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.. This problem is observed among many students, so they often turn to services like Thesis Rush, which helps with all kinds of writing theses, dissertations, or papers. However, did you know that Arabic is also a language in its own right? Romanian 8. Afrikaans is the native language of South Africa and is widely spoken all over the country. Malay(bahasa melayu) and Indonesian (bahasa indonesia) are similar languages that share a root language and language group but are still different, as they have their own vocabulary, pronunciation, spelling and more. Download our free German essentials eBook to see the similarities. The main goal of the language was to create something that was universally simple. This is because the grammar, pronunciation, and even writing of Hindi is very difficult to get to grips with as it is so unfamiliar. 120 words, extremely simple grammar. More than 40 percent of the world is bilingual, meaning people can speak two languages fluently. Dutch is practically Englishs first cousin. This is another language on the list that might surprise you. Some of them are members of the Germanic family of languages so they share quite a bit of vocab with English. Another Romance language you can start learning right away is Italian. Afrikaans is a beautiful language that is surprisingly easy to learn for native English speakers. 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. 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. But whether you learn a new language in a quick and easy way also depends on your learning source. In Afghanistan, it is called Dari, and in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, it is known as Tajik. It was created by a Polish man in the late 1880s to make a phonetic language that would be predictable and easy to understand. Hungarian belongs to the language family known as Uralic (this also includes Finnish). There are many shared cognates between the two languages, making the words easy to recognize and pronounce, as well as having simple ways of creating tenses and possessives. Korean has a reputation for being notoriously difficult for a native English speaker to learn. Like Welsh, Gaelic is another language that comes from Britain and so is very close geographically to England. It is also known as the Perso-Arabic alphabet and is written in horizontal lines from right to left, with numbers written from left to right. These differences include word order differences, tenses, and even the inclusion of gender into language. As if that wasnt enough, there are also no tones used in the Indonesian language, so you will not have a difficult extra element to learn. As a Romance language, Spanish derives from Latin, just like many English words. Georgian script is unicase, meaning there are no capital letters and it runs from left to right. That's because it's the closest language to English today, both in words and structure. is pronounced as Poo vay voo. French 3. Also, if youve been taking Spanish lessons, Portuguese vocabulary will be much easier to learn. And the same goes for Italian grammar. This means youll be able to read and pronounce most words correctly once you have learned a few ground rules. This is because the Dutch were some of the first colonizers of the States. The multi-state system set up by Cyrus continued, including tax districts, infrastructure, communications, and transportation, all important to sustain such a massive expanse. It is spoken as a native language by 13 million people, most of whom live in Hungary. Many Swedish native speakers can speak English quite fluently. So child is anak and children is anak-anak. Easy right?, Malay is spoken by more than 200 million people throughout Southeast Asia. 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. Even so, French does share many similarities with English, especially when it comes to the vocabulary. Check out our article on the best way to learn a new language here. That's mostly because it's a Germanic language - just like English. It's a famously difficult language for English speakers to learn, with complex grammar and pronunciation. When it comes to the verbs, Persian uses these words to denote tenses and the grammatical aspect of how the action will continue over time, such as the continuous imperfect (I was loving) or the bounded perfective (I loved). This makes it easier to get to grips with if you already have prior knowledge of any of them. The grammar used in the Finnish language is complex, with around 15 grammatical cases and countless word endings. But yes, Swahili is also categorized as a less demanding language to learn. The grammar is fairly straightforward, without inflection, agreements between nouns and adjectives, and even no genders of words to memorize. The 10 Easiest Languages to Learn for English Speakers. They also read and write right to left, which is unfamiliar for most native English speakers. 1. Learn Persian language offline and hundred percent free with no paid content. Since French is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, youve probably come in contact with it one way or another. With Tagalog spoken as a native language by around 45 million people, learning it or at least some of the basics, will make your stay in the Philippines a lot easier., So there you have it, the 15 easiest languages for English speakers to learn. 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. 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. Likewise, some words get added onto names as a term of endearment, respect, or politeness. We are no longer in Scandinavia, but a little further south in the Netherlands. This is especially important if the language you are learning is a tonal one. For example, improving listening skills should be. German is, as the name suggests, a Germanic language. You will be glad you did when you hold your first conversation in your new language with a native speaker! Another superb option is Persian Learning with your host, Majid, who goes over everything you need to know about the language. If the writer wants to focus on a particular market, then a language spoken in that market is a better choice. There are some shared cognates such as ' ja ' which means ' yes ' and ' veld ' which means ' field '. Although estimates vary greatly, Swahili is thought to be spoken as a native language by around 16 million people, and as a second language by up to 80 million people., In fact, if youve watched the Disney classic The Lion King youll already be familiar with a number of Swahili words such as rafiki (friend) and simba (lion). You probably have so many Spanish words in your ear. 