The majority of us who has graduated from (at least) grade school knows at least one romance language. Whether the romance language you’ve learned was Spanish, French, or Italian, you have learned it and can now understand, to a degree, other languages-- especially other romance languages.
So how come, after learning one or more (romance) languages can we easily pick up and understand other languages? This has been a long-focused question throughout the world. There are many reasons behind why new languages can come easier to you now, but the simple reasons are as follows:
Learning another romance language on top of the romance language you have learned throughout grade school and (some of) college comes easy or easier to you because romance languages are similar.
First things first, if you were to compare all of the romance languages together, you will notice that they all sound very similar. A lot of the verbs, nouns, adjectives are all pronounced in a very similar manner. If you can understand a verb in Italian, for example, then you can easily understand a verb that is pronounced similarly in Spanish or French.
Now, if you were to read or write any of the romance languages and compare the spelling structures and patterns to that of another romance language, you will notice that the languages are worded similarly, too. The words may look alike, but are not spelled or sounded alike, in an exact way.
Before learning a romance language, some words may have looked foreign to you; and you had no idea what the words mean. However, with memorization and knowledge of a few verbs/words and how they are spelled and sound in conversation, you will now have no problem understanding similar words and patterns of other romance languages.
Chunking words together and comparing words from romance languages will help you better understand the significance of romance language words in a deeper, intellectual meaning. Knowing similar words will also help you memorize certain words in different languages-- so talking, reading, and writing in them will come more natural to you.
The words of different romance languages, are also spelled in a very similar fashion, too. Spelling allows for easier comprehension, memorization, and understanding of certain words and phrases when spoken or written to. With such a similar structure, you can pick up on similar nouns, verbs, adjectives, and other types of words and phrases in other languages.
With the knowledge of at least one romance language, it can help you to become bilingual, trilingual, or multilingual! You can go anywhere in Europe and understand the basic and fundamental elements of a conversation.
Even if you hear a foreign/romance language that you are not used to hearing, at least you will now have an idea of what someone is saying or writing. Now, I advise you to get out there and start learning another language! Trust me, you will not be disappointed. You can only try, fail and continue to learn from your mistakes.
