The 28 Easiest and Hardest Languages to Learn for English Speakers The Spanish language is phonetic (meaning the spelling tells you the pronunciation of the word). Danish is mostly spoken in Denmark, although its also a protected minority language in Germany. 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. The grammar structure is, on the other hand, a bit unusual for English speakers. There are a number of different dialects of Georgian, depending on where you are speaking it, but the most common is the one spoken in Georgia itself. You shouldnt have unrealistic goals though. Although its considered fairly easy, mastering Norwegian takes time. 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. The sounds created in the language are challenging for beginners as it is so culturally distanced from what you may be used to. Cognates are words in two languages that have the same origin and a similar pronunciation, spelling, and meaning. It is a beautiful language from a country steeped in history and, as such, many of the traditional ways of speaking still stand. You may come across a challenge or two, like mastering Portuguese pronunciation and nasal sounds. It is something you can keep on developing over time and once you have learned a second language, you will have an appetite for learning more, which will become even easier when you have more languages under your belt! Why? For all its challenges, though, it is a worthwhile language to learn with some interesting conventions. However, once you have the grammar down the rest is much simpler. If you want to learn Persian online, there are many great options available to you right at your fingertips. Even though its an artificial language, its 2 million speakers, several hundred thousand Wikipedia articles and organizations worldwide would argue that it still counts. Some writing systems require writing from right to left, as opposed to the left to right method that Germanic languages (English, German, etc.) 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. This may be because it is influenced in many ways by English and some of the more familiar Romance languages. These two words look almost identical, but notice the very small differences of the and the . Advertisements. Danish 3. Even if it is just ten minutes a day, it is enough to keep what you have learned fresh in your mind. Furthermore, Norwegian has an SVO (subject-verb-object) sentence structure, the same as English. The language sounds like musica. Contents 1. Like Korean, there are many different ways of addressing someone. The Persian language uses the Arabic script, something that native English speakers are unfamiliar with. If you prefer warmer countries, youll be happy to hear that Spanish is also on the list of the easiest language 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. The pronunciation of most Swahili words is fairly easy, and many are very similar to their English equivalent. Although Frisia no longer exists, Frisian, which actually consists of three main dialects, is still in use in parts of the Netherlands and Germany., English and Frisian share many similarities in terms of sentence structure and vocabulary. This may seem strange since it is a Germanic language, and Germanic languages are meant to be easier for native English speakers to learn. Regardless of what you choose, youre probably going to have a smooth learning process without too many difficulties. Different languages may use breathing and throat noises as part of their words which can be difficult to master for those new to the language. 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. 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. they frolicked in a field on a warm summers day) comes from the Dutch word vrolijk which means happy and cheerful. For an immersive Farsi language experience, download StoryTime in Farsi or Farsi Speaking Kids, but be prepared for a more advanced level of language learning without direct English translations. Hungarian belongs to the language family known as Uralic (this also includes Finnish). Following Darius, Xerxes I was initially successful in his campaign against the Greeks, but after defeat at the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC, the Empire took a decisive hit. In Afghanistan, it is called Dari, and in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, it is known as Tajik. This makes it easier to get to grips with if you already have prior knowledge of any of them. And whether you find a certain language difficult or not also depends on your previous experience. Less than 22 percent of the U.S. population speaks a language other than . Brief history of Persia and the Persian language, University of Londons SOAS Language Center, Complete Modern Persian (Farsi) Beginner to Intermediate Course, Learn Persian (Farsi) Step by Step: Level One Beginner (Steps 1 to 10). First of all, Indonesian is one of the few Asian languages that use the Latin alphabet. Its the most closely related to English out of all the languages in this list. You probably have so many Spanish words in your ear. The Easiest Languages For Americans To Learn The multi-state system set up by Cyrus continued, including tax districts, infrastructure, communications, and transportation, all important to sustain such a massive expanse. Like Welsh, Gaelic is another language that comes from Britain and so is very close geographically to England. FluentU Review [2023]: Details, Features and What Real Users Have to Say, The Penny Pinchers Guide to Learning Any Language for Free, The Top 8 What Language Should I Learn Online Quizzes, The 6 Best Sources of Language Learning Videos on the Internet. Enter Spanish. