Which languages are easiest and most difficult for native English speakers to learn? One of the best ways that you can learn a language is to fully immerse yourself in all aspects of it, including different types of media in that particular language. These two words look almost identical, but notice the very small differences of the and the . You and your buddy will be able to help each other. This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you Physical and cultural differences, Youll find all of this straight after the list! With many languages not connected to the Latin alphabet, you'll need 1,100 hours of practice to proficiently speak Category III languages, according to Rosetta Stone. . 11 Of the easiest languages to learn for English speakers. From online lessons to books, here is a full discussion of where to look for help when you want to learn this new language. You will have noticed that even the easiest languages on this list can take between 575 and 600 hours. Furthermore, Norwegian has an SVO (subject-verb-object) sentence structure, the same as English. Even so, French does share many similarities with English, especially when it comes to the vocabulary. The German language is thought to take slightly longer to learn than this. Some people even think it is one of the sexiest languages in the world. With the languages on this list, you should be able to get started identifying your low-hanging linguistic fruits. There are hundreds of French cognates in English. For example, the word frolic meaning to play and move around cheerfully (e.g. Language types and writing systems One aspect of German that English-speakers do tend to struggle with is the pronunciation, especially when it comes to longer compound words like Fremdschmen (cringe) or Verschlimmbessern (to worsen or exacerbate)., But while German might not be quite as easy for English-speakers to grasp as Dutch or Norwegian, it is an extremely useful language to learn, as its spoken by more than 100 million people throughout Central Europe, including in Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg.. FluentU brings a language to life with real-world videos. An example of this is the Russian words and . It is easier to learn Kurdish and other similar languages in the Iranian language family after studying Persian (Farsi). As one of the intonational languages of the world, Persian vocabulary changes meaning depending on the rise and fall of your voice. Your next task, if you're up for it: Choosing among many options. But even if youre not familiar with any other similar language, Portuguese will be relatively easy to learn. And if you want vocabulary courses that helps you learn Farsi words, Memrises courses are helpful. they frolicked in a field on a warm summers day) comes from the Dutch word vrolijk which means happy and cheerful. Resources for learning Spanish are also very easy to come by, since it is so widely spoken all over the world. In fact, it shares many similarities with Indonesian due to the fact that a similar variety of the language is used in Indonesia, Brunei and Singapore., But, although Malay and Indonesian speakers can generally understand each other, there are some differences in terms of spelling, pronunciation, and vocabulary, with Malay based more on loanwords from English, and Indonesian having more loanwords from Dutch., Malay is widely considered to be one of the easiest Asian languages to learn, because its grammatical rules are simple and its easy to pronounce. Indonesian is another language that is modestly easy for a willing learner who speaks English natively to pick up. If you enjoy learning the language, it will be "easy." This is because Japanese has long been thought to be one of the most difficult languages ever to learn, whether you are native English speaking or not. There are some shared cognates such as ja which means yes and veld which means field. What is the easiest language to learn for French speakers? Don't worry, we've got you covered with our top 15 hardest languages to learn for English speakers. But, as with many foreign languages, its often simply a matter of getting some practice in. So child is anak and children is anak-anak. Easy right?, Malay is spoken by more than 200 million people throughout Southeast Asia. Weve used data from the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) to rank them from the easier to the somewhat more challenging., Frisian is thought to be one of the languages most closely related to English, and therefore also the easiest for English-speakers to pick up. Norwegian is another Germanic language just like English and so it is relatively easy to get to grips with as a native English speaker. And another 17 percent can speak more than two languages. FluentU is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. There are dialects of French even here in the States and of course, in Canada. Spanish 6. As a native English speaker, you will likely get on well with a language that uses the same alphabet as you. Iceland is known to have some pretty difficult words to pronounce, from place names to everyday words. We have history to thank for this. But all the languages we mentioned today do have certain things in common. This means that once English speakers have had a chance to learn some basic rules, theyre usually able to pick it up quite quickly. And unlike most African languages, Swahili is not a tonal language, so you dont have to pay attention to the pitch of a word. Spanish "As a native English speaker, you will likely get on well with a language that uses the same alphabet as you. Some shared cognates include katt which of course means cat, busk which means bush, and our personal favorite (because it is so simple but looks so much more pleasing to the eye than our boring spelling) sn which means