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Spanish vs Italian:Importance vs Ancestry | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Nature Diglot Groupie Canada Joined 5228 days ago 63 posts - 80 votes  Speaks: English*, French | Message 1 of 9 26 May 2012 at 9:50am | IP Logged |
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I have a dilemna. I don't know which language to fully commit myself to. Spanish or Italian!
I've taken two years of Spanish class and one year of Italian and now it's time for me to choose one as I have no choice in school. I'd continue to learn Spanish because I love the language so much! It's also an important language, useful, can imagine myself living in Califormia/ Miami and even South America one day where it will come in handy. Also, I've only taken two years of it but I find it really easy. I think If I followed through with Spanish I could become more fluent than I am in French, a language Ive been learning my whole life. And I love the Latino culture! However, I am of Italian descent. My grandparents emigrated to Canada in the 50's but settled in Quebec. But my mom amd dad moved to Toronto when I was two and we've moved back here (Quebec )only 2 years ago so I have to speak to my grandparents and pretty much all the elders in my family and older Italian people that we know in really bad Italian/so-so French as naturally, my grandparents learned to speak French rather than English. My grandmother always makes comments how it's shameful that I can't speak Italian when I am Italian (both of descent and legally... have Italian citizenship as well) And for some reason, I feel like If I can't speak Italian me trying to learn Spanish or any other language would be like I was ashamed of my roots or not true to it like I should have been. As if, before I learn to speak Spanish, I should learn MY language. But that'll take so long I want to learn Spanish right away :( So this is my dilemma. Language enthuists give me your opinions!! P.S I wrote this on my phone at 3:30 AM there are spelling mistakes I know. Edited by Nature on 26 May 2012 at 10:05am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Fenn Groupie United Kingdom Joined 4882 days ago 51 posts - 119 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian | Message 2 of 9 26 May 2012 at 10:17am | IP Logged |
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My head says Spanish but I appear to be learning Italian for the very same reasons you
want to learn it. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| ikinaridango Triglot Groupie United Kingdom Joined 6116 days ago 61 posts - 80 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese, Italian Studies: German, Polish | Message 3 of 9 26 May 2012 at 2:14pm | IP Logged |
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If you learn Spanish to a high level, as you clearly want to do, then the subsequent move
to Italian, if you still wish to make it, will be much, much easier. Knowledge of one will help you immeasurably with the other, so in the end I don't think it matters which you begin with. Go with the one that's calling to you! 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| sillygoose1 Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 4627 days ago 566 posts - 814 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish, French Studies: German, Latin | Message 4 of 9 26 May 2012 at 3:39pm | IP Logged |
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You said you love Spanish. That coupled with it being of importance means you should learn that.
If the only reason you want to learn Italian is because of your roots, learn it last. Unless you plan on living in Italy anytime soon. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6588 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 5 of 9 26 May 2012 at 3:50pm | IP Logged |
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From my experience, learning to passively understand a language leads to less confusion/interference. So if you have no immediate need to speak Spanish, just learn to understand movies/songs/books. This can be done on your own along with learning Italian at school (as in class you'll have to speak the language, not just understand).
An important factor is how close you are to your Italian-speaking family members. If you're close, using Italian with them will be an amazing experience. Yes, with your background I'm sure you can do both :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Saim Pentaglot Senior Member AustraliaRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5074 days ago 124 posts - 215 votes Speaks: Serbo-Croatian, English*, Catalan, Spanish, Polish Studies: Dutch, Portuguese, Italian, Occitan, Punjabi, Urdu, Arabic (Maghribi), French, Modern Hebrew, Ukrainian, Slovenian | Message 6 of 9 26 May 2012 at 6:31pm | IP Logged |
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Learn Spanish first because you like it, and then Italian for the familial reasons. I've had the same experience - choosing between two closely related languages, one which I'll maybe be able to use a bit more (Urdu) and one which is more interesting to me (Punjabi). I learned Urdu, and it ended up being frustrating because of a lack of interest. If I had started with Punjabi, I think I may have learned more rapidly.
The moral of the story is: you should usually pick the one you like more because it'll be easier for you if you're passionate about it. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| drp9341 Pentaglot Senior Member United States Joined 4903 days ago 115 posts - 217 votes Speaks: Italian, English*, Spanish, Portuguese, French Studies: Japanese | Message 7 of 9 29 May 2012 at 4:18pm | IP Logged |
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I disagree. I assume your parents speak Italian pretty fluently, and then on top of that you said you speak French. In
all honesty, learn Italian first. You can just ask your parents how to say things, and practice speaking all the time. I learned Italian before I learned Spanish, and I don't regret it at all, Because I know if I had done it the other way around, I never would have found time to learn Italian. PLUS you can probably get to a decent B1 level where you will be totally able to converse without problems, in what would probably be 6 months. THEN you will be able to get by in Italian then learn Spanish really well. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |
| GRagazzo Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 4952 days ago 115 posts - 168 votes Speaks: Italian, English* Studies: Spanish, Swedish, French | Message 8 of 9 29 May 2012 at 9:27pm | IP Logged |
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You could always learn both. Right now pick Italian because I am also of Italian descent
and this is a big motivator for me, ans if you want to learn a language you need a lot of motivation. Also since you have Italian family it will be easier to practice. Once you know enough Italian then you will be able to switch to Spanish. 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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