Should I go for Spanish or Italian?
 

The obvious choice to me seems to be Spanish as it seems easier but the motive for Italian is that it's such a popular romance language. I'd like to learn a new language to keep me busy, for interest and it would benefit me when writing code because I'm in a programming community of world wide foreign speakers.

So, the heart wants to go for Italian but my common sense is telling me to go for Spanish but then I'm sure you can all agree with me when I say that both can be just as deceiving at times. Italian would be the harder route but to achieve what I'd feel is more.. not successful but I can't explain it. It'd feel like it were a bigger deal, whereas Spanish is the easier route but I wouldn't feel as satisfied as if it were Italian.

It's like doing a level 1 diploma for a subject so you could avoid the exams when you could take a written A-level exam that's equivalent to several level 1 diplomas but that'd mean you'd go through extra effort, bearing in mind this scenario is for those alike myself who really do not like sitting down for an exam.

Could you point me in the correct direction?

Don't fool yourself into thinking that Italian is more difficult than Spanish.
If looking for something super easy, any foreign language is bound to disappoint.

If you wish to study another language, choose the one whose culture interests you most, or choose the one that is most-commonly spoken in your community.

Ah, better details on your motivation for learning each language. Poli's comments are spot on: no matter which language you choose, learning any second language is a challenging proposition.

Motivation #1: be able to communicate (sometimes) with colleagues/co-workers in thier first language. Question: within the group of people who you work with most, or with whom you anticipate working with most over the next few years, what's the approximate ratio of native speakers of one language compared to the other? In other words, which language has the potential for greater utility within your programming community?

Motivation 2: emotional appeal
Motivation 3: common sense

Unless the work-related or common-sense motivations are particularly compelling, I'm inclined to recommend that you follow your heart.

Objectively, I don't think that there is any such thing as a "correct" direction. Subjectively, which one draws you more strongly?

I think I'm going to head for Spanish considering it would be much more useful to me in my current situation and I could always learn Italian at a later date if desired, besides I've read that knowing Spanish beforehand does help one learn Italian.

Thanks for your help, it's greatly appreciated.

Good choice :thumbsup:

Hope you enjoy learning Spanish as I am at the moment (or trying to! :D)

Ciao/Hola Robby. Short answer is sí learn Spanish first perche/porque it is an international language spoken 21 different Spanish speaking countries and Spanish is also the 2nd most spoken language in the U.S. Italian is a language basically just spoken in one main country namely Italy. I learned Italian first and then Spanish. For the last 7 years I have been teaching Italian to Spanish speakers in an adult school. They learn rapido/fast. Come sta? Como esta?
When you learn Spanish you are learning Italian and visa versa to some degree. They both have the same vowel sounds. Both roll their letter "R" the same. Pronuciation very similar. Even English has many cognates with Spanish and Italian so just imagine Spanish and Italian. Spanish and Italian are both spoken in the front of the mouth while English is spoken in the back of the mouth. That was one little tip that helped my pronunciation a lot.

People will tell you that Portuguese and Spanish are closer but Spanish and Italian are closer phonectically. Portuguese does not roll the letter r and Portuguese has additional vowel sounds while Spanish and Italian vowel sounds are identical.

Thankyou, I'm going to enrol in a Spanish class in another additional year in college because I'd feel so much more comfortable in an actual mature class rather than learning everything individually online. There are many ways this can go wrong, which is why I'd feel more comfortable being around a qualified teacher and I could ask him/her literally anything I am unsure of.