The Dos and Donts of Learning Romance Languages

The Dos and Donts of Learning Romance Languages The Dos and Donts of Learning Romance Languages Romance languagesâ€"just the name can make you swoon.But while its true that Romance languages like Italian and French have reputations for being a bit seductive, they actually dont earn their name from  romantic connotations.Instead, they all derive from the language of the Roman Empire: Latin. The Empires influence still holds today as almost a billion people  speak a Romance language as their native language. 300 million more speak a Romance language as their second language.So why not join them?Before you get started, though, decide which language youll learn first. Well show you what to consider. Then, take note of the essential dos and donts of learning Romance languages. Even though they have their differences, there are some standard rules you can use to quicken your learning. Which Romance Language Should I Learn First?Are you taking a trip to a country that speaks a certain language? Do you want to communicate better with someone in particular, or need to learn a language for work? Does one language just sound particularly beautiful to you? Knowing what you want to do with a language can be as important as choosing the language to learn.If you have a definite answer to any of the above questions, then that makes things easy. The first Romance language you should learn is the one you want to learn!If you know you want to learn a Romance language or several Romance languages, but one isnt necessarily more useful or captivating to you than another, then  we recommend you start with Spanish first. Its one of the most widely spoken Romance languages, which means youll have a greater chance of putting it to good use right away. Plus, its popularity means it might be more familiar to your ears.We also recommend you learn Romanian last, as it has the fewest similarities to the other Romance languages. Between Spanish and Romanian, order the others (French, Italian, Portuguese, Catalan and Occitan) based on your strengths, weaknesses and interests. Note that many people choose to learn Spanish, Italian and French first with Portuguese close behind.Some people plan on learning Romance languages simultaneously. For those people, be sure to pair your languages well. You could pair a harder language with an easier one, to challenge yourself while preventing burnout. You could also pair two similar languages to build your vocabulary through cognates.The Dos and Donts of Learning Romance LanguagesThe Dos of Learning Romance LanguagesDo: Pay Attention to Gender as You Learn New WordsUnlike English, nouns in Romance languages have a grammatical gender. A words gender determines what articles you use with it and how it agrees with other words (for instance, an adjective that describes a feminine noun getting a feminine ending). Think of the gender as part of the actual word when learning nouns.For example, if youre planning to label objects around your house to build your everyday vocabulary, use color coding for different genders. Or to make i t even easier on yourself, check out VocabularyStickers, which are pre-made, durable labels that already come with color coding for gender (as well as for plurals). VocabularyStickers come with more than 130 labels for everything from utensils to office supplies to your clothes and much more.Sometimes the ending of a word will help signal its gender or plurality status. Spanish nouns, by way of example, often end with an  o or  or for masculine nouns, and  a or  ora for feminine ones.Not all nouns follow this rule in each Romance language, though! Some words either give no indication of gender, or may even have an ending that doesnt properly correlate with the general gender rule of that language.Do: Learn the Regular Verb EndingsThere are three verb types in most Romance languages (Romanian has four) depending on how the infinitive of the verb is spelled. For example, French regular verbs end in either  -er, -ir  or -re;  Spanish regular verbs end in either ar, er or ir.Identifying the type of regular verb is crucial to understanding how to conjugate it. Youll need to take off the verb ending to get the verb stem, and add the appropriate ending depending on conjugation rules for that type of verb.Verb conjugation is one of the first concepts youll encounter in your Romance language studies and it can be one of the most frustrating to master. Making a habit of finding the infinitive ending will make the complicated concept of verb conjugation that much easier as you move forward.Pro-tip:  one easy way to find the infinitive ending for any regular verb in French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese is to search for the last  -r  in the word.  