Spanish v. French??

Question

I'm getting into an argument with my French-speaking friend, over whether Spanish is better than French. What are some good examples of why Spanish is better than French?

• Bienvenido al foro. Welcome to the forum. - 0074b507 Jun 9, 2010

Answer 1

Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world, with over 400 million speakers.

French is 14th, with around 80 million

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_speakers

• And if that doesn't make it better, it certainly makes it more valuable! - LateToDinner Jun 10, 2010
• .. et ça veut dire quoi...? What has that got to do with the price of fish? - Pibosan Oct 15, 2011

Answer 2

Spanish is to talk to God.

French is to talk with the ladies.

Italian is to talk to little children.

German is to talk to men.

and if you want to talk business, do it in English.

• Good one. - Goyo Jun 9, 2010
• got my vote Robert, me likey! - amykay Jun 9, 2010
• With all the poverty in the world, God obviously is not listening to either Spanish, or English ! - kmaakheru Oct 15, 2011

Answer 3

I have also read a slight variation on Robertico's answer:

Charles V (1500-1558) who was Holy Roman Emperor, had this to say about languages:

“When I talk to God, I speak Spanish; in matters of the heart, I speak Italian; when I discuss politics, I speak French; but when I talk to my horse, I speak German”

• El pobre caballo ! jejejeje horses are sensitive you should speak to them in Italian or Spanish - FELIZ77 Jun 9, 2010
• And he also was King of Spain, as Carlos I. - Mokay Jun 9, 2010

Answer 4

La idioma español es una lengua más fonética que francés

= The Spanish language is a more phoentical langauge than French

Spanish is much more phonetical as a language than French in the sense that it is pronounced exactly as it is spelt. Obviously you would have to pay attention to accents as you would when speaking any (foreign) language.

I have studied both these languages and am still developing my skills in both langauges, although I would have to say that my understanding and ability in Spanish is more advanced than for French.

• I wanted to vote for your "El pobre caballo" but I had to put it here. - LateToDinner Jun 10, 2010
• Feliz - creo que una lengua tiene que ser fonética - no fonético. - geofc Jun 10, 2010
• Muchas gracias, Late :) - FELIZ77 Oct 15, 2011
• and the adjective in English is "phonetic" (no 'e' in the 1st syllable and no 'al' at the end). - samdie Oct 15, 2011

Answer 5

It depends of personal goals.

• I thhink Sam is trying to win the debate, not forge a compromise. :) - Goyo Jun 9, 2010

Answer 6

Crazy question, parsley or rosemary?

Answer 7

in my opinion, both are good languages. but i only know how to speak spanish, so i would say spanish is better than french.

Answer 8

I don't know about French, but in Spanish, words are pronounced exactly how they're spelled, so once you know how the various letters sound, you really can't mispronounce a word.

• In Spain many /s/ letters are omitted when pronouncing so this is not 100% true :) - AntMexico Jun 9, 2010

Answer 9

The one that allows you to express to others (or yourself) complex thoughts and emotions in the forms of distinct and meaningful symbols - whether verbal, written or simply imagined - is the one that I would go with. Otherwise their pretty useless.

Answer 10

In Spain many /s/ letters are omitted when pronouncing so this is not 100% true

In some regions the 's' is not pronounced and it is also true that in some regions the 'd' in '-ido' and '-ado' is not pronounced. Nonetheless, compared to French, Spanish is a model of simple correspondence between pronunciation and orthography.

• Whilst basically agreeing, I have to observe the the letter 'H' is rarely pronounced in Spanish... - annierats Oct 15, 2011

Answer 11

Yo creo que esa concordancia del español en escritura y pronunciación no es al 100%. En Puerto Rico pronuncian /l/ en vez de /r/. En México las vocales se deforman . Un ejemplo simple... comúnmente se dice "se" con una "e" muy corta en vez de hacerlo con la /i/ tal y como se escribe sí. La /h/ se convierte en sonido /gu/ guarache, güevo... (huarache, huevo). Muchas veces el diptongo /ie/ se pronuncia como /y/, así entonces hielo>yelo, hierve>yerve. Así hay muchísimos ejemplos más aparte de los que mencioné. Queda demostrado que en el habla diaria se pierde mucha de esa concordancia que en teoría existe.

Answer 12

You would have more opportunities to speak Spanish, at least in the USA where I have only heard others speak French few times in my life. So I see it more of an international language much like English. I also have found many English words that have thier root in Spanish. So I guess Spanish spans many languages.

• It is more likely that French has influenced English rather than Spanish. So any English words that seem to "have their root in Spanish", really have their root in French. It's just that both French and Spanish come from Latin. - 003487d6 Jun 10, 2010

Answer 13

Ha-ha-ha. Robertico you really made me laugh with your comment, but yes Spanish is around in many States of the World and there was even a War between Mexico and France. It was called "La Gerra de los Pasteles" (The Cake War) this Happened because Mexico had a debt with France and they didn't had the many to pay for it. Another War happened between this two Countries in May 5 Which is known as "El Cinco de Mayo" (La Batalla de Puebla). So if you didn't know what's the meaning of "El Cinco de Mayo" Celebration, now you know.

• That's funny :) - 00813f2a Jun 10, 2010

Answer 14

While I love speaking both Spanish and French I have noticed from observation that Spanish speaking natives are usually much more gracious and understanding towards, and tolerant of foreigners who make mistakes while speaking their language than their French counterparts. I realize that this is a broad generalisation and there will be many exceptions but this is drawn from observation of people's responses here and talking to people that I have met in my life as well as some experience of my own....who have indicated that they were made to feel bad/stupid for making mistakes while speaking French.

It is good to desire to have high standards for any language and to seek to maintain these but if seeking to maintain high standards means expecting near perfection from people learning your language this will be likely to discourage many, if not most, people from either learning or continuing to learn your native language! After all, we learn through making mistakes so if we cannot receive tolerance from natives who expect perfection then why bother learning a second /foreign language at all?.

• Excellent point, Feliz - drvicente Oct 15, 2011

Answer 15

Spanish is more widespread throughout the world. Both great languages, but to me Spanish is easier to learn from scratch.