The Easiest Languages for Spanish Speakers to Learn

Mastering a new language can be a transformative journey, opening doors to new cultures, careers, and friendships. For native Spanish speakers, choosing which language to learn next is often guided by how quickly and easily they can progress. This article explores the five easiest languages for Spanish speakers to learn, delving into the linguistic factors that facilitate rapid acquisition and providing practical recommendations for learners seeking an efficient path to fluency.

1. Portuguese: Your Closest Linguistic Cousin

Portuguese stands out as the most accessible language for Spanish speakers. Both languages share Latin roots, resulting in an abundance of cognates—words that look and mean the same in both tongues. Examples include “importante” (important), “familia” (family), and “nación” (nation). This overlap extends beyond vocabulary to include grammatical structures: noun gender, verb conjugations, and sentence syntax display striking parallels.

Key Advantages

  • Lexical Similarity: Around 90% of Portuguese vocabulary closely resembles Spanish equivalents, significantly reducing the memorization load.
  • Similar Grammar: The conjugation patterns for regular verbs in present, past, and future tenses mirror those in Spanish.
  • Intelligible Pronunciation: Although Portuguese features nasal vowels absent in Spanish, the overall phonetic system is familiar and easily grasped through listening practice.

With an estimated 350–400 hours of study, a motivated learner can attain a solid intermediate level, capable of understanding news broadcasts, engaging in everyday conversations, and reading simple novels.

2. Italian: Smooth Sounds and Shared Roots

Italian occupies the second spot due to its transparent orthography and rhythmic pronunciation. As with Portuguese, a substantial share of Italian vocabulary derives from Latin, producing cognates like “cultura” (culture), “musica” (music), and “informazione” (information). Unlike Spanish, Italian features double consonants (e.g., “anno” vs. Spanish “año”), but learners can adapt with focused phonetic drills.

Key Advantages

  • Regular Spelling-to-Sound Correspondence: Each letter or letter combination in Italian consistently corresponds to a specific sound, minimizing pronunciation surprises.
  • Cognate Abundance: An estimated 70–80% of Italian words are immediately recognizable by Spanish speakers.
  • Simple Grammar Exceptions: Italian’s few irregular verbs and straightforward gender rules ease the learning curve.

Most Spanish speakers can reach intermediate proficiency in approximately 400–450 hours, enough to follow Italian films, discuss daily topics, and read newspapers with little support.

3. Catalan: A Regional Romance Bridge

Catalan serves as an ideal intermediate step between Spanish and other Romance languages. Spoken in Catalonia, Valencia, and the Balearic Islands, it blends aspects of both Spanish and Occitan, creating a unique yet familiar linguistic environment for Spanish speakers. Words such as “ciutat” (city), “música” (music), and “família” (family) illustrate the close ties.

Key Advantages

  • Geographical Proximity: Exposure is readily available in Spain’s northeastern regions, offering abundant immersion opportunities.
  • Lexical and Morphological Overlap: Around 75–80% of Catalan vocabulary aligns with Spanish, and verb conjugations often follow similar patterns.
  • Accessible Resources: Local media, literature, and online courses provide varied learning materials.

An estimated 450–500 hours of structured study enables learners to comfortably converse with native speakers, read Catalan newspapers, and navigate cultural events.

4. French: A Step Up with Rich Rewards

French introduces additional challenges—nasal vowels, liaison rules, and silent letters—but remains within reach due to its Romance heritage. Approximately 60% of French vocabulary is cognate with Spanish (e.g., “nation,” “culture,” “relation”). Grammatical concepts such as gendered nouns, adjective placement, and compound tenses offer familiar frameworks, though learners must adapt to unique French orthographic conventions.

Key Advantages

  • Cognate Network: Shared Latin roots confer significant vocabulary overlap, easing reading comprehension.
  • Cultural Cachet: French is a global language of diplomacy, cuisine, art, and fashion, making its mastery particularly rewarding.
  • Resource Abundance: Thousands of hours of podcasts, films, and online lessons cater to various proficiency levels.

Achieving intermediate fluency in French typically requires 500–550 hours, at which point learners engage with French literature, understand news programs, and maintain conversations on diverse topics.

5. Romanian: A Romance Outlier

Romanian presents a fascinating case: geographically isolated from other Romance languages and enriched by Slavic, Hungarian, and Turkish influences, it still retains its Latin core. Cognates like “familie” (family), “activitate” (activity), and “națiune” (nation) reveal its Romance heritage. The grammar system—featuring cases for pronouns and articles attached to nouns—introduces novel structures, but the fundamental verb conjugations and lexical base remain accessible.

Key Advantages

  • Latin Foundation: Over 60% of Romanian vocabulary traces back to Latin, providing a familiar lexical scaffold.
  • Unique Cultural Appeal: Romanian opens doors to Eastern European cultures and lesser-known literary treasures.
  • Phonetic Simplicity: Romanian pronunciation is regular, with clear vowel and consonant sounds.

Learners typically invest 550–600 hours to reach a comfortable intermediate level, enabling them to read Romanian newspapers, engage with local speakers, and appreciate cultural media.


Beyond the Top Five: Additional Options

While the five languages above represent the most efficient paths, Spanish speakers may also consider:

  • Galician: Nearly mutual intelligible with Portuguese and close to Spanish; excellent preparation for broader Romance studies.
  • Occitan and Aragonese: Lesser-known regional languages with significant overlap in vocabulary and grammar.
  • English: Despite Germanic roots, English incorporates extensive Latin-derived vocabulary (through French), and its global dominance ensures abundant resources.

Strategies for Accelerated Learning

Regardless of language choice, Spanish speakers can leverage several general strategies to expedite progress:

  1. Cognate-Focused Vocabulary Building
    Prioritize learning words that share roots with Spanish. This approach allows rapid expansion of active vocabulary and boosts confidence when encountering new texts.
  2. Contrastive Grammar Analysis
    Identify both similarities and key differences between Spanish and the target language. Understanding where structures align—and diverge—streamlines acquisition and prevents fossilized errors.
  3. Phonetic Training
    Use targeted drills to master unfamiliar sounds (e.g., French nasal vowels or Portuguese open and closed vowels). Listening to native speech and practicing with phonetic transcriptions reduces accent interference.
  4. Immersive Input Exposure
    Consume media—films, podcasts, news broadcasts, music—in the target language daily. Passive listening builds comprehension, while active shadowing (repeating aloud) enhances pronunciation and intonation.
  5. Conversational Practice
    Engage in regular speaking sessions with native speakers, tutors, or language-exchange partners. Applying newly learned structures in real conversations accelerates retention and reveals areas needing review.
  6. Integrated Learning Tools
    Combine traditional resources (textbooks, grammar guides) with digital apps, online courses, and flashcard systems. Spaced-repetition software ensures efficient memorization of vocabulary and grammatical rules.

Choosing Your Next Linguistic Adventure

For Spanish speakers seeking the fastest route to a new language, Portuguese and Italian offer the highest degree of similarity, minimizing the hurdles of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. Catalan provides a bridge that blends regional familiarity with Romance foundations, while French and Romanian introduce greater challenge balanced by rich cultural rewards. By leveraging shared linguistic features, adopting focused learning strategies, and immersing fully in the target language, Spanish-speaking learners can achieve conversational fluency in as little as 350–400 hours of dedicated study. This solid foundation paves the way for exploring more distant language families, transforming the process of language acquisition into a lifelong journey of discovery.