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Why the Spanish vs. English dispute
The human being is a being of light and full of love by nature. We never miss a chance to show our affection for others, whether they are our closest family members or friends. The truth is that thousands of our daily activities focus on providing welfare to those who accompany us in this life.
Our only flaw (more than a flaw, it´s a condition) is our ego. Ego puts obstacles in our way, whispers in our ear what to do and what not. Ego often drives us to stop showing the love we feel for others.
It’s not bad, it’s a way to keep ourselves safe from situations and people that can hurt us. It’s just that we must learn to control the ego, instead of letting the ego control us.
What does this have to do with the topic? Ego is the reason why the Spanish vs. English dispute.
A fair exchange
Ego is that voice that boggles our mind with giving something expecting something in return. It´s a fair exchange, but it´s necessary to let go and release expectations. It´s much better to love, give, and demonstrate selflessly.
That´s where ego takes it upon itself to harm us and those around us. It doesn´t like human beings to live in harmony.
We see this clearly in the dispute over whether it´s more difficult to learn Spanish or English. We see it in the daily quarrels in the streets, supermarkets, even in homes.
It´s a condition in which everyone fights tooth and nail to demonstrate superiority. Even though we are not animals in the jungle, but brothers of the same species.
The same goes for languages, as English and Spanish are siblings descended from Latin. Can you imagine these languages disputing each other’s grandmother’s land after Latin has died?
Since it´s not the languages that are disputing supremacy, but the human being, there is something we must understand. We always want to make the other person understand how much effort it has cost us or is costing us to learn their language. We see it from both sides when we hear comments like English is a strange language and Spanish is very complicated.
If they are brother languages, we can get the best out of each and learn them equally. Take advantage of the points in common as an advance already achieved. Then master the aspects we don’t know.
Mirroring each other
A curious fact is that life always presents us with something in the other that bothers us. It´s not that these people are bad or negative for our lives, but that we are mirroring each other.
What we see in the other is in us and what others think of us is more like a confession. “Lo que opinas de mí habla más de ti que de mí” (what you think of me speaks more about you than about me). It’s a Spanish saying that explains how the mirror effect works between people, situations, and things.
Transferring this fact to linguistics and languages, we could say that none of them escapes. Spanish speakers may be accustomed to the grammatical complexities of their native language. While English speakers use to reverse the word´s order in sentences to make sense of them.
Each has a certain degree of difficulty in the eyes of the other. Learning it´s a matter of taking the time to get to know it, accept it for what it is, and love its essence. Just as with people, we cannot expect them to change, but we can continue to give unconditional love, even from afar.
Spanish vs English
Going back to the subject, we want to share this comparison between Spanish vs English. Maybe by going objective we can find out which one is more difficult to learn. Of course, we will rely on proven facts and data, leaving behind ego subjectivity.
Number of words
It´s practically impossible to accurately measure the number of words in Spanish and English. We can only appreciate data such as the number of terms in the most relevant dictionaries of each language. This is because colloquial slang has many words that have not been formally adopted.
Spanish
- In-use words: 150,000
English
- In-use words: 180,000
Phonetics
The phonetics between English and Spanish is differentiated by the fonts of their words. Each gets difficulties in the pronunciation of the other. Let’s see what this is all about.
Spanish
- English, Italian, Arabic, Arabic, and Germanic influences.
- Phonetic language.
- 25 phonemes.
- Sounds like “rr”, “b”, and “v”.
- Speed of 7.82 syllables per minute.
- Difficult listening comprehension.
English
- Anglo-French and Germanic influences.
- Difficult pronunciation, reading, and writing.
- 44 phonemes.
- Sounds like “Th”.
- Speed of 6.19 syllables per second.
Grammatical differences
Spanish and English have notable grammatical differences. We will now mention some of them.
Spanish
- Better formulated grammatical rules.
- Gender nouns.
- Negation with “no” is enough.
English
- Grammatical rules are difficult to explain.
- Order of adjectives.
- Negation with a variety of settings to choose from.
Verbs
In terms of verbs, Spanish gains complexity, since it has 14 complete paradigms. That is, 7 simple and 7 compound tenses.
Spanish
- Regular verbs can have more than 55 conjugations.
- 48 conjugations of the verb “ser“.
- Subjunctive mode introduces new endings in past, present, and future.
- Imperative mode involves verb endings for positive and negative commands.
English
- Regular verbs have approximately 5 conjugations.
- 8 conjugations of the verb “to be”.
- Subjunctive mood follows the indicative verb forms.
- Positive command = indicative mood.
- Negative command forms by putting “don’t” at the beginning.
In perfect balance
Practicing self-awareness keeps you in perfect balance. It’s about discovering your strengths and weaknesses to bring out the best in you.
It’s recognizing your mistakes and learning how they affect you and those around you. In the end, we only seek to be better every day.
The same goes for Spanish vs. the English language. As a native Spanish or English speaker understanding the intricacies of your language will help you get to know the other.
Boost your learning with a good dose of patience and persistence. And remember, whatever you do, do it with love!