Is French Easy To Learn?

Is French easy to learn?

Is French easy to learn? 
Is French easier to learn than Spanish? 
Is Spanish more useful than French? 
Should I learn French or Spanish? 

Often these questions arise because people want to better allocate their language learning resources (time, effort, money, etc...). The reason Spanish is being discussed here is because in the United States, Spanish and French are the top two language choices students consider. To help my readers, this article will discuss all these questions and more; allowing you to decide (or reaffirm) which language is right for you!

Is French Easier to learn than X language?
Quite frankly, you really shouldn't be concerned about which languages are "easier". If you wanted to learn Russian, Arabic, or Chinese for whatever reason, then do what makes YOU happy! Every language has some sort of difficult quality to it and I'm not here to preach about my own difficulties with learning French.

However, take some time to reflect...

May I ask why you want to learn a second language in the first place? If you wanted to be serious about another language then it's not a matter of what's easier but what's more useful to your needs. Do you plan on using French for your job or in your community? Do you want to explore the French culture? Lastly, would you rather communicate with French or Spanish natives? These are all great motivators to overcome the fact that a language may be difficult. If you feel that learning Spanish would be better suited for you, go learn Spanish! If you dream of traveling to France then go learn French! But here's what you should NEVER do...

How to Start Thinking in French?

Regardless of your current level in French, try to read the following excerpt from a French article:

Les fruits sont souvent considérés comme trop sucrés, trop chers pour ce qu’ils apportent à la santé. Ils seraient ainsi trop riches en hydrate de carbone et contiendraient trop de pesticides. Mais en réalité « se passer de fruits pourrait être nuisible à la santé » comme l’assure Nathalie Hutter-Lardeau. « Les fruits en terme de niveau caloriques sont beaucoup plus faibles que les gâteaux et autres extras que l’on peut s’autoriser. Le fruit dans son état naturel contient de l’eau, des fibres, des vitamines et est intéressant pour la satiété. Quand on dit cinq fruits et légumes par jour ce n’est pas pour rien ! ». La nutritionniste de prévenir d’un éventuel risque qui serait de « consommer toujours le même fruit : si je mange tous les matins un kiwi forcément à la longue cela va avoir une influence sur ma santé ». Il est donc important de varier !

- Cinq aliments qui ne méritent pas leur mauvaise réputation, Hutter-Lardeau. Le 5 août, 2013.

"So what was the point of all this?" you may ask. When you read French, do you translate individual words into English and then come up with a meaning, or do you read the French as is, understanding the context and structures without paying attention to each word? Did you skim the above excerpt or hang on every word? If you're at the level of French where you can skim and have a good understanding then you're already on your way to inherently thinking in French. If you had some problems with the article, don't fret! Before getting deeper into the subject, I want to address that it's perfectly normal to try and translate things back to your mother tongue. I also want to say it is fairly important that you're at least comfortable with your French. You don't necessarily have to be fluent, but you should know some words.

Not surprisingly, the above article had many cognates to help you out. I'm sure English speakers picked out certain words such as fruits, hydrate, caloriques, fibres, vitamines, kiwi, naturel, risque, influence, intéressant, etc... My best advice would be to forget your primary language and start thinking about things in French. Eventually, you'll be on your way to thinking (and maybe dreaming?) with your new language. So, what does thinking in French entail and how do I go about doing so?

Start Thinking in French
These tips are in a somewhat random order and some were provided by a great French community known as /r/French.