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. On the bright side, it is phonetic, which means it is spelled how it is said and vice-versa. The main reason why English speakers find it quite easy to learn is the large number of cognates. First of all, English and Norwegian share a lot of vocabulary. Some languages do not use the alphabet as we know it. The Arabic alphabet was adopted for writing Persian words with slight adaptations after the Islamic conquest of 642 AD, which means that the literary tradition within the language has been fairly uniform for the past centuries. This is where, to keep the sounds in harmony, suffixes are added to words. The script that they use (Devanagari) is vastly different from Latin and even Arabic script. And if you want vocabulary courses that helps you learn Farsi words, Memrises courses are helpful. But generally, Portuguese is categorized as an easy foreign language for a reason. For this reason, many native English speakers may find that these languages are a little easier to learn than a language such as Chinese Mandarin or Arabic. This is partly because Swedish and English are Germanic languages, so they have similar sentence structures and even some shared vocabulary. And another 17 percent can speak more than two languages. (Good choice! However, it could not be further from English. Learning a new language can be made much easier when immersed completely, so opting for an on-site language school is a great option. More than 9 million people are native speakers of Tigrinya as of 2012. And although it shares fewer cognates with English (a fancy way of saying 'words that are the same'), there are some other features that make it super-easy.. Spanish is simple to pronounce for English speakers. Download our free German essentials eBook to see the similarities. With the help of cognates and surprisingly simple grammar rules, you'll be on your way to mastering a language in no time. Nevertheless the language is a beautiful one, steeped in history. Its one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, with around 534 million speakers scattered all around the globe. The 5 Hardest Languages to Learn For Spanish Speakers (or Not?) (Download). So, although it might seem tricky at first, mastering French pronunciation shouldnt be a big problem. This is because you have less chance of being able to interact with other speakers as you go about your daily life, and also because the language may incorporate cultural concepts that you are not familiar with. Feel free to get in touch about anything. SHOW ME HOW! They often descend from the same common parental or ancestral language and can branch off to form many other unique languages. The Hindi language is a relatively challenging one and takes hours to perfect to even an intermediate level. Download our free French essentials eBook to accompany your studies. This is partly down to the fact that Indonesian is a phonetic language, which means words are spelled as they sound. Looking for a language thats not going to require three-hour evening classes Monday through Friday for the next 10 years? Hungarian. Norwegian grammar is generally pretty straightforward, so it wont take you long to take a hang of it. The Easiest Languages to Learn for English Speakers 2023 Enux Education Limited. Name: Easiest Languages To Learn For English Speakers, According To Experts: Top 10 Being able to speak another language can actually. You may even find that some of the vocabulary words are easily identifiable because they are similar to words in your native language. Norwegian is another Germanic language just like English and so it is relatively easy to get to grips with as a native English speaker. For average native Turkish speakers, is it less difficult to learn Amharic Amharic is the first language of Amharas, an ethnic group from the Highlands of Ethiopia. Though Persian is spoken in several countries in the Middle East, it is primarily used in Iran and parts of Afghanistan as the Farsi language, or Iranian Persian. French speakers can master other Romance languages like Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. Esperanto is a relatively modern language, as far as languages go. Norwegian 4. Similarly, demy has lessons from native Farsi speakers that allow you to fluently speak and understand the language. Indeed, fluency doesnt happen overnight, no matter which language youre learning. Which language is easier to learn for a Persian speaker: Arabic or By this, we mean some may not use what is known as the Latin alphabet (A, B, C, D, etc. Yes, I would like to be contacted about special events, newsletters and program information. The original Persia is most commonly associated with the area of the Middle East and Gulf countries now known as Iran, though its ancient influence did extend beyond those constraints. Read on to start your journey into the beautiful and intriguing world of the Persian language, and good luck! It is known as the "daughter language" to Dutch (it shares 90 to 95% of its vocabulary with the language. The reason it is so simple to pick up is because of the similarities it shares with English. The stress placed upon words and sounds is also important. Though Persia does not exist as a nation today, per-say, it does live on in the Middle Eastern countries that were created because of it. When you are learning a language alone, it can be difficult to find the time to practice speaking it. We are no longer in Scandinavia, but a little further south in the Netherlands. Language vs Dialect: Whats the Difference? Learn Persian Language on the App Store If you speak English, youll be very comfortable with the grammatical structure of Norwegian, so you can focus on learning vocabulary. Obviously, this can be confusing to someone who is new to learning languages. For instance, Et tois? (And you?) But yes, Swahili is also categorized as a less demanding language to learn. But according to the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), French is a category 1 language. Are you thinking about taking Portuguese lessons? Passionate multilinguist. Ask yourself some questions: Why is it important to you that you embark on this learning journey? The Romanian language is a beautiful amalgamation of Russian sounds and Italian sounds, resembling each of them in different ways. Daily practices will help you to form your language learning into a habit. Resources for learning Spanish are also very easy to come by, since it is so widely spoken all over the world. From this period, we