snow. Hungarian. Even if it is just ten minutes a day, it is enough to keep what you have learned fresh in your mind. Lastly, brush up on your Colloquial Persian with Abdi Rafiee's 3rd edition copy of this classic conversational sourcebook. Up until now, all the languages we have discussed have had estimated learning times of 600 hours or less. Of course, as with any language, there will be lots of new vocabulary to learn, but if you need to spend any amount of time in Southeast Asia, its an excellent second language to have under your belt., Swahili is a Bantu language and another very useful second language to have, as its widely used in East Africa, including in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania. These minuscule differences can transform the meaning entirely. Contents 1. Afrikaans is a beautiful language that is surprisingly easy to learn for native English speakers. The Greek victory inspired various revolts staged by Greek cities under Persian control, and while the Persian army was still recovering, the Empire lost much of its Baltic holdings, including Macedonia as a whole. The letters can be learned and memorized, as can pronunciations, but the tone can take a little while for native English speakers to get right, especially if you have no native Mandarin speakers around to hear your tone and correct you if needed. Arabic is a Semitic language and is thus in no way similar to Persian. This family contains sub-groups of languages, namely the Germanic languages, the Romance languages (Spanish, French, and Portuguese among others), and Balto-Slavic languages (Prussian, Russian, Czech, Latvian, and more) to name but a few. It is known as the "daughter language" to Dutch (it shares 90 to 95% of its vocabulary with the language. So if you're curious about the easiest languages to learn, I've got 10 great suggestions to help you out. In fact, you probably already know how to order so much more. So, why is Indonesian easy to learn? Malay and Indonesian 10. That being said, it is more than doable and there are a wealth of resources out there if you choose to learn this beautiful, song-like language. With the help of cognates and surprisingly simple grammar rules, you'll be on your way to mastering a language in no time. For example, everyday German words like Wasser, (water) Apfel, (apple) and Fisch (fish) are very similar to their English equivalents. Speak aloud to yourself or record yourself doing it using your smartphone, computer, or a recording device. The grammar used in the Finnish language is complex, with around 15 grammatical cases and countless word endings. Many of their words feature many consonants, as well as beginning with two consonants which can be jarring for a native English speaker. Languages that are more closely related to English share certain qualities and characteristics that make them easier for English speakers to pick up. Italian: Italian is the easiest language for Spanish speakers to learn. And The Easiest Language To Learn Is. Download our free French essentials eBook to accompany your studies. Their words also tend to have more syllables than English words. There are some key grammatical rules that must be followed, such as the inclusion of suffixes on words, particularly verbs. Especially if you have no one around you who speaks it. Are you thinking about taking Portuguese lessons? Portuguese 4. For instance, Good morning, translates to Goeie moarn in the West Frisian dialect., Unfortunately, since Frisian is only spoken and understood by about 500,000 people, theres little reason to learn it, unless you intend to relocate to the Dutch province of Friesland or Germanys Saterland or North Frisia regions., Dutch, like Frisian, is closely related to English. It technically belongs to the Uralic family, just like Hungarian and Sami (the indigenous language of Lapland). However, if the writing style is very different from what you are used to then you may well struggle to get to grips with this at first. With its roots in Old Norse, it can be a fascinating language to study, and fluency in Norwegian will give you greater access to the countrys rich literary culture and mythology., Although Spanish is a Romance language rather than a Germanic language, its fairly easy for English speakers to learn because many English words stem from Latin. They use nasal sounds which can be a little bit more tricky to master, but given the wide variety of resources out there, it is a modestly easy language to learn. That being said, several different factors may affect how easy or difficult a person finds it to learn a specific language. But whether you learn a new language in a quick and easy way also depends on your learning source. Recommended: 7 Easiest Language To Learn For Spanish Speakers Advertisements #1. We are no longer in Scandinavia, but a little further south in the Netherlands. . Another Romance language you can start learning right away is Italian. In addition to this, they also feature hard and soft sounds for each of the consonants, meaning that pronunciation can be difficult to get to grips with. and the grammar, pronunciation and spelling is simpler than in many other languages. The multi-state system set up by Cyrus continued, including tax districts, infrastructure, communications, and transportation, all important to sustain such a massive expanse. In their Latin script, they also include an additional nine letters, which look a lot like letters you are familiar with, but still require memorization and learning in order to fully understand and use them. Persian is an important language of the Middle East and Central Asia, spoken by over 100 million people and ranked among the world's top 20 most widely spoken languages. It is full of mutations and consonants that are unfamiliar to an English speaker, but with some