We look at taking your first steps in your new language, Spanish. Words Juan Kattán-IbarraIf you are a beginner in Spanish, you may be wondering how difficult Spanish will turn out to be or how different it is from English. Spanish is not in fact a difficult language to learn, and there are many reasons for this. If you have never encountered Spanish before, you will be surprised to find that there are many similarities between Spanish and English, especially in the area of vocabulary. Many of the words that are similar have their origins in Latin, (visión vision, diario diary, mover to move, etc.), while many others have their roots in Greek (programa programme, sistema system, escuela school, etc.).
You will be able to deduce the meanings of many Spanish words from the similarity or correspondence between certain forms, for example Spanish -ción English -tion (acción action, situación situation), -ad -ty (libertad liberty, universidad university), -mente -ly (especialmente especially, exactamente exactly), -ico -al (idéntico identical, práctico practical), -ista -ist (artista artist, dentista dentist). But some words that look the same have different meanings in Spanish and English: actual (current, present) – actual, asistir (to attend) – to assist, carpeta (folder, tablecover) – carpet, etc.
Read more in the March issue of Living Abroad magazine
In the second part of our two-part series on French greetings, we give you the lowdown on how the French shake hands. Words Charles Timoney
Picking up a bit of Spanish isn’t as simple as learning just one language. With four distinct official languages and many dialects, it’s important to know what to expect if you’re making the move.
It’s not enough to know a few words – if you want to communicate you need to learn how those words fit together, and that’s where grammar comes in.
In the first of our two-part series on French greetings, we look at la bise, or kissing. 