primarily have the remains of religious Pahlavi or Zarathushti texts that described Persias new religion, Zoroastrianism. No grammar is super easy, but Swedish grammar rules are logical and somewhat similar to English. Another Romance language you can start learning right away is Italian. Of course, there are some challenging things about learning Swedish. These things will help you to stay focused and will motivate you to keep going, even when there are days where the learning is less enjoyable. Compared to Korean and Japanese, grammar is much easier to learn, mostly because their writing systems make learning challenging. Check out our article on the best way to learn a new language here. Another popular language school is the International Language Institute, offering multiple levels of classes to learn Persian and Farsi in Washington, DC. As one of the intonational languages of the world, Persian vocabulary changes meaning depending on the rise and fall of your voice. The easiest languages for English speakers to learn - Lingua.edu But with so many different languages to choose from, how do you decide which one to spend your time mastering? Finnish is an interesting language to feature on this list because most people may assume that it would belong to the Indo-European family. Although this may come as a surprise, learning Indonesian is considered relatively easy for English speakers. Polish is a member of the language family known as the Slavic family, meaning it is similar to Russian. It is a vibrant, fluid, and ancient language, that ignites passion and intrigue in researchers, teachers, and those who want to learn how to speak it. Whilst Turkish has used the Latin script for almost 100 years, it is still a very difficult language to grasp for English speakers because of the sheer volume of learning and memorization of grammatical rules required. And once again exposure. 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. The German language is thought to take slightly longer to learn than this. There are over 30 varieties of Arabic worldwide. 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. However, it is a Brittonic language of Celtic origin. Some tonal languages may be particularly difficult for English speakers, as this is not something that they are used to. However, the script involved with learning the Persian language is simpler than you might imagine, once you understand the basics. To support such a diverse and ancient culture, the Persian language was able to develop over the course of centuries, into the version we have today, and that is spoken in places like modern-day Iran. In terms of vocabulary, youll learn new Swedish words very quickly. Once again, similarities in vocabulary make things a whole lot easier. For example, the word frolic meaning to play and move around cheerfully (e.g. Since they share roots, theyre mutually intelligible to some extentsome sources say 60-70% in daily conversations. "The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.". Spanish also uses the same alphabet as English, and many of the words are pronounced just as they are spelled., Another benefit of Spanish for English speakers is that the sentence structure is not only similar to English, but its also not as strict as it is in English, which means there are often multiple ways a sentence can be put together.. You may even know some Spanish from high school, meaning you have some basic knowledge to build upon. We mentioned Dutch above, but Afrikaans is like a grammatically boiled-down version of its parent language. According to a study by the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. Portuguese vs Spanish How Similar Are They? Indonesian 7 Easiest Languages To Learn This article will expose you to some of the simplest and moderate tongues you can learn. The Easiest Language to Learn Of these, Spanish and Italian are the easiest for native English speakers to learn, followed by Portuguese and finally French. Italian 3. It is no good attempting to learn a language but only practicing once or twice a week. easiest languages to learn for persian speakers 1) Danish. Top 10 Easiest Languages to Learn - TheTopTens In addition, there are many English words in French vocabulary . Speak aloud to yourself or record yourself doing it using your smartphone, computer, or a recording device. It's spoken in South Africa, Namibia, and a few other countries. German 2. They do use Latin script, but there are many grammatical cases that can make it much more complex to get to grips with than English. It was only during Alexander the Greats 330 BC campaigns into Persia that the states began to fall apart, and the Empire of the Persians finally disintegrated into the control of other political and dynastic factions, like the Ptolemies. There are more than 22 million native Amharic speakers and about 4 million L2 speakers worldwide. Here are some good titles to get you started on Farsi lessons! There are some shared cognates such as ' ja ' which means ' yes ' and ' veld ' which means ' field '. For example, the word order in Swedish is also SVO. Dutch 7. As an Austronesian language, Indonesian does differ quite a bit from the Germanic and Romance languages on this list, but its actually surprisingly straightforward for English-speakers to learn. There are many similar words and overlaps between the two languages, and many of our favorite English words are derived from the Dutch language. Spanish is one of the easiest languages to learn, so it's logical why it is the second-largest language worldwide.. However, for someone who has a tonal native language such as Thai, they may find it easier to learn other tonal languages an example of this is Vietnamese. Italian: Italian is the easiest language for Spanish speakers to learn. The 10 Easiest Languages to Learn for English Speakers Under Xerxes, Persia took over large parts of Northern and Central Greece in the 480s BC, and the Empire was only shaken by the conquest of Alexander the Great by 330 BC. What is the easiest language to learn for French speakers? Here, the native name of the language is known as Farsi.