Italian and English use a similar sentence structure in most cases, and fortunately, the pronunciation is quite logical. An example of this is musique. Grammar and tones Another language that uses a similar style alphabet is Hebrew, which is also consonant-only. The sounds created in the language are challenging for beginners as it is so culturally distanced from what you may be used to. 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. Their words also tend to have more syllables than English words. 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. Indonesian 7 Easiest Languages To Learn This article will expose you to some of the simplest and moderate tongues you can learn. Persian is one of the Iranian languages, having been spoken in Iran for hundreds of years. Swahili has little resemblance to English, but it has a ton of loan words, which makes learning Swahili vocabulary quite simple too. Spellings are also relatively simple, with many words being pronounced how they are spelled. It is known as the "daughter language" to Dutch (it shares 90 to 95% of its vocabulary with the language. Its also an official language of 29 countries, including Switzerland, Luxembourg, Seychelles and Rwanda.. 28 Easiest Languages for English Speakers to Learn, Ranked. 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 the top 7 languages for Arabic speakers to study. And to rule the vastness of the Empire, Persia needed kings. An example of this is the Russian words and . If you prefer the feeling of a book in your hands while learning a language, you are not alone. Portuguese 4. This Scandinavian language is grammatically easy and has only nine verb forms, including the passive, which is familiar to English speakers.It has a lot of Germanic-based vocabulary and unique speaking patterns, which are quick and soft. The main goal of the language was to create something that was universally simple. You may think, how will that be similar to English, its on a different continent altogether? but actually, Afrikaans is derived from none other than the Dutch language, and we all know how similar Dutch is to English. It is known as Farsi in Iran, Dari in Afghanistan, and Tajik in Tajikistan. was designed with you in mind: Minimal grammar, easy rules and as a bonus, lots of things that resemble many other world languages. 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. Don't worry, we've got you covered with our top 15 hardest languages to learn for English speakers. German has masculine, feminine, and neutral nouns to learn, along with conjugating verbs and a syntax that must be followed, or else the meaning can be lost. Swedish 5. Both Thai and Chinese are tonal languages. This makes it a very unique language to write, speak and hear. And others might be easier to learn because youre exposed to them in one way or another. For example, the language register used by the speaker depends on who he or she is speaking to. Indonesian grammar has no concept of plurals or tenses and no grammatical genders. In fact, Dutch sounds a bit like a mix of English and German. It has 47 different characters that must all be learned before you can fully get to grips with the language. Download our easy, visualItalian essentials eBook and get a head start. Hungarian is a language with a reputation for being notoriously difficult to learn. 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. However, this is not a hard and fast rule, and there are also many other contributing factors. These minuscule differences can transform the meaning entirely. However, it is a Brittonic language of Celtic origin. The following are some of. Although every foreign language comes with its own unique set of challenges, the reality is that some languages will simply be easier for fluent English speakers to become proficient in. Nevertheless, learning a new language takes time. The only verb ending that needs to be used is -r!). Some of them are members of the Germanic family of languages so they share quite a bit of vocab with English. The most important thing that we want you to take away from this article is that even though some languages may be easier for a native English speaker to learn than others, it does not mean the harder languages are out of your reach. Creole, for example, both Haitian and Louisianan are derived from the French language. The syntax of Persian sentences is a little different than what you might be used to in English, as well. 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. Some writing systems require writing from right to left, as opposed to the left to right method that Germanic languages (English, German, etc.) This toneless African language is thought to be one of the easier African languages for native English speakers to learn. Nevertheless, it is very difficult for a native English speaker to learn Russian. FluentU brings a language to life with real-world videos. According to the FSI, professional working proficiency in this set of languages might take 23-24 weeks. 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. Both the script and vocabulary system of this dialect is far from the modern version, with small, wedge-like lettering and a fusional language syntax system that mirrored other languages like Latin in using genders and noun cases. Dutch is practically Englishs first cousin. So if you're curious about the easiest languages to learn, I've got 10 great suggestions to help you out. Also, waffle, those delicious breakfast-dessert foods, comes from the Dutch wafel. Look at this Norwegian sentence: Jeg spiste egg til frokost(I ate eggs for breakfast). A person of authority will have a different word ending to a normal person when someone is addressing them. But if youre new to language learning and youre looking for a relatively easy language to learn, any of the languages on this list would be great to start with. The first of the two means a lock whereas the second means a castle. Romanian 8. At the end of the day, it all comes down to your motivation and persistence. In fact, everything from the pronunciation to the vocabulary may vary, depending on which type of Portuguese you are learning. 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 this post, we have put together a full and comprehensive list of the 28 easiest and hardest languages to learn for English speakers. Like the Persian language, Hindi has no capital letters, which in itself is very unfamiliar to native English speakers. Instead, think of it more as a head start if you decide to pick up the other one. 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. