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. If you enjoy learning the language, it will be "easy." I'm an Applied Linguistics graduate, teacher and translator with a passion for language learning (especially Arabic). 2023 Enux Education Limited. By the way, why not check out our list of the best apps to learn French? 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. easiest languages to learn for persian speakershockey team plane crash cannibalism . Continue with Recommended Cookies. Language families are languages that are grouped because they are related in some way through descent. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. Persian is the easiest, and there is little dialectal difference compared to Arabic where each type is basically its own language, though as always in language learning, personal interest trumps everything else. This includes things like sentence structure, vocabulary, tones and sounds, and writing system. French is a language that has many similarities to English, and they share a large number of cognates. Up until now, all the languages we have discussed have had estimated learning times of 600 hours or less. 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 also gaining global popularity, and more and more people are looking for online Swahili lessons. This is partly down to the fact that Indonesian is a phonetic language, which means words are spelled as they sound. 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. So many languages are arguably easier to pick up than others for English speakers. Learn more at www.rosettastone.com and start your first lesson today! The first of the two means a lock whereas the second means a castle. 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. With a good teacher or reliable Italian online lessons, youll learn how to order pizza in Italian in no time. This family contains sub-groups of languages, namely the Germanic languages, the Romance languages (Spanish, French, and Portuguese among others), and Balto-Slavic languages (Prussian, Russian, Czech, Latvian, and more) to name but a few. In comparison, a language that is not in your language family may be more difficult to get to grips 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! However, if you are looking for a modest challenge then Swahili is a great language choice for you. However, not only is it rewarding to form a friendship in this way, but it can also be beneficial to your learning journey. Why? However, the Empire still maintained cultural and political significance even as its sphere of influence shrank. Also, waffle, those delicious breakfast-dessert foods, comes from the Dutch wafel. In fact, everything from the pronunciation to the vocabulary may vary, depending on which type of Portuguese you are learning. The grammar used in the Finnish language is complex, with around 15 grammatical cases and countless word endings. Although the lack of grammar rules might sound appealing, it can be a bit confusing, but its not hard to get used to. English, for example, has many similarities to other Germanic languages (think German and Dutch). By doing this you can hear whether you are pronouncing things correctly and will be able to compare them to audio of native speakers. This has meant that Italian culture and the language have stayed very much alive in these places. And with the Sasanians, a new Persian dynasty emerging after 200 AD, Modern Persian was able to form. Although there are differences when it comes to pronunciation, vocabulary and idioms, Dutch speakers can quite easily understand Flemish, and vice-versa., Dutch is spoken by around 24 million people worldwide, and is worth learning if you have plans to live and work in the Netherlands, or one of the other countries where its an official language, such as Suriname, Aruba or the Dutch Antilles., Like English, Norwegian or Norsk is a Germanic language, which makes it easier for English-speakers to learn. Italian and English use a similar sentence structure in most cases, and fortunately, the pronunciation is quite logical. The Middle Persian language was also inflectional, but started showing changes towards a simpler manner of denoting relationships between vocabulary. Learn about the best language resources that I've personally test-driven. For example, everyday German words like Wasser, (water) Apfel, (apple) and Fisch (fish) are very similar to their English equivalents. To get started, subscribe to Farsi Wizard, a channel that helps people get started with the basics. 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. Spellings are also relatively simple, with many words being pronounced how they are spelled. The latter fact will be a welcome discovery for those still reeling from the discovery that Arabic goes right to left! First of all, English and Norwegian share a lot of vocabulary. No matter how busy you are or how difficult you think it may be, theres a language out there for everyone! For instance, polisi is police and baiskeli is bicycle., There are also some key differences, of course, but if youre looking to gain fluency in one or more African languages, Swahili is an excellent one to start 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. It is full of mutations and consonants that are unfamiliar to an English speaker, but with some memorization and an eagerness to learn, it is certainly possible. 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. Another language that uses a similar style alphabet is Hebrew, which is also consonant-only. Both Thai and Chinese are tonal languages. Feel free to get in touch about anything. 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). Table of Contents 7 Easiest Languages To Learn 1. Get my exclusive language learning content delivered straight to your inbox. There are some shared cognates such as ' ja ' which means ' yes ' and ' veld ' which means ' field '. However, this doesnt mean learning one language will make you able to speak the other. Download our free French essentials eBook to accompany your studies. There are plenty of German language resources available online. Malay is spoken in Malaysia and Indonesian in Indonesia. There are some key grammatical rules that must be followed, such as the inclusion of suffixes on words, particularly verbs. The Spanish language is phonetic (meaning the spelling tells you the pronunciation of the word). What could be easier? German The Indo-European language is the source of many of its idioms and concepts; Latin, Greek, French, and English all contribute to its construction in various ways. Spanish 6. Swedish has 10 million native speakers, mainly in Sweden but also in Finland. Swahili has little resemblance to English, but it has a ton of loan words, which makes learning Swahili vocabulary quite simple too. More tutorials, interactive lessons, and activities are found via ANU Persian Online, an official portal with many educational options. The last language on our list is Japanese. The Turkish language features an unfathomable 30 verb tenses compared to just 3 in English! Many of their words are very long with unfamiliar letters and letter sounds such as and . Portuguese 4. Here, the native name of the language is known as Farsi. As one of the intonational languages of the world, Persian vocabulary changes meaning depending on the rise and fall of your voice. To learn Icelandic you must be prepared to study, memorize rules, and really put in the work. And once again exposure. It is easier to learn Kurdish and other similar languages in the Iranian language family after studying Persian (Farsi). However, it's a different story in the United States. 