Learning a new language is no easy task. It calls for commitment, determination and motivation. But some languages are just easier to learn than others. To make your journey to multilingualism easier, I’ve sourced five easy languages to learn; tackle these as a first step and move on to Mandarin Chinese or Finnish once you feel confident enough!
1. English
It’s the most widely spoken language in the world, making practice possible. It has short words, no gender or word agreement and verbs only change in the third person. There are about 360 million native speakers, but about two billion people speak it – that’s 30 percent of the world population!
2. French
French has over 100 million native speakers and is – as the official language in 28 countries – spoken on almost every continent. This means you can practice French almost everywhere you go. And you should: French belongs to the Romance language family, which means that for English speakers, the vocabulary will look pretty familiar. Linguists estimate that the two languages have more in common than any other members of that group, and that up to a third of all words in the English language were influenced by French.
3. Spanish
It’s heavily influenced by Latin and Arabic, spoken as it’s written and has fewer irregularities than other romance languages. It’s also estimated that by 2050, USA will become a bilingual state – English and Spanish. ¡Viva Los Estados Unidos!
4. Italian
Found in Italy, Switzerland, Malta, and Argentina, as well as 25 other countries, about 70 to 125 million people speak Italian worldwide. It has similar grammar to other Romance languages but fewer verb forms than French or Spanish. And you already have a headstart with spaghetti, pizza and Ferrari!
5. Swahili
Swahili is a Bantu language, heavily influenced by Arabic in particular, as well as English, French, German and Portuguese. It does not use verb conjugations, instead relying on roots and affixes to express verb tense and subjects. Over 140 million people speak it and it can be found throughout East Africa (particularly Tanzania and Kenya). After Arabic, Swahili is the most widely used language on the continent; it’s also considered to be a window to African culture.
FAQs
1. Norwegian. This may come as a surprise, but we have ranked Norwegian as the easiest language to learn for English speakers. Norwegian is a member of the Germanic family of languages — just like English!
What is the number 1 easiest language to learn? ›
1. Norwegian. This may come as a surprise, but we have ranked Norwegian as the easiest language to learn for English speakers. Norwegian is a member of the Germanic family of languages — just like English!
What is hardest language to learn? ›
Mandarin Chinese
Interestingly, the hardest language to learn is also the most widely spoken native language in the world. Mandarin Chinese is challenging for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the writing system is extremely difficult for English speakers (and anyone else) accustomed to the Latin alphabet.
What is the most useful language to learn after English? ›
The 7 Best Languages To Learn
- Spanish. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language after Mandarin, and not a surprise at the top of languages to learn. ...
- German. ...
- Arabic. ...
- Mandarin. ...
- Portuguese. ...
- Russian. ...
- French.
How hard is it to learn? Swahili is said to be the easiest African language for an English speaker to learn. It's one of the few sub-Saharan African languages that have no lexical tone, just like in English. It's also much easier to read as you read out Swahili words just the way they are written.
What is the number 3 hardest language to learn? ›
The 3 hardest languages to learn include Mandarin, Arabic, and Russian. However, with the right strategies, overcoming these obstacles and succeeding in international markets is possible. One critical method is to invest in language training for yourself and your team.
What is the 3 easiest language to learn? ›
5 easy languages to learn
- English. It's the most widely spoken language in the world, making practice possible. ...
- French. French has over 100 million native speakers and is – as the official language in 28 countries – spoken on almost every continent. ...
- Spanish. ...
- Italian. ...
- Swahili.
7 most difficult English words that will let you forget what you wanted to say
- Rural. ...
- Sixth. ...
- Sesquipedalian. ...
- Phenomenon. ...
- Onomatopoeia. ...
- Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. ...
- Worcestershire.
Top 10 Easiest Languages for English Speakers to Learn
- Afrikaans. 🕐 Approximate time to learn: 24 weeks (600 hours) ...
- Dutch. 🕐 Approximate time to learn: 24 weeks (575-600 hours) ...
- Norwegian. 🕐 Approximate time to learn: 23-24 weeks (575-600 hours) ...
- Spanish. ...
- Italian. ...
- Portuguese. ...
- French. ...
- Romanian.
As we've seen, then, English is pretty challenging. But it's not the only contender for the World's Most Difficult Language. Other notoriously tricky languages include Finnish, Russian, Japanese and Mandarin.
Chinese Language Salary in India – The Chinese (Mandarin) is the highest paid foreign language in India. Chinese speakers usually receive as much as Rs Million-plus annually. Chinese language jobs salary in India is Rs11,89,234 per year on average in December.
What is the easiest language to learn closest to English? ›
The 6 easiest languages to learn for English speakers
- Dutch (575–600 hours) It belongs to the same Germanic family of languages as English, meaning you'll find lots of cognates. ...
- Spanish (575–600 hours) ...
- Portuguese (575–600 hours) ...
- Italian (575–600 hours) ...
- French (575–600 hours) ...
- German (750 hours)
12 best languages to learn for the future
- Mandarin Chinese. Despite China being in a more isolated part of the world, the stats show Mandarin as the best language to learn for the future for many reasons. ...
- English. ...
- Spanish. ...
- French. ...
- Portuguese. ...
- Hindi. ...
- Arabic. ...
- 8. Japanese.
The most widely spoken languages of Africa, Swahili (200 million), Yoruba (45 million), Igbo (30 million), and Fula (35 million) all belong to the Niger-Congo family. Learn more about the Niger-Congo language family on Ethnologue.
What is the most beautiful African language? ›
Swahili is spoken primarily in Kenya and Tanzania, but speakers of this beautiful language can be found right across the continent of Africa. Here's a guide to some basic Swahili words to help you on your trip abd learn more about the history of the Swahili language.
Which is the easiest language in the world? ›
5 easy languages to learn
- English. It's the most widely spoken language in the world, making practice possible. ...
- French. French has over 100 million native speakers and is – as the official language in 28 countries – spoken on almost every continent. ...
- Spanish. ...
- Italian. ...
- Swahili.
10 Easiest Languages for English Speakers to Learn
- Afrikaans. Like English, Afrikaans is in the West Germanic language family, once thought of as a Dutch dialect. ...
- French. Ah, the language of love. ...
- Spanish. ...
- Dutch. ...
- Norwegian. ...
- Portuguese. ...
- Swedish. ...
- Italian.
English — 380 Million Native Speakers
It's also the most common official language in the world, being the most common official language in the world.
What is the simplest language in the world? ›
1) Esperanto.
Because of that goal, Esperanto has a simple grammar, easy rules and a lot of words that resemble words from other languages. It was built to be simple and to be learned with minimum effort.
