Spanish vs Chinese: Which Is Easier, and How Similar Are They?

Key takeaways

Spanish is the easier of the two for English speakers (Foreign Service Institute Category I against IV).
Their everyday vocabulary is mostly different: almost none of the everyday words sound alike, so knowing one gives you little to lean on in the other.
Start with the one you will actually use; if speed is the goal, Spanish asks for fewer hours.

How hard is each one?

For an English speaker Spanish is the easier of the two: the Foreign Service Institute puts it at 552–690 class hours against 2,200 for Chinese. These are the figures behind the how long does it take to learn a language calculator, from the US Foreign Service Institute's published language training times.

	Spanish	Chinese
FSI difficulty group	Category I	Category IV
Class hours to working proficiency	552–690	2,200
Full-time weeks	24–30	88

The hours are for a native English speaker in full-time classes aiming at professional working proficiency. Useful everyday conversation comes sooner, and the calculator breaks the time down by level.

How much do the words overlap?

Their everyday vocabulary is mostly different: almost none of the everyday words sound alike, so knowing one gives you little to lean on in the other.

Very few everyday words sound alike in Spanish and Chinese, so there is no short list to show.

And a few everyday words that sound completely different:

English	Spanish	Chinese
American	americano	美国的měi guó de
bright	brillante	明亮míng liàng
custom	costumbre	风俗fēng sú
fork	tenedor	叉子chā zi
kilometer	kilómetro	公里gōng lǐ
oak	roble	橡树xiàng shù
run	correr	跑pǎo
swimming	natación	游泳yóu yǒng

Writing system and grammar

The writing systems differ: Spanish uses the Latin alphabet and Chinese uses Chinese characters.
Only Chinese is a tonal language, so pronunciation carries more of the meaning there.

	Spanish	Chinese
Writing system	Latin alphabet	Chinese characters
Grammatical genders	2 (masculine, feminine)	None
Noun cases	None	None
Tones	No	Yes (Mandarin has four, plus a neutral one)

Which should you learn first?

If your main aim is the fastest route to holding a conversation, Spanish asks for fewer hours. If you want to reach a particular place, a person or a job, start with the one you will actually use: steady motivation counts for more than the difference in hours.

Frequently asked questions

Is Spanish easier than Chinese?

For an English speaker Spanish is the easier of the two: the Foreign Service Institute puts it at 552–690 class hours against 2,200 for Chinese. Hours are for a native English speaker reaching professional working proficiency in full-time classes; casual learning gets you to useful conversation well before that.

How similar are Spanish and Chinese?

Their everyday vocabulary is mostly different: almost none of the everyday words sound alike, so knowing one gives you little to lean on in the other.

Should I learn Spanish or Chinese first?

Do Spanish and Chinese use the same alphabet?

No. Spanish is written with the Latin alphabet and Chinese with Chinese characters.

Keep going

See all language comparisons