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc, or its affiliates. Esperanto was designed with you in mind: Minimal grammar, easy rules and as a bonus, lots of things that resemble many other world languages. Finally, its time to take a brief look at the complexities of the Persian language and what makes it work, in terms of grammar, syntax, and pronunciation. Continue with Recommended Cookies. Physical and cultural differences, Youll find all of this straight after the list! The EasyPersian site offers lessons based on the alphabet and script. This is especially important if the language you are learning is a tonal one. We approve.) Norwegian 4. 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. This is because of the complex writing systems in Japan. The word order format here follows a particular pattern of subject-object-verb, with prepositional phrases nestled between the subject and object. Even so, French does share many similarities with English, especially when it comes to the vocabulary. 12 Toki Pona. Then, of course, there is the Korean alphabet and writing system to consider. Norwegian grammar is generally pretty straightforward, so it wont take you long to take a hang of it. Persian and Farsi: Whats the difference? Thats mostly because its a Germanic language just like English. You might be surprised to find out that Finnish is a very unique language. Sure, they will likely be dubbed, but it will be extremely beneficial as you will already know what is going on and you will have a chance to hear the language in a familiar setting. The Empire stretched over areas such as Macedonia, Thrace, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Bulgaria, Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey, Syria, and even parts of Egypt and Libya. If you are learning Spanish, get some Spanish music on or tune into a Spanish soap opera. Here are nine of the easiest languages to learn for Spanish speakers: 1. Just like Norwegian, Swedish, and English, Dutch is a Germanic language. Finally, if you want an open-source tutorial that is accessible from anywhere, check out Perso-Arabic alphabet and script lessons through WikiBooks and the sites lesson plans. It has no cognates or loan words, and you are highly unlikely to draw similarities between Finnish and English. It has Dutch at its core but it is also intertwined with other dialects and indigenous languages from Africa. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. There are plenty of German language resources available online. However, once this alteration becomes natural to you, the ability of these words to flow off the tongue comes with a joy second to none! Some tonal languages may be particularly difficult for English speakers, as this is not something that they are used to. use. 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. . 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. Other languages may have unique and new sounds, compared with the sounds you know from your own language and alphabet. 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. 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. Ask yourself some questions: Why is it important to you that you embark on this learning journey? Many of their words are very long with unfamiliar letters and letter sounds such as and . 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. Like English, Norwegian or "Norsk" is a Germanic language, which makes it easier for English-speakers to learn. 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.. 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. It means that an average person takes up to 600 hours, or about 24 weeks . By this, we mean some may not use what is known as the Latin alphabet (A, B, C, D, etc. 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). Before delving any deeper into this fascinating language, its important to talk about the difference between Persian and Farsi, as we will be encountering both words as we continue. These languages share many similarities with English, both in terms of grammar and vocabulary. Along with natives and Spanish language learners, there are more than 572 million Spanish speakers worldwide. There are more than 22 million native Amharic speakers and about 4 million L2 speakers worldwide. The language of ancient Persia has gone through many changes to become the modern day language were now familiar with. 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! 10 Hardest Languages to Learn for English Speakers. Manage Settings 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. With four distinct pitches, Persian uses the tone of your voice to denote types of speech. This is another language on the list that might surprise you. In Spanish, a always sounds more or less like a (even with an accent mark), which we as learners appreciate. I have read the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, Online English self-study + private lessons, Online Spanish self-study + private lessons, 15 of the easiest languages to learn for English speakers - ranked. However, something that may soothe the pain of all these complex grammar rules is the fact that in Hungarian there are only three verb tenses to learn: the past, the present, and the future. The German language is thought to take slightly longer to learn than this. Some words are identical in Dutch and English water, lamp, warm, just to name a few. This doesnt diminish the intrigue and fascination that comes from learning Farsi. This is partly down to the fact that Indonesian is a phonetic language, which means words are spelled as they sound. But generally, Portuguese is categorized as an easy foreign language for a reason. Which languages are easiest and most difficult for native English speakers to learn? Lastly, brush up on your Colloquial Persian with Abdi Rafiees 3rd edition copy of this classic conversational sourcebook. (Good choice! Learn Persian language offline and hundred percent free with no paid content. Georgian is a language that is very unique as it has its own script. You need to find a good teacher or quality online language lessons. Another member of the Germanic family of languages that is considered easy to learn is Swedish. Alternatively, Persian Language Online offers a variety of free lessons that cover everything from grammar to tenses, vowels to intonation. Daily practices will help you to form your language learning into a habit. And if you want vocabulary courses that helps you learn Farsi words, Memrises courses are helpful. Like Korean, there are many different ways of addressing someone. However, the language family it belongs to is the relatively small Kartvelian. However, it's a different story in the United States. Its the official language of both Portugal and Brazil, as well as six African countries, including Angola, Cape Verde and Mozambique, making it an extremely useful second language to have under your belt., Like Spanish, Portuguese stems from Latin and uses the same alphabet as the English language, which gives English speakers a slight advantage when learning it., One thing to keep in mind is that there are some distinct differences between European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese. Once the fundamentals are down, you should be more than ready for basic conversations and childrens books. So child is anak and children is anak-anak. Easy right?, Malay is spoken by more than 200 million people throughout Southeast Asia. 