However, some languages are generally considered less demanding for English speakers. Like Indonesian, its an Austronesian language. 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. Learn Persian Language in a fast way is now easy. Practice little but often and you will likely find that things stick in your head much faster and more easily. 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. There are some challenging aspects of learning French though. 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. The main reason for this is because of the use of the Cyrillic script. However, the Empire still maintained cultural and political significance even as its sphere of influence shrank. The Easiest Language to Learn It shares many similarities with English, including a common alphabet, comparable sentence structure and familiar vocabulary. Italian is yet another beautiful language, much like Portuguese and the other Romance languages. 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. Check out our article on the best way to learn a new language here. They share many words with English, but it's that common vocabulary . 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. You probably have so many Spanish words in your ear. There are plenty of German language resources available online. German is, as the name suggests, a Germanic language. And that will make your learning process a whole lot easier. Surprisingly, another relatively easy language for native English speakers to get to grips with is that of Romanian. resources out there to help you learn French. Easiest Languages To Learn For English Speakers, According To Experts The Top 11 Easiest Languages To Learn (Even For English Speakers) Russian is the largest of all of the languages in the Slavic family and is spoken widely in the country and around the world. Furthermore, Portuguese and English have a lot of shared words. There will be times where you feel like giving up, but keep persevering. Learn Persian Language on the App Store This is the part of the language that takes the longest to get to grips with, hence why it is a little further down the list. Top 8 is spanish hard to learn for english speakers 2022 Contents 1. These grammatical constructs are often difficult to grasp for many languages but the simplicity of Norwegian grammar makes it a little easier. Other notable kings of Persia include Darius the Great, who presided over the Empire when it was at its peak. Oh, and it is also a Romance language, meaning it sounds oh-so-romantic. This is partly down to the fact that Indonesian is a phonetic language, which means words are spelled as they sound. 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. Italian 3. Spanish is considered relatively easy for English speakers: it has 1000s of similar words (fant stico!) This means that once English speakers have had a chance to learn some basic rules, theyre usually able to pick it up quite quickly. 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. 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 may be because it is influenced in many ways by English and some of the more familiar Romance languages. You could even hire a teacher or tutor for yourself, or attend language classes to help you along with your journey. By this, we mean some may not use what is known as the Latin alphabet (A, B, C, D, etc. They also read and write right to left, which is unfamiliar for most native English speakers. This is because the Dutch were some of the first colonizers of the States. Phonetically speaking, once youve learned how to pronounce the letters of the alphabet youre pretty much set when pronouncing words. Advertisements. Arabic is a Semitic language and is thus in no way similar to Persian. In fact, Dutch sounds a bit like a mix of English and German. First of all, English and Norwegian share a lot of vocabulary. You need to find a good teacher or quality online language lessons. On the bright side, the spellings are largely phonetic, and once you have learned the grammar rules the language becomes easier. 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. Spanish 2. 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. A Russian word could look identical to another when it is written down, but may have two very different meanings. Esperanto was designed with you in mind: Minimal grammar, easy rules and as a bonus, lots of things that resemble many other world languages. The Easiest Languages to Learn for English Speakers 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. This will help you to work out whether a particular language is right for you or whether you may want to start with the one that is more similar to your native language. In this section, we are going to be exploring some of the main reasons why you may find a certain language easy to learn, or indeed very difficult. Some languages do not use the alphabet as we know it. 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. Dont worry according to FSIs language difficulty ranking, Portuguese is also in Category 1. It has no cognates or loan words, and you are highly unlikely to draw similarities between Finnish and English. 