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. 1) Danish. French features a few tricky components for native English-speaking learners, like gendered nouns, inconsistently pronounced letters, and lots of tricky silent letters. 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. First of all, English and Norwegian share a lot of vocabulary. If you speak English, youll be very comfortable with the grammatical structure of Norwegian, so you can focus on learning vocabulary. A Russian word could look identical to another when it is written down, but may have two very different meanings. Pronunciation and spelling are, on the whole, much simpler to learn, and there are also many shared cognates such as mutter which is mother, and kaffee which is coffee. Though it might seem like a complex and daunting language to delve into, particularly with the different alphabet that it uses and the right-to-left reading and writing method employed, if you take some time, it can be a rewarding and surprisingly simple process! You may even find that some of the vocabulary words are easily identifiable because they are similar to words in your native language. This beautiful language shares many similarities with English in terms of cognates and sentence structure. You will have noticed that even the easiest languages on this list can take between 575 and 600 hours. 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. 11 Of the easiest languages to learn for English speakers. , Pimsleur Spanish Review Repetitive But Effective. It means that an average person takes up to 600 hours, or about 24 weeks . Indonesian 7 Easiest Languages To Learn This article will expose you to some of the simplest and moderate tongues you can learn. Similarly, demy has lessons from native Farsi speakers that allow you to fluently speak and understand the language. Languages that are more closely related to English share certain qualities and characteristics that make them easier for English speakers to pick up. 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. 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. And to rule the vastness of the Empire, Persia needed kings. Here are some good titles to get you started on Farsi lessons! The language is also full of idioms and homophones which, without prior experience, can also be very confusing. And it is extremely phonetic. 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. By this, we mean some may not use what is known as the Latin alphabet (A, B, C, D, etc. 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. For example, a high pitch means new information, a low pitch provides old information, low to high is used for contrast, and varying low and high tones brings doubt. And others might be easier to learn because youre exposed to them in one way or another. 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. #1. But generally, Portuguese is categorized as an easy foreign language for a reason. Its the most closely related to English out of all the languages in this list. Swahili has little resemblance to English, but it has a ton of loan words, which makes learning Swahili vocabulary quite simple too. To learn Persian (Farsi), you will need about 1,100 hours, according to the Foreign Service Institute. Therefore, from a linguistic perspective, Norwegian and English have quite a lot in common. Language types and writing systems However, this pattern repeats itself in all writing and speaking, so once you get used to it, it becomes fairly simple! If youre looking to learn a language that will enhance your travel experiences and boost your employability, learning Spanish online is a great choice. Obviously, this can be confusing to someone who is new to learning languages. Portuguese 4. This includes the three main dialects of Farsi, Dari, Tajiki, used in countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan. From that perspective, there are no easy and hard languages. There are a few unique and fascinating grammar rules that the language follows, which are worth mentioning here, relating primarily to Persian morphology. Similar in many ways to Norwegian, Swedish is yet another Germanic language that is a little simpler for native English speakers to learn. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. So the way it's written is the way it's said. The Norwegian sentence can be translated word for word in the exact order as it would be said in English. 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. I'm an Applied Linguistics graduate, teacher and translator with a passion for language learning (especially Arabic). 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. Since they share roots, theyre mutually intelligible to some extentsome sources say 60-70% in daily conversations. 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. In addition, there are many English words in French vocabulary . And The Easiest Language To Learn Is. Thats why Norwegian words like morgen, glass, and papir sound so familiar. In Thai, you can find many languages that come from Chinese. It is spoken in 21 different countries! The Romanian language is a beautiful amalgamation of Russian sounds and Italian sounds, resembling each of them in different ways. For example, FluentU helps you learn languages by adding interactive subtitles to thousands of videos, allowing you to see the language used in context and click on words and grammar structures you dont know. It has Dutch at its core but it is also intertwined with other dialects and indigenous languages from Africa. 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! 