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. The main reason why English speakers find it quite easy to learn is the large number of cognates. There are some false cognates you should be careful about though. In comparison, a language that is not in your language family may be more difficult to get to grips with. German 2. See this researched list of the best online Persian courses to start with. 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. You say what you see. 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. 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. Since French is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, youve probably come in contact with it one way or another. It will take you a little longer to understand the Italian spelling system, but its actually very consistent. You could even try changing the language on your cell phone! The sounds they use are also very different from English and can leave you feeling tongue-tied. Russian is the largest of all of the languages in the Slavic family and is spoken widely in the country and around the world. It's spoken in South Africa, Namibia, and a few other countries. It is easy, there is many derivatives to the words. A Russian word could look identical to another when it is written down, but may have two very different meanings. Table of Contents 7 Easiest Languages To Learn 1. 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. Keep reading to discover the easiest languages to learn you may be surprised by some of the options. . Therefore, you should be able to master the basics and learn how to speak French in no time. 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. 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. Like Indonesian, its an Austronesian language. Surprisingly, another relatively easy language for native English speakers to get to grips with is that of Romanian. Of course, its music. Swedish is spoken by somewhere around 10 million people, and while most of them live in Sweden, a small minority can be found in Finland, where Swedish is also a national language., Swedish is on the easier side for English speakers to learn, because again, its a Germanic language. For average native Turkish speakers, is it less difficult to learn/pronounce other non-Turkic agglutinative languages like Korean and Japanese or the languages of the neighbors with whom the Oghuz Turks have historically interacted frequently, like Armenian, Arabic, Farsi, Bulgarian, and Greek You wont have to spend a lot of time developing reading skills. Hungarian belongs to the language family known as Uralic (this also includes Finnish). Above all, have fun. This may be because it is influenced in many ways by English and some of the more familiar Romance languages. For example, if you are learning Korean, find yourself some Korean movies or TV shows to watch. And that will make your learning process a whole lot easier. Less than 22 percent of the U.S. population speaks a language other than . Dont worry according to FSIs language difficulty ranking, Portuguese is also in Category 1. The word order, syntax, and structure of Portuguese when writing and speaking are similar to English and other Romance languages. The Norwegian sentence can be translated word for word in the exact order as it would be said in English. Especially if you have no one around you who speaks it. We are no longer in Scandinavia, but a little further south in the Netherlands. The grammar is fairly straightforward, without inflection, agreements between nouns and adjectives, and even no genders of words to memorize. Because of its Latin roots, Romanian does share some cognates with the English language, and because of its phonetic form, pronunciations are easier to get to grips with. You can also find some of your favorite movies and shows that you already know well and watch them in another language. 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. At the end of the day, if you surround yourself with the Italian language, youll be able to learn it much quicker. Feel free to get in touch about anything. In South Africa its ek is (I am), jy is (you are), sy is (she is). These two words look almost identical, but notice the very small differences of the and the . This app However, that also depends on many other factors. 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.. With a good teacher or reliable Italian online lessons, youll learn how to order pizza in Italian in no time. There are some key grammatical rules that must be followed, such as the inclusion of suffixes on words, particularly verbs. As one of the intonational languages of the world, Persian vocabulary changes meaning depending on the rise and fall of your voice. It is similar in many ways to other languages that native English speakers find easier to learn, such as Spanish and French. This means you will have to work hard to memorize the way words are written. So the way it's written is the way it's said. 11 Of the easiest languages to learn for English speakers. On the bright side, it is phonetic, which means it is spelled how it is said and vice-versa. 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 Afghanistan, it is called Dari, and in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, it is known as Tajik. Many popular world languages have very different grammatical structures to English. If you enjoy learning the language, it will be "easy." Here are the five easiest languages to learn for Arabic speakers. The Middle Persian language was also inflectional, but started showing changes towards a simpler manner of denoting relationships between vocabulary. Enter Spanish. Gaelic has two common types: Scottish and Irish. So if that is not enough motivation to learn we dont know what is! With the wide range of smartphone applications available for every purpose under the sun, its no wonder you can find language learning there too!
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