Then its just a matter of dropping that letter along with the vowel that comes immediately before it (and the one afterward if it applies).Do: Study Some Latin and IPAIf you plan on learning all the Romance languages, adding yet another language may seem daunting. However, learning a bit of Latin will prove worthwhile. Since L atin forms the base for all the Romance languages, its a great way to find the patterns throughout each.Furthermore, learning a bit of the International Phonetic Alphabet, or IPA, will improve your ability to comprehend and correctly pronounce any Romance language. IPA is a standardized set of symbols that represent syllable and word sounds.Many dictionaries write the IPA next to its definitionâ€"even English dictionaries. Theyre often more accurate than the phonetic guides in phrasebooks as well. Plus, the sounds for IPA cover all Romance languages with the same symbols.So, as with Latin, if you learn IPA, youll have tips that apply to all the Romance languages.The Donts of Learning Romance LanguagesDont: Forget Article AgreementOnce you know the gender of a noun in a Romance language, then you have to add the article. Romance languages will specify a chair or the chair by using an article that agrees in gender with the noun at hand.Articles will also signal whether a noun is plura l or singular. Take this simple example from French:Le chien (The dog)Les chiens (The dogs)Notice how the article changes in French, but not in English?Articles can be very tricky for English speakers since English doesnt have gendered words or changes in articles from singular to plural words. So dont forget to pay attention to article agreement as youre writing or speaking in your target Romance language, right from the get-go!The more you practice, the more natural itll become.Dont: Instinctively Pronounce Words with Unclear VowelsOne of the reasons Romance languages are considered so beautiful is due to their pure vowels, also known as monophthongs, which are vowel sounds that remain the same throughout their pronunciation. In other words, you dont need to glide your voice to speak a pure vowel. This differs from diphthongs, which are two vowel sounds pressed together to make one sound.English speakers, and American ones in particular, tend to not enjoy a pure vowel.  Nearly eve ry Romance language does though. To identify this, take a listen to some native speakers, then compare it to non-native speakers reading a similar text. Maybe even read a text out loud yourself. What differences can you hear in the pronunciation?You can also watch native speakers to see how they form their vowels. Often theyll have much rounder lips than the average English speaker, for example.A great resource for this type of practice is FluentU, where you can watch authentic videos in your target language to learn it the way native speakers use it. The videos (including everything from movie trailers to funny YouTube clips to news broadcasts) come with interactive captions that you can click for instant, in-context translations of any words you dont recognize.That means not only will you be creating good pronunciation habits as you watch these videos, youll also actively build your vocabulary.Best of all, you can take your learning anywhere with the FluentU mobile app for iOS  or Android!Dont: Rely on English GrammarWhen learning any language, its tempting to build a sentence word-by-word based on the sentence structure we already know in English. But remember that Romance languages are structured differently. Adjectives, for example, often come after the noun in question rather than before it.Some verbs also dont translate well from English. In English, we say to be for many sentences where Romance languages say to have. We are hungry in English, but we have hunger in some Romance languages.Knowing these changes can make or break how quickly you learn a language and how fluent you become.Dont: Substitute One Romance Language for AnotherThe temptation to use cognates from one Romance language to replace the correct word in another can seem so great sometimes. After all, many native speakers of one Romance language can often understand you even if you accidentally speak another language. Still, its embarrassing at best and culturally insensitive at worst to do so.With any Romance language you learn, take careful note of the differences between them as well as the similarities to keep them sorted in your head. Learn about the culture to help you identify these differences better. Itll help you branch out into other kinds of languages in the future as well.Do these rules apply to all Romance languages?The short answer is yes. The beauty of Romance languages lies in their similar forms. However, each language requires emphasis on certain elements. French pronunciation focuses heavily on nasal sounds and dropped consonants, while the Italian language only has five vowel sounds and doubled consonants. Spanish and Portuguese use varied accent symbols when writing, which differ from the accents in Romanian.Every language comes with its own set of dos and donts. Remembering them can greatly enhance your learning process. And One More ThingLet FluentU inspire your Romance language learning. FluentU makes it possible to learn languages  from m usic videos, commercials, news and inspiring talks, and you can currently use it to learn French, Spanish, Italian or any combination of those. (Theres also a Portuguese program in the works.)With FluentU, you learn real languagesâ€"the same way that real people speak them. FluentU has a wide variety of videos, like movie trailers, funny commercials and web series, as you can see here:FluentU App Browse ScreenFluentU has interactive captions that let you tap on any word to see an image, definition, audio and useful examples. Now native language content is within reach with interactive transcripts.Didnt catch something? Go back and listen again. Missed a word? Hover over or tap on the subtitles to instantly view definitions.FluentU Interactive TranscriptsYou can learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentUs quiz mode. Swipe left or right to see  more examples for the word you’re learning.FluentU Has Quizzes for Every VideoAnd FluentU always keeps track of vocabulary that youâ €™re learning. It uses that vocab to give you a 100% personalized experience by recommending videos and examples.