Aprender español lleva tiempo, pero me gusta practicar cada día.

Because aprender is being used as an infinitive, and in Spanish an infinitive can act like a noun.

So Aprender español lleva tiempo literally works like Learning Spanish takes time.

If you said Aprendo español, that would mean I learn Spanish or I am learning Spanish, which is a complete statement, not the subject of the sentence.

Also, because the whole idea aprender español is treated as one singular subject, the verb is singular: lleva.

After verbs like aprender, hablar, estudiar, and enseñar, language names usually appear without an article.

So you normally say:

• aprender español
• hablar inglés
• estudiar francés

You do use the article in other situations, for example when the language itself is the topic:

• El español es muy útil.
• El inglés de esa región es difícil de entender.

Llevar has several meanings. Here it means to take in the sense of requiring time.

So lleva tiempo means takes time.

This is a very common use:

• Aprender un idioma lleva tiempo.
• Preparar una buena paella lleva tiempo.

So yes, llevar can mean carry, wear, or take, depending on the context.

Sometimes, but the structure changes.

Aprender español lleva tiempo means Learning Spanish takes time in a general sense.

With tardar, you usually say who takes time to do something:

• Tardo mucho en aprender español. = It takes me a long time to learn Spanish.
• Mi hermano tarda poco en memorizar palabras.

So llevar tiempo is about the activity in general, while tardar is often about a specific person or thing taking time.

Because gustar works differently from to like in English.

Spanish expresses this idea more like something is pleasing to someone.

So:

• me = to me
• gusta = is pleasing

Me gusta practicar literally means something like Practising is pleasing to me.

That is why Spanish says:

• Me gusta el café.
• Me gusta practicar.

and not usually Yo gusto... for this meaning.

Because after gustar, if the thing you like is an action, Spanish uses the infinitive.

So:

• Me gusta practicar. = I like to practice / I like practicing.
• Me gusta leer.
• Me gusta viajar.

If you said practico, that would be a new conjugated verb and a separate statement:

• Me gusta practicar cada día, pero practico poco.

That means I like practicing every day, but I practice little.

Because it is already understood from the context.

In Aprender español lleva tiempo, pero me gusta practicar cada día, it is clear that practicar means practice Spanish.

Spanish often leaves out words that are obvious from the previous part of the sentence.

You could also say:

• ...pero me gusta practicar español cada día.

That is also correct. It is just a little more explicit.

Yes. Both are natural.

• cada día = each day
• todos los días = every day

In many contexts, they mean almost the same thing.

So these are both fine:

• Me gusta practicar cada día.
• Me gusta practicar todos los días.

A small nuance:

• cada día can feel a bit more like day by day / each individual day
• todos los días is a very common way to express a routine

Because pero connects two contrasting clauses, and in Spanish it is normally preceded by a comma in this kind of sentence.

So:

• Aprender español lleva tiempo, pero me gusta practicar cada día.

This is standard punctuation.

You will often see the same pattern in sentences like:

• Quiero salir, pero estoy cansado.
• Es difícil, pero posible.

Because the accent shows that the í is stressed and forms a separate syllable.

So día is pronounced dí-a, with two syllables.

Without the accent, Spanish spelling rules would suggest a different vowel grouping. The written accent makes the pronunciation clear.

This also happens in words like:

• país
• frío
• tío

Ñ is a separate letter in Spanish, not just an n with a mark.

It is pronounced roughly like ny in canyon.

So español sounds approximately like es-pan-YOL.

A few more examples with ñ:

• niño
• mañana
• señor

It is an important letter, because changing ñ to n changes the word.

In most of Spain, ll is pronounced like the English y in yes.

So lleva sounds approximately like YE-ba or YE-va, with the stress on the first syllable.

A few notes:

• The ll sound is usually the same as y for most modern speakers.
• The v in Spanish is not usually a strong English v sound. It is pronounced more like a soft b sound.

So for most learners, saying something close to YE-ba is perfectly fine.