but it all depends on the goals, objectives, prospects, expected career growth, approach to the language and other things. We'll talk about this.
There are more than 3,000 languages(or 7,000 languages including dialects) of which only 95 are recognized.
Let's start with the classics. It is necessary to learn those languages that belong to one language group. Firstly, you don’t have to spend a lot of time learning grammar: once you understand it, everything will be the same in all languages belonging to the same language group. Secondly, many lexical units will be consonant. This approach to language learning is suitable for those who want to simultaneously master, for example, Italian and Spanish. However, it is not recommended to study two similar languages at the same time in order to avoid confusion.
Languages of the Romano-Germanic group were and will be popular. They are similar because they have a common basis - Latin. But if you know French, then Spanish will go like clockwork. Please note that after three languages mastered, the fourth, fifth and each subsequent one will be given easily due to the developed system. This is confirmed not only by teachers of foreign languages, but also by polyglots.
A little about language families and groups. There are 9 language families: Indo-European, Sino-Tibetan, Afrasian, Altaic, Niger-Kordofanian, Darvidian, Austronesian, Uralic and Caucasian. Each family is divided into groups, which in turn belong to the peoples of the language group. Indo-European language family remains the largest. It includes the Germanic, Slavic, Romance, Celtic, Baltic, Greek, Albanian, Armenian and Iranian language groups.
By the number of native speakers of course Chinese leader. Today, about 1.5 billion people speak Chinese, which is one-fifth of the total population. In addition, China is literally capturing the world market. Almost all products, with the exception of a few companies, are manufactured in China. However, only 10 million Chinese speak English. The Chinese language is spreading around the world at lightning speed, primarily thanks to businessmen who act pragmatically and thoughtfully. Of course, business people certainly know the world language of politics, culture, cinematography, but the world is changing and becoming more demanding on ongoing processes. And those who speak Chinese will certainly succeed and have a competitive advantage over those who do not speak Chinese.
Note that Chinese is spoken in mainland China, Taiwan and Singapore, and it is also the second dialect in Hong Kong and Macau. In addition, it is one of the six UN languages.
Choose, what language to learn after english, can be based on the principle of job search. If you know that you will have to cooperate with the Germans, then look towards German, and if you know that you will have to work with the Arabs, then you need to learn Arabic. Of course, many may say that knowledge of the English language will be quite enough, but in recent times more and more scientists are trumpeting that soon English will begin to lose ground. He will be replaced Chinese, Arabic and Spanish. It is interesting that the British themselves claim the same thing, justifying everything to those who the world will be fed up with English by 2050. This is what David Graddol, an expert in the field of language teaching, says. This will happen because too many people will know English, and it will no longer be considered foreign, and then Chinese will take a leading position. But the conclusions, of course, are up to you.
Simultaneously or with a slight difference in time, you can learn opposite languages e.g. English-Turkish, English-Arabic, English-Chinese.
The demand for foreign languages also depends on real estate. People with financial capabilities and a broad heart who want to buy property abroad, of course, know not only the country and its many regions, but also partly the language, culture and traditions. So, the most popular countries are Bulgaria, Turkey and Spain. In the last two countries there is no sharp change in climate, it is always warm and cozy. The advantages of Bulgaria are obvious due to the minimal language barrier. Having bought a property, it is possible to obtain a residence permit.
After English is logical learn spanish. Why? Because it is the most widely spoken language after Chinese and English. In addition, having mastered Spanish, you can easily understand Italians and vice versa. However, I can argue with those who say that Spanish is the easiest language. It is a little more complicated than Italian, in which everything is transparent and understandable. Just a dozen rules, and you can read and write. Grammar is also easy, especially considering that there is no Progressive tense as such in Italian. Therefore, as it claims, for happiness you need Present, Past and Future. Well, about 500 more words to start and about 50-70 common phrases.
But back to Spanish. This language is popular in North America, it is studied in schools and many people speak it at home. For those who decide to do business in Latin America, Spanish is the salvation of a drowning man. The world is developing, nothing stands still, and many South American countries are already actively demonstrating economic growth and an emerging market. Going to Paraguay and Ecuador, you can become the owner of cheap land and acquire subsistence farming.