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. He writes about language, travel, and the many places they meet on the road at his blog. If youre thinking of investing some time into learning a new language, why not take a look at some of the language courses offered by Berlitz?. Once the fundamentals are down, you should be more than ready for basic conversations and childrens books. The tones and sounds of a language can have a direct impact on how difficult you find it to learn. You will have noticed that even the easiest languages on this list can take between 575 and 600 hours. use. 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. 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. How To Learn Persian (Farsi): Guide + Best Courses And Books What is the easiest language to learn for French speakers? In this post, we have put together a full and comprehensive list of the 28 easiest and hardest languages to learn for English speakers. Many Japanese language apps teach users the various fascinating aspects of Japanese culture whilst also teaching the Japanese language. Therefore, from a linguistic perspective, Norwegian and English have quite a lot in common. . One important concept that can affect whether a language is learned easily by a native English speaker is the grammatical framework. Malay is spoken in Malaysia and Indonesian in Indonesia. 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. The pronunciation of most Swahili words is fairly easy, and many are very similar to their English equivalent. There are a whole 35 different cases in this language; they also follow the unfamiliar concept of vowel harmonies. We hope our list of the easiest languages to learn for English speakers inspired you to start with your language lessons. Nevertheless, it is very difficult for a native English speaker to learn Russian. 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.. It's spoken in South Africa, Namibia, and a few other countries. There is some memorization needed of their verb forming rules and their articles. 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 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. As a bonus, if you know Danish, you can read the next two languagesNorwegian and Swedishpretty easily. If you are interesting in learning Korean, it is worth looking at the Rocket Korean language course, part of the Rocket Languages series. 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. What will help you to persevere even when it starts to get difficult? Listen to samples from a couple of languages you've been interested in. Many of their words feature many consonants, as well as beginning with two consonants which can be jarring for a native English speaker. And whether you find a certain language easy or not depends on many factors. As well as looking and sounding similar, there are masses of resources out there to help you learn French, and it is spoken widely around the world. You shouldnt have unrealistic goals though. 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. According to the FSI, professional working proficiency in this set of languages might take 23-24 weeks. Which languages are easiest and most difficult for native English speakers to learn? These letters are , , , , , , , and . If you speak English, youll be very comfortable with the grammatical structure of Norwegian, so you can focus on learning vocabulary. Its also an easier language to learn for English speakers than, for example, Russian or Chinese, which take much longer to learn and reach fluency. All Rights Reserved. The last language on our list is Japanese. Indonesian sentence structure is also similar to English and its grammatical rules are fairly simple. The Norwegian sentence can be translated word for word in the exact order as it would be said in English. Some of them are members of the Germanic family of languages so they share quite a bit of vocab with English. Table of Contents 7 Easiest Languages To Learn 1. The latter fact will be a welcome discovery for those still reeling from the discovery that Arabic goes right to left! Like Welsh, Gaelic is another language that comes from Britain and so is very close geographically to England. It has 47 different characters that must all be learned before you can fully get to grips with the language. Why? Spanish is often the go-to language for English speakers because of its small inventory of speech sounds and user-friendly phonetic spelling system. After Xerxes assassination in 465 BC, the litany of the last Achaemenid kings made strides in Persias cultural phase. Finnish is an interesting language to feature on this list because most people may assume that it would belong to the Indo-European family. Welsh is a reasonably difficult language to get to grips with for native English speakers, even those English speakers who have lived in Wales for their whole life! 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). The family they belong to are the Goidelic languages which, in turn, makes them a part of the Brittonic language family, like Welsh. Nowadays, Latin script is used, which is why native English speakers find it a little easier. