Which Romance language should I pick?

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Marluxia88
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Which Romance language should I pick?

Postby Marluxia88 » Sat Oct 08, 2022 3:17 pm

Greetings, everyone! I'm new to this forum. So, long story short, I've narrowed down my choices to French, Italian and Portuguese. Each of them has its own charm, but there's not way I can master all of them. I tried that, it didn't work. So it could be just one of the three. And no, other Romance languages are not an option either. Please give me your thoughts.
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Re: Which Romance language should I pick?

Postby Cenwalh » Sat Oct 08, 2022 5:17 pm

Without knowing anything else about you, I'd pick French because of its influence on your native Russian, but it's a really personal question. If you despise French literature and go on annual summer holidays to The Algarve for example then obviously Portuguese is a better option.

Why don't you just pick one and reassess in a month? No good ever comes from asking others.
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Re: Which Romance language should I pick?

Postby Lawyer&Mom » Sat Oct 08, 2022 5:24 pm

How did you narrow it down to those three? That might help us understand your priorities.
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Marluxia88
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Re: Which Romance language should I pick?

Postby Marluxia88 » Sat Oct 08, 2022 6:00 pm

Lawyer&Mom wrote:How did you narrow it down to those three? That might help us understand your priorities.


Hmm... Let's see. I used to consider a total of 17 languages. But we're talking specifically about Romance ones here, so here's how it went: I excluded Latin because it's too difficult and doesn't really help with learning modern Romance languages, then Romanian had to go because basically my interest for it was limited to O-Zone music band and Vlad Dracula. Then, with a heavy heart, I gave up on Spanish because it's too much of a "standard" choice for a foreign language. I also noticed that whenever I read newest manga releases on websites in Spanish and Portuguese without even knowing either of them, texts in Portuguese are easier for me to understand because the very logic of phrase-building of Portuguese is closer to English and Russian IMHO. With Spanish, not too much. I also like Brazil and watched a lot of Brazlian TV series like O Clone, Esperança, Laços de Família.
As for French, I've always longed for this language and French culture (tons of films, series, I even download anime in French dub or with subtitles), what with its charm and a special place in our history because it affected Russian just as much as it did English, even though in our case it happened ages after.
Italian is a little complicated case... I particularly like Venice and especially historical Venetian Republic, I also love Italian cuisine, furniture, cars and stuff. But it's very complicated and isn't useful outside of Italy. In Russia it can only come in handy if you work in the spheres of furniture, fashion or perfume.
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Re: Which Romance language should I pick?

Postby DaveAgain » Sat Oct 08, 2022 9:07 pm

Marluxia88 wrote:As for French, I've always longed for this language and French culture (tons of films, series, I even download anime in French dub or with subtitles), what with its charm and a special place in our history because it affected Russian just as much as it did English, even though in our case it happened ages after.
I'll vote for French then :-)

France seems to have been a popular destination for Russian emigres after the fall of the Tsar too, so there would be a Russians-in-France history path for you to follow if you wanted to.
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Re: Which Romance language should I pick?

Postby Lawyer&Mom » Sat Oct 08, 2022 9:12 pm

French seems like a great choice, but you can’t go wrong with any of them, and they will all making learning any of the others easier.
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Re: Which Romance language should I pick?

Postby einzelne » Sun Oct 09, 2022 4:26 am

Marluxia88 wrote:Please give me your thoughts.


It's only you who can give the ultimate answer.
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Re: Which Romance language should I pick?

Postby leosmith » Sun Oct 09, 2022 5:54 am

Marluxia88 wrote:I've narrowed down my choices to French, Italian and Portuguese

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Re: Which Romance language should I pick?

Postby garyb » Sun Oct 09, 2022 11:11 am

In terms of difficulty, I think they're about the same. They all have similar grammar. Italian has simpler pronunciation than the others, but I think that's a small factor in the grand scheme.

I wouldn't discount Spanish just because of its popularity: it's mainstream for very good reasons. But you seem more drawn towards the others, which can't be argued with.

I'd be reluctant to choose Italian as a first Romance language unless you have a good reason for it (like family, partner, work, or such a strong interest that you wouldn't need to be asking the question), and I'm saying this as someone who loves that language and has been learning it for around ten years. It just doesn't quite have the same utility or availability of resources.

Out of French and Portuguese it's really just a question of which one you're more interested in and (if it matters to you) you have more practical use for. It feels like you're leaning towards French from what you've written.
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Re: Which Romance language should I pick?

Postby PeterMollenburg » Sun Oct 09, 2022 7:54 pm

Cenwalh wrote:Why don't you just pick one and reassess in a month? No good ever comes from asking others.


This seems like a good idea. To expand on it, why not try each of them, then narrow it down later. For example, do one month (or three months, whatever) of learning each language in succession and decide which one you like best.

Another idea is to try all three simultaneously for a while and as frustration builds (the general feeling for dedicated language learners is that there's never enough time to learn languages - plural), eliminate the one you like least then do so again once the frustration rises again. At least this way you'll appreciate having cut the other two out to focus on your preferred language as opposed to being tempted to do them all, but not experienced the valuable lesson that less (languages) is more (time for your favourite language). A natural elimination process. Nice theory at least ;)

If I were you, I'd give Spanish a 'wild card' and add it back into this process with the other three languages to be certain you make the right choice for you.
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