Ever Wonder Why Italy Stayed Home?

 Sophia Loren doing the Mambo Italiano.  Bellissima!

I've often wondered why Spanish ended up spreading all over the planet and Italian sort of stuck to Italy and nearby.  I've wondered to that if Cristoforo Colombo had sailed to America on Italian ships instead of under Spanish authority, everyone in Latin American would be speaking italiano instead of spagnolo.  It just seems that the Spanish conquistadores were especially good with absorbing their conquests into their language and culture. 

Even now, in spite of the fact that Americans and the British profess to adore the Italian language, it still ranks fairly low in languages studied by non-Italians.  I've resisted it myself, convincing myself time after time that Spanish would be more useful, since Spanish speakers are all around me, but it seems I always find myself switching from Spanish and French instructional material and YouTube videos to the language that most inspires me.  

Now, for difficulty comparisons.  French seems easy to me, but probably because I've had years of formal training in it--though, as I've discussed in other posts, it seems to me the hardest to comprehend when spoken quickly.  Spanish superficially seems pretty simple, but as you begin to delve into the advanced grammar, it definitely has its quirks and difficult verb conjugations.  Italian grammar is hard at first, but gets easier.  But of all three, Italian seems to me the easiest to grasp when spoken at a normal speed.  Italians seem to leave a tiny bit more breathing space between words.  French and Spanish do a lot of running entire phrases together.  

But I've covered all this before.  Every language has its challenges for new learners, so it's best to just put one's nose to the grind and forget about how easy or hard it is.  Just do the work.