The concept of linguistic distance refers to the ease with which a speaker of one language can learn another. Polyglots, individuals who speak multiple languages, often find some languages more intuitive to learn than others due to linguistic similarities and user-friendly processes. In this article, we'll explore the experiences of a polyglot who had difficulty learning French despite speaking Spanish and English, although found German and Portuguese to be more intuitive.
The polyglot found that French presented certain non-intuitive aspects. The word "peu" (a little) appears to be unrelated to the Spanish word "poco" (a little) they are familiar with, highlighting the disconnect between these languages. Expressions like "de rien" (you're welcome), pronounced similarly to "de nada" in Spanish, were initially unheard of and forced the learner to start from scratch. Other words like "allons" (let's go) and "avec" (with) seemed challenging to pronounce and write.
In contrast, the polyglot found that German and Portuguese were more intuitive to learn. German shares a similar grammar and phonetic structure with English, making it relatively straightforward for an English speaker to pick up. Portuguese is also close to Spanish, with similarities in vocabulary and grammar, suggesting that the speaker's knowledge of Spanish helped them grasp Portuguese more easily.
Despite speaking two languages that one would expect to be closely related to French, the polyglot found that learning French was still a challenging process. Their discomfort highlights the subjective nature of linguistic similarity. Those who feel that learning a new language should be as natural as their native tongue may find certain languages more intuitive than others based on personal linguistic experiences. However, with the help of resources, resources, and motivated language learning, flipping the difficulty curve is achievable.
Last updated on February 1, 2025
