If you are reading this right now, then you must already possess at least a basic command of the English language. For starters then, you may wish to consider taking your pick from among the Romance languages - in particular, the three major Romance languages of Spanish, French and Italian.

An English speaker will find it relatively easy to learn one of these languages. The main reason for this is that up to 80% of their vocabularies are derived from Latin and thus share much in common with some 70% of Modern English vocabulary that similarly has Latin roots. Additionally, their grammar rules are simple to follow and their pronunciation (with the exception of French) is mostly phonetic, hence highly regular.

Each of these languages dates back to the 5th Century, when the decline of the Roman Empire and subsequent polarization of the different countries within it spawned a diversity of languages that evolved from popular Latin. Latin, a member of the Italic branch of the Indo-European family of languages, was the common and cohesive spoken language of countries under Roman power. The end of an era thus saw the emergence of numerous "descendents" of Latin, which eventually became classified collectively as the Romance languages. The label "Romance" is derived from the Latin phrase romanica loqui, "to speak in Roman fashion".

The Romance languages have flourished over the centuries, with each having gained its own unique character that continues to capture the appreciation and affection of people from all nations, speakers and non-speakers alike. More impressively, the languages have become synonymous with great culture and literature, and have given birth to some of the world's most beloved and respected masterpieces.

Today, more than 800 million people in 50 countries worldwide speak the Romance languages. Notably, the three major ones featured in this article are among the top five most spoken Romance languages (the other two being Portuguese and Romanian). Spanish leads the pack with nearly 300 million native speakers and is also the third most spoken language in the world. As a testimony to its widespread usage, Spanish was added to the list of official languages of the United Nations in 1973. It thus came alongside fellow Romance language French, which has held the status of official language since the United Nation's inception in 1942.

For more information on the extent of usage of the languages featured in this article, you may wish to refer to the "Language Facts & Figures" article on this website.