· 8 min read
French vs Spanish: Which Should You Learn?
By Language Lab editorial team
French vs Spanish compared on difficulty, speaker numbers, official exams and free courses. Both take 30 weeks by US State Department figures.
French and Spanish are equally hard for an English speaker by the best official measure available. The US State Department places both in Category I, languages close to English, and lists both at 30 weeks of classes, within a 552–690 class hour range. So choose on use, not difficulty. Spanish has more native speakers: the Instituto Cervantes counts 520 million, and more than 630 million potential speakers in all. French has 396 million speakers and 170 million learners, according to the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. Both have lifelong official diplomas, DELE for Spanish and DELF and DALF for French, and both have free courses from public institutions. Pick the one you will use most.
French vs Spanish at a glance
| French | Spanish | |
|---|---|---|
| State Department category | Category I | Category I |
| Class time | 30 weeks | 30 weeks |
| Speakers | 396 million French speakers in the world | 520 million native speakers; more than 630 million potential speakers |
| Learners | 170 million learning French or in French | Up 36% since 2012 |
| Main diplomas | DELF A1 to B2, DALF C1 and C2 | DELE A1 to C2 |
| Diploma validity | Valid for life | No expiration date |
| Flexible test | TCF, valid for 2 years | SIELE, valid for five years |
Which is easier?
Neither, on the official numbers. The State Department publishes the time its English-speaking students usually need to reach a speaking and listening score of 3 on the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) scale. French and Spanish are both listed at 30 weeks, inside a Category I range of 24–30 weeks or 552–690 class hours. For comparison, German is about 36 weeks, and Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Korean are 88 weeks.
The State Department adds that the actual time varies with a learner's natural ability, prior language-learning experience and time spent in the classroom. The two languages differ less in total effort than in where the effort goes.
What beginners work on in each
The Open University runs free beginner courses in both languages, and their published learning outcomes show what each one asks of you at the start.
| French | Spanish | |
|---|---|---|
| Sounds taught first | The u and ou sounds and the basic rules of French pronunciation | Vowel sounds and the letter h |
| Later sounds | Un and une, and the letters h and r | The r sound |
| Grammar named early | Masculine and feminine forms; the articles le, la, l' and les | The present tense form of some common verbs |
| Social language | Greetings and partings in different settings | Introductions using both formal and informal expressions |
In the French courses, pronunciation is a named outcome in both the first and the third course, and learners are expected to tell masculine from feminine forms by ear and pronounce each correctly. In the Spanish courses the named sound work is the vowels and the letter h in the first course and the r in the second, where the present tense of some common verbs also appears. Spanish has long-running topics of its own: the Instituto Cervantes' activity archive has an activity on noun gender at C1, and one on accent marks at B2.
Which is more useful?
Spanish in numbers
- 520 million people have native command of Spanish, according to the Instituto Cervantes' 2025 yearbook, and potential speakers exceed 630 million.
- Native Spanish speakers form the third-largest native-speaker community in the world, after Mandarin Chinese and Hindi.
- More than 45 million Spanish speakers live in the European Union outside Spain.
- The share of web pages with content in Spanish is the second highest in the world, though far behind English.
- The number of learners has grown 36% since 2012.
French in numbers
- 396 million French speakers in the world, according to the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie.
- 170 million people learning French or learning in French.
- The fourth language worldwide and the fourth on the internet.
- The third language of the economy and business.
These are different kinds of count, published by different bodies, so do not read them as a like-for-like ranking. What they do show is that both languages are large and international. The better question is where you will be: which countries you travel to, who you work with, and which university or immigration system you may one day apply to.
Exams and certificates
| French | Spanish | |
|---|---|---|
| Diploma | DELF (A1 to B2) and DALF (C1 and C2), issued by the Ministry of National Education | DELE (A1 to C2), awarded on behalf of Spain's Ministry of Education |
| How it works | A separate diploma for each level | You choose the level in advance; the result is pass or fail |
| Validity | Valid for life | No expiration date |
| Flexible alternative | TCF tout public: assesses six levels in one test; certificate valid for 2 years | SIELE: one multilevel exam scored from 0 to 1000; valid for five years |
| University use | DELF B2, and increasingly DALF C1, for entry to French, European or Francophone universities | Recognised by schools, businesses and universities |
The two systems mirror each other: a lifelong diploma you sit at a chosen level, and a shorter-lived test that places you on the scale. If you need a certificate for a specific application, check which one that authority names.
Free ways to start either one
- Both: The Open University's OpenLearn has free Getting started courses in French and in Spanish, each with a free statement of participation.
- French: TV5MONDE offers more than 2000 free online exercises built on videos and news reports, and RFI's Le français facile has podcasts and exercises from A1 to C1/C2.
- Spanish: the Instituto Cervantes' Aveteca is an archive of activities sorted by level from A1 to C1.
How to choose
- Choose Spanish if the people and places in your life are in Spain or the Americas, or you want the larger pool of native speakers.
- Choose French if your plans involve France or other French-speaking countries, or study at a French or Francophone university.
- If a qualification is the goal, start from the exam the institution asks for and work backwards.
- If you have no outside reason, try a free beginner course in each for a week and keep the one you actually return to.
- Whichever you choose, study the same way: a 2013 review of learning research rated practice testing and distributed practice as high utility.
Language Lab offers both. Its French and Spanish courses are built around voiced real-life scenarios with an AI tutor.
Frequently asked
Is French or Spanish easier to learn?
The US State Department rates them the same. Both are Category I languages, described as close to English, and both are listed at 30 weeks of classes.
Which has more speakers, French or Spanish?
Spanish has more native speakers: 520 million, according to the Instituto Cervantes, with more than 630 million potential speakers. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie counts 396 million French speakers.
Is French pronunciation harder than Spanish?
Official difficulty figures do not separate pronunciation, and beginner courses in both languages teach it explicitly. The Open University's French courses list the u and ou sounds, un and une, and the letters h and r. Its Spanish courses name the vowel sounds, the letter h and the r sound.
Which is more useful for work?
It depends on where you work. Spanish has the larger native-speaker community; the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie describes French as the third language of the economy and business.
Which exams prove my level?
For French, the DELF (A1 to B2) and DALF (C1 and C2), plus the TCF. For Spanish, the DELE (A1 to C2), plus SIELE.
Do the certificates expire?
DELF, DALF and DELE do not: the French diplomas are valid for life and DELE has no expiration date. A TCF certificate is valid for 2 years and SIELE for five years.
How long will either take?
The State Department's Category I range is 552–690 class hours for a speaking and listening score of 3 on the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) scale. At ten hours a week that is about 55 to 69 weeks for either language.
Sources: US Department of State, National Foreign Affairs Training Center, Foreign Language Training; Instituto Cervantes, El español: lengua para el mundo 2025 (20 claves), Difference between DELE and SIELE, Qué son los DELE and Aveteca; SIELE, Exams; Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, La langue française dans le monde; France Éducation international, DELF tout public, DALF and TCF tout public; The Open University, OpenLearn, Getting started with French 1–3 and Getting started with Spanish 1–2; TV5MONDE; RFI, Le français facile; Dunlosky et al., Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 2013. Checked on 13 October 2026. Photo: La Concha bay, San Sebastián, Carlos Cunha / CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons).
