Choose by where and with whom you will use it: Spanish for Spain and most of Latin America, Italian for Italy, Italian-speaking Switzerland, family roots or a love of the culture. Italian is quicker by the US Foreign Service Institute's measure, 24 weeks of training against 30 for Spanish. They are close enough that the first makes the second easier.
- FSI time: Italian
- 24 weeks (Category I)
- FSI time: Spanish
- 30 weeks (Category I)
- Contos Italian
- Standard Italian
- Contos Spanish
- Spain Spanish
- Same spelling, top 100 A1 words
- 14 of 100 in our libraries
Is Italian or Spanish easier for English speakers?
Officially, Italian, by a little. The Foreign Service Institute, which trains US diplomats, puts both in Category I, its group of languages close to English, but lists Italian at 24 weeks and Spanish at 30. It gives no reason, and its students are aiming at professional fluency, so the gap says little about your first year. Our guides on how long Italian takes and how long Spanish takes turn the weeks into hours.
In practice each language has its own speed bumps:
| Italian | Spanish | |
|---|---|---|
| Articles for "the" | Seven forms: il, lo, la, l', i, gli, le | Four: el, la, los, las |
| Preposition + article | Fused forms everywhere: del, della, nel, sulla, dalla… | Only del and al |
| Sounds to master | Double consonants; c and g before e and i | The rolled rr; j; in Spain, th for z and c |
| Same sound, different spelling | gn (Spagna) | ñ (España) |
| "To be" | essere and stare, with stare used less widely | ser and estar, a famous stumbling block |
| Past tense in stories | Passato remoto from B1 in the Contos library | Preterite, also common in everyday speech |
The two libraries measure almost the same on the page. Free A1 chapters average 166 words in Italian and 181 in Spanish, with sentences of about five words in both. For a closer look at each, read is Italian hard to learn? and is Spanish hard to learn?
How similar are Italian and Spanish, word for word?
Very similar to the eye, rarely identical. We compared the free A1 chapters of the Contos Italian and Spanish libraries, 24 chapters each, written separately with different plots. Of the 100 most common word forms in each (names left out), only 14 are spelled exactly the same, including casa, dice, entra, una and no. Most of the rest are close cousins.
| Italian | Spanish | English | How close |
|---|---|---|---|
| casa | casa | house | Identical |
| dice, entra | dice, entra | says, goes in | Identical |
| porta | puerta | door | A letter or two apart |
| telefono | teléfono | phone | Same word, accent only in Spanish |
| risponde | responde | answers | A letter apart |
| nome | nombre | name | Related |
| occhi | ojos | eyes | Related |
| anni | años | years | Related |
| messaggio | mensaje | message | Related |
| non / no | no | not / no | Italian splits them |
| guarda | mira | looks | Different word |
| ma | pero | but | Different word |
| niente | nada | nothing | Different word |
The near-misses are the trap. Italian guarda (looks) exists in Spanish too, where guarda means "keeps". Spanish salir is to go out; Italian salire is to go up. Caldo is hot in Italian and a broth in Spanish, and Italian burro is butter, not a donkey.
Both libraries include an A1 series called The Monday Mystery, in which an older woman investigates small thefts from her building's laundry room. Each version was written in its own language, and their first lines show how the two languages handle the same moment:
Cerca la sua sciarpa blu. Non c'è.Consuelo busca su bufanda roja en el armario. No está.Three differences in two short lines. Italian puts an article before the possessive (la sua sciarpa), Spanish doesn't (su bufanda). Italian says something "isn't there" with non c'è, Spanish with no está. And the scarf itself is a different word: sciarpa against bufanda.
Which language is more useful for you?
Decide by the people, places and things you care about:
- Choose Spanish for Spain, Mexico and Central and South America, or if you live near a large Spanish-speaking community.
- Choose Italian for Italy and Italian-speaking Switzerland, for Italian family or citizenship, or for opera, art history, food and design.
- Still torn? Read chapter 1 of a story in each and choose the one you want to keep reading. Over a year, motivation counts for more than six weeks of FSI time.
Mind the variety, too. Contos teaches Spain Spanish, with words like piso for a flat. Its Italian is standard Italian, the language of books and national television, in stories set from Milan and Turin to Liguria, Rome and Puglia. For the official Italian certificates, see the Italian CEFR levels guide.
Should you learn both, and in which order?
Learning both is realistic, but in sequence, not in parallel. The overlap that helps later causes mix-ups early: it is easy to let pero slip into Italian, or ma into Spanish. A sound rule is to bring the first language to a comfortable B1, where you read stories with only occasional taps, before starting the second.
Order matters less than people think. Spanish first opens more countries; Italian first is, by the FSI's numbers, slightly quicker. Either way the second language arrives with a head start in vocabulary and grammar, and you can put your effort into the differences: articles and doubles if you add Italian, ser and estar if you add Spanish.
Contos keeps one learning language per account, so pick one to start. Both libraries are built the same way: 48 series and 296 chapters each, from A1 to B2, with chapters 1 and 2 of every series free.
Read chapter 1 of an A1 Italian story. If it hooks you, you have your answer.
Read free in your browserFrequently asked questions
Can Spanish speakers understand Italian?
Written Italian, often quite a lot, because so much vocabulary is related. Spoken Italian is harder: the rhythm, the double consonants and words like guarda and burro can mislead. Expect to need real listening practice.
Is Italian easier than Spanish?
Slightly, by the FSI's measure: 24 weeks for Italian against 30 for Spanish. Italian has more article forms and double consonants; Spanish has ser and estar and, in Spain, the th sound. For most learners the two feel similar.
Will knowing Spanish help me learn Italian?
Yes. Much of the vocabulary and grammar carries over, including two genders, verb endings that show the person, and a subjunctive. Watch for false friends such as salir and salire, and for Spanish spellings creeping into Italian.
Should I learn Italian if I already speak Spanish?
If you have a reason to, it is one of the easiest additions you can make. Start at A1 anyway: you will move fast, and the easy stories help you separate the two languages from the start.
Does Contos teach both Italian and Spanish?
Yes, along with 15 other languages. Each account has one learning language, chosen at the start. The Italian library uses standard Italian and the Spanish library uses Spain Spanish.