Spanish is spoken in Spain, as well as in Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Guatemala, Bolivia, Honduras, Paraguay, El Salvador, Panama, Equatorial Guinea, Puerto Rico, Cuba and Costa Rica.
During the time when English language is a solid logic and classics, learning spanish language due to the demographic crisis in Europe. Italian for work, they learn much less often, it is rather a language of feelings, but this does not interfere with its assimilation. Despite all the complexity, interest in Chinese language is constantly growing, and recently it is more of a macroeconomic trend. Scientists note that literally in 50 years the situation may change radically, and Chinese will become one of the main languages. You and I will just have time to master it well.
Let's turn our attention to, which is spoken by residents of more than 30 countries. Arabic is the native language of 240 million people, while another 50 million people speak it as a second language.
So, summing up, we note that after English it is easier to assimilate Dutch, after German - Scandinavian languages, after French and Latin - Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian, after Czech - Polish and Slovak, after Slavic languages and Hebrew - Yiddish, after Arabic - Hebrew and Persian, after Chinese - Korean and Japanese.
The question is what foreign language study can confuse anyone, since the opportunities for this are now more than enough. Many learn or already speak English quite well, but would like to learn another language. For some, a foreign language is a prerequisite for a career and work, for others it is just a hobby.
Spanish combines everything at once:
the ability to use it at work (especially in the field of tourism and hotel business)
Spanish is really very exciting, many would like to learn this language just because it is native to their favorite singers and actors
Spanish is an excellent choice for people who already know English (you will be able to understand almost all the inhabitants of America - both northern and southern).
If you would like to learn Spanish, but you are not completely sure of your choice, then you may need information about this wonderful language and some experienced tips.
I had a desire to learn Spanish at school, after a trip to the Spanish resort of Costa Brava (a suburb of Barcelona) during summer holidays. Then, like many of my peers, I studied English at school and in classes with a tutor. A trip to Spain changed a lot. Acquaintance, albeit at first fleeting, with this country, its rich culture, friendly and very sociable inhabitants, instilled in me the desire to learn how to speak Spanish (of course, not forgetting about English :).
This desire came true at the institute, I chose Spanish as my first language (the second was English). I did not regret my choice, the further I studied this language, the more I fell in love with its unique sound and imagery. Spanish is the golden key to rich history and culture not only of Spain itself, but also of numerous countries of Latin America, in which Spanish is also the official language. In addition, learning a second language allowed me to compare the ways of thinking of different peoples, which are so clearly manifested precisely through different ways of expressing the same thought.
It was hard at first to get used to the new pronunciation and the rules of reading, were constantly breaking through English sounds, especially such as , which in Spanish, unlike English, are pronounced without aspiration. It was also quite difficult to get used to the fact that in Spanish vowels are practically not reduced and with the need to "growl" every time a word begins with [r] or has . Helped daily swotting, reading aloud, listening to cassettes. Gradually my pronunciation began to approach more or less similar to Spanish. After a couple of weeks of hard and painstaking work, I could already read Spanish quite tolerably.
In fact, learning how to read and pronounce Spanish words correctly is not so difficult. In Spanish, unlike English, there are quite clear reading rules, thanks to which, you can correctly read any, even an unfamiliar word, without resorting to a dictionary and transcription. The main thing is to force yourself to devote at least an hour a day to reading, not to be lazy to re-read complex sentences several times. If you have a very tight time, you can record yourself on a tape, and then listen to it - from the side of the error appear more clearly. You can bring the tape to your teacher and ask him to comment on your mistakes and advise on how to correct them.
The next obstacle to learning Spanish is— grammar. For me personally, the most difficult thing to get used to is a huge number of Spanish endings, each of which corresponds to the person in which the corresponding verb is, tense and mood (indicative, subjunctive - the famous Spanish Subjuntivo or imperative). Also frightened by the number of deviant and irregular verbs. It seemed to me that in English language everything is much simpler. I learned 3 forms of irregular verbs, remembered that in the third person singular of the present tense, verbs take the ending -s, and no problem. And then ... However, as they say, the eyes are afraid, but the hands are doing. In the end, everything turned out to be not so scary. The main thing at the first stage is not to rush, to scroll through the entire paradigm of the verb in your head in search of the desired form, to clearly imagine in what tense and mood you want to say this or that phrase.