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. These minuscule differences can transform the meaning entirely. If you prefer the feeling of a book in your hands while learning a language, you are not alone. Alternatively, Persian Language Online offers a variety of free lessons that cover everything from grammar to tenses, vowels to intonation. 1. A person of authority will have a different word ending to a normal person when someone is addressing them. We have mentioned Arabic many times already as the Arabic script is used in many different languages. By the way, why not check out our list of the best apps to learn French? We approve.) Portuguese vs Spanish How Similar Are They? 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. 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. . Spanish is often the go-to language for English speakers because of its small inventory of speech sounds and user-friendly phonetic spelling system. For example, everyday German words like Wasser, (water) Apfel, (apple) and Fisch (fish) are very similar to their English equivalents. Some of the many benefits of learning an easy language includes: Travel with ease. Physical and cultural differences, Youll find all of this straight after the list! As we highlighted in our introduction (remember that, it seems like ages ago, so you can skip back to the beginning of the article for a refresher if you wish) there are many reasons why a person may want to learn a new language. This is where, to keep the sounds in harmony, suffixes are added to words. However, the language family it belongs to is the relatively small Kartvelian. The main reason why English speakers find it quite easy to learn is the large number of cognates. Indeed, the Empire of the Persians was one of the most expansive ones in the ancient world, spanning from the Balkan Peninsula in Eastern Europe to the Indus Valley in India at the height of its influence. Which languages are easiest and most difficult for native English speakers to learn? Polish is a member of the language family known as the Slavic family, meaning it is similar to Russian. We hate SPAM and promise to keep your email address safe, Jakob is a full-time traveler, obsessive language learner, and dedicated language teacher. In terms of learning hours, it is thought that it takes you around 575 to 600 hours to learn Spanish to an intermediate level (this is more than enough to converse fluently in the language). Nevertheless, learning a new language takes time. independence high school football; fadi sattouf vivant; what animal is like a flying squirrel; james justin injury news; The Turkish language features an unfathomable 30 verb tenses compared to just 3 in English! There are plenty of German language resources available online. Learning a new language takes time, regardless of its difficulty. And whether you find a certain language easy or not depends on many factors. Italian is the primary language for around 64 million people, and although its not as widely used as Spanish or Portuguese, its still spoken in many countries outside of Italy, including in Switzerland, Croatia, Slovenia, and even Argentina., French is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, with around 77 million first-language speakers and 203 million second-language speakers. Indonesian is another language that is modestly easy for a willing learner who speaks English natively to pick up. 12 Toki Pona. Want to know which languages you have the best chance of mastering quickly?, Here are 15 of the easiest languages for English speakers to learn. For example, the word order in Swedish is also SVO. Recommended: 7 Easiest Language To Learn For Spanish Speakers Advertisements #1. Or, easier than other languages, to be more precise. 2023 Enux Education Limited. However, it is a Brittonic language of Celtic origin. We have history to thank for this. And of course, France exists! Norwegian 4. Like Norwegian and Swedish, it has fairly straightforward grammar rules and a lot of vocabulary that will be familiar to English speakers., For example, Gode tidende sounds a lot like Good tidings, and the word dyre, which means expensive, is similar to the word dear, which is used in English when something is considered too pricey. This may be because it is influenced in many ways by English and some of the more familiar Romance languages. Just like Spanish, Portuguese has an advantage of exposure. It has 47 different characters that must all be learned before you can fully get to grips with the language. With Farsi being such a surprisingly easy language to learn, why not start your journey into its grammar, inflections, and wider Persian culture today. Learning a language becomes fun and easy when you learn with movie trailers, music videos, news and inspiring talks. Nevertheless, it is very difficult for a native English speaker to learn Russian. However, if you are looking for a modest challenge then Swahili is a great language choice for you. Up until now, all the languages we have discussed have had estimated learning times of 600 hours or less. 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. Danish is mostly spoken in Denmark, although its also a protected minority language in Germany. Above all, have fun. The most challenging aspect of this language for English speakers will likely be the pronunciation., In Belgium, Flemish, which is the dialect spoken in the Flanders region, is actually identical to Dutch. What is the easiest language to learn for French speakers? The List: Easiest Languages To Learn For English Speakers, According To Pros 1. The reason it is so simple to pick up is because of the similarities it shares with English. One important concept that can affect whether a language is learned easily by a native English speaker is the grammatical framework. Phonetically speaking, once youve learned how to pronounce the letters of the alphabet youre pretty much set when pronouncing words. The following are some of. how long it will take you to learn a language, Download our freeSpanish essentials eBook to help you get started, Download our easy, visualItalian essentials eBook and get a head start, Download our free French essentials eBook to accompany your studies, Download our free German essentials eBook to see the similarities. In fact, Italian vocabulary is widely used in English, and youre probably already familiar with more Italian words than you may realise, from those relating to food, such as gelato and panini to others like diva, solo, finale or fiasco.. We also participate in other affiliate advertising programs for products and services we believe in. As if that wasnt hard enough, they also use 6 noun cases and make use of vowel harmony, which is where vowels can sometimes shift in order to sound harmonious. Italian: Italian is the easiest language for Spanish speakers to learn. 