memorization and an eagerness to learn, it is certainly possible. When you're differentiating between some of the easiest and hardest languages to learn, you will likely stumble upon the Danish language. The first peoples of Persia under the rule of Cyrus the Great would have spoken this dialect, which we have written cuneiform evidence of, thanks to the Bistun Inscription, found on Mount Behistun near modern-day Kermanshah in Iran. Korean has a reputation for being notoriously difficult for a native English speaker to learn. This is because the Dutch were some of the first colonizers of the States. A Russian word could look identical to another when it is written down, but may have two very different meanings. Members of this language family tend to have complicated grammatical rules and more than double the amount of vowels that the English language uses. For example, the noun system is different from most other languages you may have heard of since it has three genders and two numbers. And whether you find a certain language easy or not depends on many factors. Just like Norwegian, Swedish, and English, Dutch is a Germanic language. Of course, its music. It shares many similarities with English, especially when it comes to vocabulary. Its also gaining global popularity, and more and more people are looking for online Swahili lessons. Along the same line, LingQ is another great option, as well as Luvlingua for Farsi lessons. Many Japanese language apps teach users the various fascinating aspects of Japanese culture whilst also teaching the Japanese language. As well as this, the grammar rules are different from what we may be used to, as they follow the Subject Object Verb writing and speaking order. Here are some of the best apps for learning Farsi or Persian. Though Persian expansion arrived at a standstill after a failed attempt to colonize Greece during the Greco-Persian Wars following the Ionian Revolt of 499 BC, the Persian defeat at Marathon, and Dariuss death, his successor was still determined to continue the legacy of previous kings. There are some shared cognates such as ' ja ' which means ' yes ' and ' veld ' which means ' field '. This location of spoken Persian in Iran is where another term is used for the language. Spanish 2. Get my exclusive language learning content delivered straight to your inbox. So if that is not enough motivation to learn we dont know what is! This is because the grammar, pronunciation, and even writing of Hindi is very difficult to get to grips with as it is so unfamiliar. Dont worry according to FSIs language difficulty ranking, Portuguese is also in Category 1. This may be because it is influenced in many ways by English and some of the more familiar Romance languages. From Early to Classical New Persian, the language managed to become more simplified and easier to understand and spread along with new religious guidelines as people migrated between Middle Eastern countries, bringing the ever-changing language with them. This was the empire of Cyrus the Great, of Darius and Xerxes, and of the elite forces who fought the 300 Spartans within the pass of Thermopylae during the Greco-Persian Wars. And to rule the vastness of the Empire, Persia needed kings. Unlike English, there arent several pronunciations of a singular letter or letter combination. And with the Sasanians, a new Persian dynasty emerging after 200 AD, Modern Persian was able to form. It is not widely spoken and resources for it are sparse compared to other languages on this list. Even so, French is still one of the easiest languages for English speakers to learn. For example, the English word ruthless has just two syllables, but the Polish word for ruthless has a whole five different syllable sounds and an astounding number of hard consonants Bezwzgldny. According to the FSI, professional working proficiency in this set of languages might take 23-24 weeks. In our search for the most agreed upon easiest languages to learn, we visited 10 "expert" sites and looked for the most recommended languages. This dialect was very similar to Semitic languages and actually used Aramaic script for its alphabet. At the end of the day, if you surround yourself with the Italian language, youll be able to learn it much quicker. For instance, words like plastic, water and lamp are identical in both Dutch and English. Although the lack of grammar rules might sound appealing, it can be a bit confusing, but its not hard to get used to. Filipino Tagalog is one of the official languages of the Philippines and another Austronesian language. Alternatively, Persian Language Online offers a variety of free lessons that cover everything from grammar to tenses, vowels to intonation. This selection may also come as a surprise, but Indonesian has several qualities that make it a logical choice for English speakers. Or, if you want structured lessons on all things Farsi that will help you start speaking it in 30 days, check out Reza Nazaris channel to achieve your fluency goals! Nevertheless, Georgian is a beautiful language, particularly when listening to the music of the country. Do you want to learn a new language but you dont have a lot of free time on your hands? Likewise, some words get added onto names as a term of endearment, respect, or politeness. Yes, I would like to be contacted about special events, newsletters and program information. However, in general, it is much more difficult than other Indo-European languages because it uses a different alphabet or script system. Georgian script is unicase, meaning there are no capital letters and it runs from left to right. Like Welsh, Gaelic is another language that comes from Britain and so is very close geographically to England. There are some challenging aspects of learning French though. There are many reasons for which certain languages