French vs Spanish in secondary school

pklin

Does anyone have any advice about deciding whether to do French or spanish as a language in secondary school ? If I don't have a particular reason for choosing either one is Spanish easier ?

Legion.

I do Spanish and from what I've heard from my friends who do French say it's quite tough. Spanish is very similar to English, and IMO very easy to learn. I've been doing spanish 2 and a half years, Irish 8 and a half and I can speak way better Spanish than I can irish xD

allandanyways

Lads, Spanish isn't easier. Trust me, I've been studying it for nearly 9 years now and this perception that because it's closer to English than French would be (in some parts) that it's "easy" or "easier" is a load of crap. There have been times I have fecked my grammar books at the wall because sometimes Spanish just does not make sense, it's so complicated sometimes.

Also the way that Spanish is taught in this country is quite frankly disgraceful. The reason people say French is harder for JC and LC is because a lot of effort has gone into making the French curriculum challenging and gives the student a greater understanding of the language. The Spanish curriculum is, to be blunt, thrown together and there is massive room for improvement.

That said, Spanish is a great language to have, it's handy, it's easy to remember and Spanish culture is a wonderful thing. It really is personal choice, but don't go on the basis that Spanish is "easy". That will not serve you well in the future.

Desire to Aspire

We only have a choice of French or German in my school. I do French, and I wouldn't say it's hard. It's not easy either, but if you put in the work, it's grand.

I would have loved to do Spanish in school, because I go to Spain regularly and will continue to do so for the rest of my life.

SocksRock

Well, I would recommend that you take a look at a book or ask someone whose done them.. We only do French at my school, and I'd say they're very similar.

yellowsky169

Its worth remembering that Spanish is spoken in South America too. I know French and German arn't just spoken in France and Germany but still a huge amount of people in the world speak Spanish. I do Spanish but that's mainly because I did it in primary school for three years! Its a really nice language but my friends do French and they think the same about French:D Good luck

rorrissey

I'm doing French at school and I'm awful at it, I just find it so hard to wrap my head around all the tenses and stuff. My friend studies Spanish outside of school and she's taught me a bit of it. I actually really like Spanish, it's funner..

Dazza

I find French very hard (I failed the pres) i wont bother keeping a language on. Il probobly could do with grinds but i still probobly would fail it

spurious

Darragh12 wrote: »

I find French very hard (I failed the pres) i wont bother keeping a language on. Il probobly could do with grinds but i still probobly would fail it

Make sure to keep your options open for college.

luciemc

not sure if you'll even read this, i know you posted a while ago!
but i do both languages so i suppose i could be of some help? French for Junior Cert is a much easier paper than Spanish, but that was also because Spanish is taught terribly in my school.

Leaving Cert Spanish, on the other hand, is much easier than French. French grammar is not more difficult, once you get used to the words not being pronounced exactly as they are written, and i think it is a nicer sounding language.. but I think that I'll be keeping up the Spanish in college purely because it's handier for business. It really is a personal choice no one language is harder, message me if you need to know anything else I got As in both in my Junior Cert!!

skyscraperblue

I do Spanish and a lot of my friends do French, and I have to say, from discussing it with other people/teachers/etc and looking through the books, Leaving Cert Spanish seems easier than French. The French classes in my school are always stressed out and worried about French and how difficult, complicated etc. it is, where I don't really have huge issues with Spanish. I think Spanish is easier but I think I'd have preferred French just in terms of the amount of resources out there to help you - because if you get stuck in Spanish, it's a lot harder to find resources to help you. For example, there's no actual LC Spanish textbook at the moment that covers everything - there's a couple of revision books, a couple of books for specifics (we've got an Oral Exam book) and you can use A-Levels textbooks if you want, but no actual full textbook, whereas French classes can pick and choose. But Spanish as a language does seem to be easier.

P H A 7V T O M

French is restricted to, obviously, France, as well as some native-speaking African countries, whereas Spanish is spoken in many S.A countries, islands, and in the USA it is from 30%-40% of the total population's first spoken language, and 70% of the population's secondary language. Spanish has more opportunity for when you get a job, though French can work also. German is far less important than it was back in the cold war era (until '89, really), when it was what EVERYONE studied.