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. It has Dutch at its core but it is also intertwined with other dialects and indigenous languages from Africa. In comparison, a language that is not in your language family may be more difficult to get to grips with. This languages alphabet utilizes six different vowel sounds (, a, e, i, o, u) and two diphthongs (ey, ow), but the diacritics that denote them, such as the alef do not have a specific sound. The Turkish language features an unfathomable 30 verb tenses compared to just 3 in English! Politeness is very important in Japan and so this must be demonstrated through language in the way you address people. Danish 3. That might seem a bit confusing, but it can actually be an advantage since there is often no single correct way to pronounce a certain word. The grammar used in the Finnish language is complex, with around 15 grammatical cases and countless word endings. There are more than 22 million native Amharic speakers and about 4 million L2 speakers worldwide. There are over 30 varieties of Arabic worldwide. However, that also depends on many other factors. There are some shared cognates such as ja which means yes and veld which means field. Indonesian. However, not only is it rewarding to form a friendship in this way, but it can also be beneficial to your learning journey. Spellings are also relatively simple, with many words being pronounced how they are spelled. In fact, did you know that for most English speakers, Persian is one of the easiest Middle Eastern languages to learn? Like Korean, there are many different ways of addressing someone. Languages that are more closely related to English share certain qualities and characteristics that make them easier for English speakers to pick up. By doing this you can hear whether you are pronouncing things correctly and will be able to compare them to audio of native speakers. 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 makes it a very unique language to write, speak and hear. Some words are identical in Dutch and English water, lamp, warm, just to name a few. 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. That is, Farsi is Persian, particularly the type that is spoken within Iran and parts of Afghanistan, and the term Farsi is not used for dialects in other countries of the Middle East. Top 10 Easiest Languages to Learn - TheTopTens It shares many similarities with English, especially when it comes to vocabulary. Many popular world languages have very different grammatical structures to English. And to rule the vastness of the Empire, Persia needed kings. Rosetta Stone is a well-established course but isnt suitable for everybody. The easiest languages for English speakers to learn - Lingua.edu Another appealing thing about learning Norwegian is that the language has different accents. This toneless African language is thought to be one of the easier African languages for native English speakers to learn. So, vocabulary is the first element of learning Spanish that you wont have problems with. The Empire stretched over areas such as Macedonia, Thrace, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Bulgaria, Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey, Syria, and even parts of Egypt and Libya. Learn about the best language resources that I've personally test-driven. Likewise, some words get added onto names as a term of endearment, respect, or politeness. As a native English speaker, you will likely get on well with a language that uses the same alphabet as you. Originally, Persian was the language spoken by the rulers and people within the Empire of Persia, stretching back for thousands of years. However, it's a different story in the United States. 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. This includes things like sentence structure, vocabulary, tones and sounds, and writing system. While French is slightly more difficult.". 15 Spanish Pick Up Lines That Wont Let You Down! Although its considered fairly easy, mastering Norwegian takes time. Here are the top 7 languages for Arabic speakers to study. Depending on where in the States you are, you may find that you are surrounded by Italian speakers thanks to the mass Italian immigration to places such as New York in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It will take you a little longer to understand the Italian spelling system, but its actually very consistent. So, if youve ever taken German lessons, youll find it relatively easy. Sure, it is a little more difficult because it takes around 900 hours, but the alphabet is Latin script, meaning it is something you will be used to, and the words are phonetic meaning they are said how they are spelled. In addition to Farsi speakers in the Middle East, there is evidence of linguistic transmission all the way to the Western world. On the bright side, it is phonetic, which means it is spelled how it is said and vice-versa. A large portion of its vocabulary comes from Arabic, meaning that will be the main hurdle for non-native speakers to overcome. Look at this Norwegian sentence: Jeg spiste egg til frokost(I ate eggs for breakfast). The word order format here follows a particular pattern of subject-object-verb, with prepositional phrases nestled between the subject and object. 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. The List: Easiest Languages To Learn For English Speakers, According To Pros 1. Here are some good titles to get you started on Farsi lessons! The EasyPersian site offers lessons based on the alphabet and script. 