can be easy or hard for an individual to learn. Although its considered fairly easy, mastering Norwegian takes time. Today, there are many versions of the Persian language, depending on where you are in the world. It shares quite a bit of vocabulary with English, and unlike some Germanic languages, the pronunciation of most Norwegian words is fairly straightforward., For the most part, the sentence structure is also quite comparable to English, although not identical. So, although it might seem tricky at first, mastering French pronunciation shouldnt be a big problem. On top of that its verbs, nouns and adjectives are in fact easier than in English. Because it is a part of the Indo-European language tree, such influence is common, but not everyone knows the origins of certain words. So, how easy or difficult a language might be for you to learn will depend not only on the language itself, but also on which languages youre already fluent in, or at least familiar with.Remember, how long it will take you to learn a language is influenced by many different factors. All Rights Reserved. Plus, with a wide base of modern content, and a proud literary tradition that stretches back for centuries, you will have no shortage of material to read, watch, and listen to in order to improve your comprehension and practice the Persian language. That's why the US Foreign Service Institute - the guys who train diplomats - rank Spanish as one of the fastest languages to learn for English . The total number of learned Farsi speakers and native Farsi speakers alike equals about 62% of the population of Iran, or over 30 million people. A large part of learning a language is learning how to write it. French 3. easiest languages to learn for persian speakershockey team plane crash cannibalism . In this post, we have put together a full and comprehensive list of the 28 easiest and hardest languages to learn for English speakers. Tigrinya. So, if youve ever taken German lessons, youll find it relatively easy. It is spoken in 21 different countries! As a bonus, if you know Danish, you can read the next two languagesNorwegian and Swedishpretty easily. Services such as Custom Writings can also help with these learning these methods, as well as provide assistance with college or university assignments. We will cover the basics of the Persian language, its origins and cultural history, and some of the best ways to approach learning it for the first time, including great resources that are available now. It is no good attempting to learn a language but only practicing once or twice a week. Creole, for example, both Haitian and Louisianan are derived from the French language. Amharic Amharic is the first language of Amharas, an ethnic group from the Highlands of Ethiopia. But, Persian has an enormous amount of Arabic influence, which makes it easier for Iranians to speak and understand Arabic. Dutch is one of the most similar Germanic languages to that of English, so it is a great one to learn for native English speakers. Some tonal languages may be particularly difficult for English speakers, as this is not something that they are used to. But since Norwegian and English have a lot of similarities, if you decide to take Norwegian lessons, you shouldnt come across too many obstacles. Another member of the Germanic family of languages that is considered easy to learn is Swedish. The main goal of the language was to create something that was universally simple. The stress placed upon words and sounds is also important. However, the word Persian is still applicable to the language as a whole, as it refers to the spoken and written forms, as well as the entire backstory of the Persian culture that comes along with just the words. Its one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, with around 534 million speakers scattered all around the globe. What will help you to persevere even when it starts to get difficult? This makes it a very unique language to write, speak and hear. However, the Empire still maintained cultural and political significance even as its sphere of influence shrank. According to the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), Spanish belongs to category I by difficulty. You would not be alone in assuming that it would be a Slavic language given its proximity to Russia and other Slavic countries. Nevertheless, learning a new language takes time. Like English, Norwegian or "Norsk" is a Germanic language, which makes it easier for English-speakers to learn. Some of them are members of the Germanic family of languages so they share quite a bit of vocab with English. Many Swedish native speakers can speak English quite fluently. The following are some of. Swahili is perhaps not as easy as other languages on this list, but its arguably the easiest African language to learn. 1 Language and diplomacy 2 Easiest (about 600 hours of study) 3 German (750 hours) 4 Malay and Swahili (900 hours) 5 Hungarian (1,100 hours) 6 Greek (1,100 hours) The most challenging part of learning Dutch is pronunciation, but thats nothing you cant master, especially if you have some experience in learning other languages. As a result, they are often easier for English speakers to pick up than languages with different structures, such as Russian or Mandarin Chinese. However, it will take considerably less time to learn conversational Spanish. Also, if youve been taking Spanish lessons, Portuguese vocabulary will be much easier to learn. Enter Spanish. You may assume that the Welsh language is Germanic due to being on the border of England and so close to the other countries with a Germanic language. The syntax of Persian sentences is a little different than what you might be used to in English, as well. In Thai, you can find many languages that come from Chinese. Although it doesn't seem so at