This paper will describe the similarities and differences between English and Spanish. It will also explore the reasons that many ESL students struggle going from L1 to L2.

1. Spanish VS. English
Spanish and English both have Latin roots. Many scholars state that it is easier to learn Spanish because
it is almost perfectly phonemic. There are a few key differences and rules from Spanish. For example,
the letter H is silent in Spanish. The ESL student had trouble pronouncing the word help because he said
“elp”. O’Grady, Archibald, Aronoff, and Rees-Miller state that, “Children’s ability to perceive phonemic
contrasts of their language develops well in advance of their ability to produce them “ O’Grady,
Archibald, Aronoff, and Rees-Miller, p.359).