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. For lessons based on Persian script and how to write the Perso-Arabic alphabet, Learn Persian Alphabets by Drawing is a great app for all ages, and it is free. It is easy, there is many derivatives to the words. He expanded on culture and infrastructure by building roads, introducing standard currencies, weighing and measuring systems, and pronouncing Aramaic as the official language of the Empire. That being said, several different factors may affect how easy or difficult a person finds it to learn a specific language. The sounds they use are also very different from English and can leave you feeling tongue-tied. On the bright side, it is phonetic, which means it is spelled how it is said and vice-versa. Although it doesnt seem so at first, Norwegian is one of the easiest languages for English native speakers. is pronounced as Ay twah and Pouvez-vous? (Can you?) 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. 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) Indonesian. The Spanish language is phonetic (meaning the spelling tells you the pronunciation of the word). Of course, you also have the masses of Italian words that the English language has borrowed, such as pizza, pizzeria, stiletto, umbrella, and even words like dilemma and ditto! Swedish 5. This is one of the reasons why Persian speakers sound so melodic when pronouncing words aloud. ), using the Cyrillic, Arabic, or Kana System (among many others) instead. And once again exposure. Cognates are when a similar-sounding word has an identical meaning. With dedication, motivation, lots of passion, and enthusiasm to learn, you will be able to master any language you want. It is no good attempting to learn a language but only practicing once or twice a week. For example, a writer targeting the Japanese market might learn Japanese . Lastly, brush up on your Colloquial Persian with Abdi Rafiee's 3rd edition copy of this classic conversational sourcebook. Then, of course, there is the Korean alphabet and writing system to consider. If you are interesting in learning Korean, it is worth looking at the Rocket Korean language course, part of the Rocket Languages series. As with the Vikings English got lots of Scandinavian words and are also Germanic languages like English sharing the same core words. What better excuse to go to Paris and brush up on your French skills whilst you sip coffee and eat croissants? Norwegian. And with the Sasanians, a new Persian dynasty emerging after 200 AD, Modern Persian was able to form. First of all, Indonesian is one of the few Asian languages that use the Latin alphabet. An example of this is the Russian words and . 33 Fun Things to Do in NYC: Unique & Unusual Activities, 21 Fun Things to Do in Central Park, New York City, 32 Romantic Things to Do in London for Couples, Villajoyosa: The Best Day Trip from Alicante, Spain, El Mercado de San Miguel, Madrids Famous Market: A Guide, Glossika Spanish Review: Very Repetitive, But Effective, How to Improve Your Language Teaching Methods, 18 Fun Facts about Finland (& Why I Love This Country). However, it could not be further from English. Resources for learning Spanish are also very easy to come by, since it is so widely spoken all over the world. Tones are very important in some languages and are used to alter the meaning of the same sound. 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. Its spoken in Brazil and Portuguese, and although there are differences between the two, you can still get around in every Portuguese-speaking country. 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. Download our freeSpanish essentials eBook to help you get started. For scheduling 1-on-1 conversation sessions with native Persian speakers, you absolutely should have an italki account. 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. 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 is just one of many cognates that the two languages share. Unlike most European languages, which belong to the Indo-European language family, Hungarian is a Uralic language. Nevertheless, with lots of practice and a desire to learn, it is more than achievable. (Good choice! However, this time frame is not because it is more difficult per se, but rather because of the grammar rules that need to be remembered. However, whilst it is very close to England, that does not mean the languages are similar. This can be difficult for a learner to get used to, especially if it is not something that they have ever come across before. 28 Easiest Languages for English Speakers to Learn, Ranked. But according to the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), French is a category 1 language. Lastly, brush up on your Colloquial Persian with Abdi Rafiees 3rd edition copy of this classic conversational sourcebook. In comparison, a language that is not in your language family may be more difficult to get to grips with. The grammar is similar to English, and many vocabulary words will sound familiar, like samme (same), ham (him) and op (up). Compared to Korean and Japanese, grammar is much easier to learn, mostly because their writing systems make learning challenging. You might be surprised to find out that Finnish is a very unique language. As we just mentioned, it can be very rewarding to make a friend who is on the same language learning journey as you. "Italian and Portuguese are equally easy for Spanish speakers. That being said, perhaps that is a good thing. Follow our tips in the section above to help you learn your chosen language a little quicker, and always keep in mind that good things take time. 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.