first, Norwegian is one of the easiest languages for English native speakers. Grammar and tones Start with PersianPod101 for basic lessons and vocabulary, Lingua Boost Persian for experience in real life conversations, and Persian PodGap for culture, literature, and interviews. We approve.) Some writing systems require writing from right to left, as opposed to the left to right method that Germanic languages (English, German, etc.) By the way, why not check out our list of the best apps to learn French? In fact, did you know that for most English speakers, Persian is one of the easiest Middle Eastern languages to learn? Indonesian sentence structure is also similar to English and its grammatical rules are fairly simple. Get 70% off + 10 languages + 14 day free trial. So you've decided to learn a language. Esperanto is a relatively modern language, as far as languages go. First of all, Indonesian is one of the few Asian languages that use the Latin alphabet. Ask yourself some questions: Why is it important to you that you embark on this learning journey? You can't get much easier than this. How far away the country that the language belongs to (both physically and culturally) can also be an influencing factor in how easy or difficult a language can be to learn. One of the best ways to connect with native speaker audio and a Persian teacher is by listening to podcasts, which can really help your understanding of pronunciation. In addition, Swahili, Farsi (Persian), Pashto and Kurdish are languages that an Arabic speaker can get the hang of without much effort. To do so, its time to journey back in time to the roots of many countries in the Middle East Persia itself, and the Persian Empire. However, did you know that Arabic is also a language in its own right? For example, several common borrowed words in English that come originally from Farsi words include the following: Overall, Farsi and the Persian language are spoken by millions of people, both within Middle Eastern countries and across the globe. On the other hand, the sentence structure and verb focus of Tagalog is quite different to that of English, which makes it the most challenging language on this list. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. But compared to the languages with different writing systems and strange grammar concepts, learning basic Swedish is a piece of cake. Although it is only spoken by a maximum of 750,000 people spread between Germany and the Netherlands, if we go straight to the truth, Frisian is the easiest language for English speakers to learn. Romanian 3 Moderate languages to Learn 1. It's a famously difficult language for English speakers to learn, with complex grammar and pronunciation. Learning a new language can be made much easier when immersed completely, so opting for an on-site language school is a great option. First of all, English and Norwegian share a lot of vocabulary. Italian is yet another beautiful language, much like Portuguese and the other Romance languages. These new letters and the fact that Polish words also have more consonants than English words can mean that pronunciations are very difficult to grasp for a beginner, and can make spelling difficult. One important concept that can affect whether a language is learned easily by a native English speaker is the grammatical framework. It is known as Farsi in Iran, Dari in Afghanistan, and Tajik in Tajikistan. Therefore, from a linguistic perspective, Norwegian and English have quite a lot in common. The Hindi language is a relatively challenging one and takes hours to perfect to even an intermediate level. The Norwegian sentence can be translated word for word in the exact order as it would be said in English. Esperanto was designed with you in mind: Minimal grammar, easy rules and as a bonus, lots of things that resemble many other world languages. Like Norwegian, it shares many different cognates with the English language, and pronunciation can be guessed relatively easily when you look at the spelling of certain words. But according to the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), French is a category 1 language. In Spanish, a always sounds more or less like a (even with an accent mark), which we as learners appreciate. We find evidence of this languages changes in many inscriptions as it changed throughout three primary eras: Old, Middle, and New, between 525 BC and modern times. Many popular world languages have very different grammatical structures to English. 1. However, when you have that down, the rest will come relatively easily, especially since there are so few of them (No, really! Here are the five easiest languages to learn for Arabic speakers. Portuguese is spoken by around 234 million people around the world. Other Middle Eastern languages that use similar dialects are Basseri in Southern Iran, Darwazi in Tajikistan and Afghanistan, Hazaragi in Pakistan, and the specific meanings that the Tehrani accent brings to the language. Spanish is often the go-to language for English speakers because of its small inventory of speech sounds and user-friendly phonetic spelling system. This doesnt diminish the intrigue and fascination that comes from learning Farsi. Just like Spanish, Portuguese has an advantage of exposure. Yes, that is systems, plural. The language is also full of idioms and homophones which, without prior experience, can also be very confusing. Spanish is a close relative of French. Afrikaans is one of the easiest languages for English speakers to learn because--like many of the languages on this list--it's part of the Germanic language family. Many of their words are very long with unfamiliar letters and letter sounds such as and .
Episcopal Church Music List,
Why Did Max Draper And Olivia King Split,
Park City Parade Of Homes 2022,
Death Notices Mount Gambier,
Articles E