It’s common to hit a roadblock when studying Spanish. Like you, many language learners require encouragement to keep learning. What, then, is the most difficult aspect of learning Spanish?
What is the most difficult aspect of learning Spanish?
You are thinking negatively if you are asking yourself this question. Before we get into the specifics, let us just say that while learning a language might be intimidating, it is ultimately up to you to make the experience pleasant, enjoyable, and successful.
Having said that, it is acceptable if you find the most challenging feature of Spanish to be challenging because, well, as you stated, it is the most challenging aspect of the language. Don’t get discouraged if you find this component challenging; chances are, with time, desire, and effort, you’ll be able to master it.
Additionally, acquiring a language is highly subjective and relative. It depends on a number of things, including the other language(s) you are already fluent in.
Due to this, we’ll concentrate on four potentially challenging aspects:
- Verbs
- Feminine and masculine nouns
- Pronunciation of double consonants
- Auxiliares para ser y tener
The most difficult aspect of learning Spanish
Start with the verbs. The hardest part of learning Spanish is likely this one. There are various verb tenses available in Spanish for the present, past, and future. Moods like indicative, imperative, and subjunctive are also available.
Learning a verb in the Spanish language entails far more than memorizing a single word. Because person and number conjugate verbs in Spanish, you’ll need to memorize five (or six, if you’re speaking the Castilian variety) different endings for each verb you learn based on the subject pronoun.
If that isn’t enough, the conjugations vary depending on whether the verb ends in -ar, -er, or -ir. Furthermore, verb tenses (past, present, and future) are conjugated differently. It’s no surprise that memorizing conjugations is one of the most difficult obstacles for Spanish language learners!
What are the most difficult aspects of learning Spanish?
We mentioned that there are additional factors that could be challenging. It might be challenging to distinguish between female and male nouns, particularly for English speakers. The word “book” is genderless in the English language. It is masculine in Spanish. Thus, it does.
You must memorize the gender of Spanish nouns because it is completely arbitrary. We advise reading this article about the top Spanish dictionaries available online because dictionaries can inform you whether a term is feminine or masculine.
Double consonants can also be challenging to pronounce. Spanish is one of the rare languages that have a large number of clearly pronounced double consonants.
Unlike English, where syllable stress is mostly determined by chance, Spanish has complex rules that govern syllable stress. In some cases, a word requires an accent to be placed over the stressed syllable.
Even for native Spanish speakers, it is not always obvious when an accent is required: it depends on which letter the word ends in, as well as whether or not another word in the language is spelled identically, among other factors. Articles like this one demonstrate how complicated the rules for accent placement in Spanish are!
“To be or not to be” takes on a new meaning in Spanish, where there are two different ways of saying “to be.” Whereas the verb ser refers to permanent characteristics, the verb estar refers to transient states.
However, because the complexities underlying these verbs are difficult to summarize in a concise rule, knowing which form to use is a classic difficulty for students.
Continue to translate in your mind.