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. Another language that uses a similar style alphabet is Hebrew, which is also consonant-only. Georgian is a language that is very unique as it has its own script. The Finnish language often uses just one word to say a whole sentence, which can be confusing for those used to the complex sentences of the English language. The reason it is so simple to pick up is because of the similarities it shares with English. Continue with Recommended Cookies. is pronounced as Poo vay voo. German 2. Easiest Languages for English Speakers - Rocket Languages Or, for a more step-based lesson book, try Learn Persian (Farsi) Step by Step: Level One Beginner (Steps 1 to 10) by Fruzan Seifi, available in both kindle formats and physical copies. 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. After the Empire of Persia was conquered by Alexander the Great and subsequently split up, the re-emergence of the language took over 500 years to come about. Hungarian belongs to the language family known as Uralic (this also includes Finnish). Both Thai and Chinese are tonal languages. Hungarian. Esperanto is a relatively modern language, as far as languages go. Afrikaans is a beautiful language that is surprisingly easy to learn for native English speakers. 13 Easiest Languages To Learn - StoryLearning Now we come to the language of Iran, and what modern native speakers use to communicate. A person of authority will have a different word ending to a normal person when someone is addressing them. They also write right to left, which is very different from English writing. 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? Furthermore, whilst it is known to be difficult to learn and takes a long time, the result makes it worthwhile. For example, improving listening skills should be. 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! After Cyrus the Great transformed the groups of nomadic tribesmen into Persians and unified the lands under the name of an Empire, nearby Middle Eastern kingdoms like Media, Babylon, and Lydia soon fell under his rule to create the first superpower of the ancient world: the connection of Mesopotamia, the Nile, and the Indus Valley. This may seem strange since it is a Germanic language, and Germanic languages are meant to be easier for native English speakers to learn. You may even find that some of the vocabulary words are easily identifiable because they are similar to words in your native language. The Spanish language is phonetic (meaning the spelling tells you the pronunciation of the word). Which language is easier to learn for a Persian speaker: Arabic or Youll also need to familiarise yourself with unfamiliar compound words like jordntter, which means peanuts, but translates to dirt nuts, or kofngare, which means bumper, but translates to cow catcher., Romanian is a language you might not have expected to see on this list. Although it doesn't seem so at first, Norwegian is one of the easiest languages for English native speakers. 10 Hardest Languages to Learn for English Speakers. Korean has a reputation for being notoriously difficult for a native English speaker to learn. Sure, learning grammar rules and acquiring vocabulary takes time, but the learning process should be very smooth. Other languages may have unique and new sounds, compared with the sounds you know from your own language and alphabet. It is easy, there is many derivatives to the words. This app If the grammar structure of the language you are learning is similar to your native language, it will undoubtedly be easier for you than if it were not. Read on to start your journey into the beautiful and intriguing world of the Persian language, and good luck! This is especially important if the language you are learning is a tonal one. Persian is one of the Iranian languages, having been spoken in Iran for hundreds of years. But even if youre not familiar with any other similar language, Portuguese will be relatively easy to learn. Easiest Languages To Learn For Spanish Speakers - Top 9 In order to put this list together, we took into account the numerous factors which should be considered when deciding whether or not a language is difficult, or easy to learn. We approve.) Word order is flexible. 7 Easiest Language To Learn For Hindi Speakers In 2023 15 of the Easiest Languages for English Speakers to Learn - Berlitz On top of that its verbs, nouns and adjectives are in fact easier than in English. Enter Spanish. Italian: Italian is the easiest language for Spanish speakers to learn. From online lessons to books, here is a full discussion of where to look for help when you want to learn this new language. So if youre curious about the easiest languages to learn, Ive got 10 great suggestions to help you out. Even so, French is still one of the easiest languages for English speakers to learn. For conversation and community-based lessons, opt for Mondlys courses that help you get fluent quickly and easily! If you prefer the feeling of a book in your hands while learning a language, you are not alone. We hate SPAM and promise to keep your email address safe, Jakob is a full-time traveler, obsessive language learner, and dedicated language teacher. But there are also many cognates that are not food-related futuro (future), controllare (control), concerto (concert), and so on. Language families are languages that are grouped because they are related in some way through descent. Therefore, from a linguistic perspective, Norwegian and English have quite a lot in common. Persian and Farsi: Whats the difference? For example, the language register used by the speaker depends on who he or she is speaking to. This language is basically useless, but it is undoubtedly the easiest to learn.