I either want to learn French or Italian. Which should I learn in your opinion?

Submitted ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨may_be@thelemmy.club⁩ to ⁨[deleted]⁩

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.

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HerbalGamer@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Beware that if you learn french, you might have to engage with french people though.

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- Witchfire@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Selon moi, je trouve que les Québécois sont plus amicaux que les Français en apprenant la langue, tant qu’on ne dit pas «parking» 😂
  
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  - nullify3112@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    amicaux, ça s’accorde quand c’est le verbe être. Signé: un français.
    
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- may_be@thelemmy.club ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Haha, trueee
  
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shittydwarf@piefed.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
If it matters to you at all French will be vastly more practical and useful in the real world

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- nymnympseudonym@piefed.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  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
  
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- may_be@thelemmy.club ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  That makes sense.
  
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- mushroommunk@lemmy.today ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  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.
  
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Witchfire@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I speak English, Spanish, and French

French is a lot more globally applicable. Outside of France it can be used in Canada, Belgium, Switzerland (I think?), and basically everywhere else France has stuck their dick. Italian is mostly limited to Italy and parts of NYC.

That said, they’re both romance languages so they’ll have some similarities. If you reach a point where you’re comfortable with it, it’s easy enough to switch to the other one. Italian sounds much closer to Spanish so it’s easier to springboard to Spanish from it than it is from French, if you ever want to.

Learning a 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 lequel que j’ai appris et aime lol)

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- dingus@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  French is also used in quite a few African countries as well iirc!
  
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  - Witchfire@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Yep, there’s a lot
    
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- Sylvartas@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  (celui* que j’ai appris 🙂)
  
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  - Witchfire@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Merci
    
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schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
French will be more useful, Italian probably easier.

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- may_be@thelemmy.club ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  True, true. Merci !
  
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Shimitar@downonthestreet.eu ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Italian of course!

Why? Because I am Italian

Seriously, french is much more useful. But Italian is much more fun!

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- nymnympseudonym@piefed.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  
  Italian is much more fun
  
  “They say Italian blood runs the hottest”
  
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  - Shimitar@downonthestreet.eu ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Still 36.7°C I guess…
    
    Anyway, it’s wine not blood! (And I prefer beer, alcoholfree)
    
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ParadeGrotesque@lemmy.wtf ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
My Spanish teacher used to say:

if you speak Spanish and French you already know 80% of Italian.

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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Sergio@piefed.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
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.
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- paraplu@piefed.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  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).
  
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  - Sergio@piefed.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    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.
    
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  - Cheesus@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    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.
    
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yenahmik@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
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.

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queerlilhayseed@piefed.blahaj.zone ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I think Italian is more fun. Incidental: Italian with Gramma 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.

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- may_be@thelemmy.club ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Even my heritage country of Norway is pretty damn gay and that’s in Europe, so yeah.
  
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ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
If it’s just for run learn Italian, it’s a nicer language. If it’s for practical reasons go crazy and learn something completely different like Arabic or Mandarin.

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kettuli@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Whichever brings you more happiness.

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- floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Les misérables vs La bella vita 😎 /s
  
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akunohana@piefed.blahaj.zone ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
gBqzSGYFgxOh0TP.jpg

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Twanquility@feddit.dk ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Which are you most likely to visit & / stay in?

Which ‘culture’ appeals the most to you?

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gastroglizzy@piefed.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
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.

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clanker_victim_555@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Why not Uzbeck?

www.reddit.com/r/…/why_not_uzbek/

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- may_be@thelemmy.club ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Pffft
  
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Eggymatrix@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
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.

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cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
From my perspective, they’re about equal. As someone who doesn’t know either, I would tackle Italian first. Both (as well as Spanish) are based on Latin, so learning one should help you learn the other. I think there are more French speakers in the world, though, but since Italian and Spanish are (or at least seem) closer, learning Italian might also help with Spanish learning. With regards to LGBTQ+, I think France is a bit more liberal than Italy, but I’m really not sure.

I know next to no French OR Italian. I dabble in Japanese, Spanish, and German (in addition to English and bad English), but I only know ~50 words in each. A bit less in German. I am by no means multilingual, but I will greet people in four or five different languages just to be a smartass.

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HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Italy has better food and lovers

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