If we talk about progress in learning Spanish, I can say that at the end of the first year I could already conduct small dialogues, read and discuss simple topics, in the second year I actively replenished grammatical and lexical material, improved phonetics and conversational skills. Then we began to take on more complex and serious topics (problems of terrorism, drugs, politics and economics, etc.), studied new and repeated grammar material. The fourth and fifth courses were devoted mainly to grammatical subtleties, replenishment vocabulary, active discussions of all kinds of topical topics, reading and translating articles (from Spanish into Russian and from Russian into Spanish), lectures on the history of the language and linguistics (in Spanish). With such a flow of new material, they began to forget simple words and expressions from the first course. It was very funny when, having discussed all the possible problems of today's youth, we began to think about how to say something like "Pass me a cup of tea" correctly :) Therefore, sometimes it is very useful to go back to the very first lessons and remember the very basics.
In general, my teachers personally helped me a lot, who were always happy to give advice and help to understand the most difficult moments. The most important thing is not to leave anything misunderstood, to understand everything at once. If this is not done, then errors will accumulate like a snowball and then it will be really difficult to fix anything. Some students in our group went through almost the entire paradigm of the verb before they got to the form they needed, but it was enough just to figure out what time is used when and devote more time to homework. This was very disturbing, especially at the stage when it was already necessary to discuss a topic, instead of choosing suitable phrases, we had to return to the material we had already covered, which slowed down the work of the whole group.
Concerning educational material , this is also an important point. As you know, a boring textbook can completely discourage any desire to learn a language. At the institute, we studied textbook edited by A. I. Patrushev and E. I. Rodriguez - Danilevskaya. This is a tutorial in two parts - for beginners and for those who improve. We passed both :). The rules in this manual are explained quite well and completely, so additional materials almost never had to use grammar. With themes a little worse, the standard set: mi family, en el restaurante, Madrid etc. Some of the texts used in the textbook are also rather outdated. Nevertheless, the lexical material is chosen, in my opinion, well. The exercises are designed to reinforce what you have learned. For variety, we used printouts from Spanish manuals that teachers took from the Cervantes Institute, short stories, and then books by Spanish and Latin American writers. In the first year, we read and retold fairy tales and small funny stories, read tongue twisters, sang songs - all this contributed to a faster vocabulary replenishment, besides, it was a lot of fun, so the lessons flew by unnoticed.
From dictionaries First of all I can advise A large Spanish-Russian dictionary edited by B. P. Narumov and Large Russian-Spanish Dictionary, edited by G. Ya. Turover(if you are really serious). If you need Spanish only for communication, you can buy a small but good enough dictionary edited by K. A. Martsishevskaya(Spanish-Russian and Russian-Spanish). I cannot fail to mention one more vocabulary, which is simply necessary to understand the Spaniards, who, as you know, like to insert very expressive and often far from literary expressions into their speech. it Spanish vocabulary colloquial speech edited by Sllavka Simeónova. On the cover of the dictionary, the notorious Don Quixote and Sancho Panza are depicted exchanging just such phrases: Hola, tronco, ¿que tal? — ¡De puta madre! However, it is worth noting that you can use this dictionary only after accumulating a certain amount of knowledge, since the words and expressions in it are translated not into Russian, but into Spanish, only a literary language.
Of course, all the difficulties in learning Spanish, like any other, cannot be listed. However, these difficulties should not stop a person who decides to learn Spanish. It is a beautiful language, bright and expressive, you will immediately fall in love with it, you can trust me! The main perseverance and confidence in own forces and everything will work out! As the Spanish proverb says: "No hay atajo sin trabajo" — "You can't even take a fish out of the pond without effort."
Julia Baltacheva