120 words, extremely simple grammar. Malay and Indonesian 10. 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. German is, as the name suggests, a Germanic language. The tonal element of this language is perhaps the hardest aspect to get to grips with. Danish 3. It technically belongs to the Uralic family, just like Hungarian and Sami (the indigenous language of Lapland). 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. French features a few tricky components for native English-speaking learners, like gendered nouns, inconsistently pronounced letters, and lots of tricky silent letters. As we just mentioned, it can be very rewarding to make a friend who is on the same language learning journey as you. Swedish grammar is another advantage. As you likely expected, Arabic uses Arabic script. That being said, several different factors may affect how easy or difficult a person finds it to learn a specific language. Polish is a member of the language family known as the Slavic family, meaning it is similar to Russian. Because of this, many words can change meaning entirely when a suffix is added! However, this is not a hard and fast rule, and there are also many other contributing factors. Kanji is a character-based system with thousands of characters to learn. The Complete Modern Persian (Farsi) Beginner to Intermediate Course by Narguess Farzad is a go-to resource for learning the language from a book. And the same goes for Italian grammar. . These grammatical constructs are often difficult to grasp for many languages but the simplicity of Norwegian grammar makes it a little easier. 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. Name: Easiest Languages To Learn For English Speakers, According To Experts: Top 10 Being able to speak another language can actually. 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?. In Spanish, a always sounds more or less like a (even with an accent mark), which we as learners appreciate. According to a study by the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. But its simplicity warrants an inclusion. 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. You may come across a challenge or two, like mastering Portuguese pronunciation and nasal sounds. 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. If you are learning Spanish, get some Spanish music on or tune into a Spanish soap opera. This language was invented by a few linguists who were also great global citizens. For example, the word order in Swedish is also SVO. 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. 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. Italian: Italian is the easiest language for Spanish speakers to learn. 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.. For example, tonal languages can be difficult for someone who has no prior experience of tonal languages (for example, most of us English speakers). We hope our list of the easiest languages to learn for English speakers inspired you to start with your language lessons. But according to the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), French is a category 1 language. Whereas Dutch demands verb conjugations like those in Englishfor instance, I am, you are, it isAfrikaans doesnt bother you with the details. The stress placed upon words and sounds is also important. Even so, French is still one of the easiest languages for English speakers to learn. It is easy, there is many derivatives to the words. Even if it is just ten minutes a day, it is enough to keep what you have learned fresh in your mind. Typically, it is thought to be easier to learn a language that is in your language family or sub-group. German 2. If you speak English, youll be very comfortable with the grammatical structure of Norwegian, so you can focus on learning vocabulary. You already know more than youre aware of in terms of vocabulary too. The reason it is so simple to pick up is because of the similarities it shares with 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. 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. Another appealing thing about learning Norwegian is that the language has different accents. Italian Demonstrative Pronouns And Adjectives (With Examples), French Vocabulary And Phrases For Military Personnel, 9 Best Sites To Find (And Schedule) Spanish Tutors, Chinese Isn't That Hard To Learn (Here's How Long It Takes), How To Ask For Help In Mandarin Chinese [Essential Phrases], How To Ask 'How Are You' (And Respond) In Greek. Rosetta Stone is a well-established course but isnt suitable for everybody. Korean has a reputation for being notoriously difficult for a native English speaker to learn. Download: This may seem strange since it is a Germanic language, and Germanic languages are meant to be easier for native English speakers to learn. 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. Swedish 5. 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! An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. The family they belong to are the Goidelic languages which, in turn, makes them a part of the Brittonic language family, like Welsh. 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. You can't get much easier than this. Though Persian expansion arrived at a standstill after a failed attempt to colonize Greece during the Greco-Persian Wars following the Ionian Revolt of 499 BC, the Persian defeat at Marathon, and Dariuss death, his successor was still determined to continue the legacy of previous kings. Unlike English, there arent several pronunciations of a singular letter or letter combination. This means you will have to work hard to memorize the way words are written. It is no good attempting to learn a language but only practicing once or twice a week. 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 because the grammar, pronunciation, and even writing of Hindi is very difficult to get to grips with as it is so unfamiliar. In fact, Dutch sounds a bit like a mix of English and German. With the help of cognates and surprisingly simple grammar rules, you'll be on your way to mastering a language in no time. All Rights Reserved. Many of their words feature many consonants, as well as beginning with two consonants which can be jarring for a native English speaker. 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. 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. If you prefer warmer countries, youll be happy to hear that Spanish is also on the list of the easiest language to learn. However, once you have the grammar down the rest is much simpler. Thats mostly because its a Germanic language just like English. There are hundreds of French cognates in English. While French is slightly more difficult.". The grammar is similar to English, and many vocabulary words will sound familiar, like samme (same), ham (him) and op (up). So if you're curious about the easiest languages to learn, I've got 10 great suggestions to help you out. However, it could not be further from English. Although it doesn't seem so at first, Norwegian is one of the easiest languages for English native speakers. We are no longer in Scandinavia, but a little further south in the Netherlands. It is known as the "daughter language" to Dutch (it shares 90 to 95% of its vocabulary with the language. This dialect was very similar to Semitic languages and actually used Aramaic script for its alphabet. However, that also depends on many other factors. But even if youre not familiar with any other similar language, Portuguese will be relatively easy to learn. Spanish is one of the easiest languages to learn, so it's logical why it is the second-largest language worldwide.. But all the languages we mentioned today do have certain things in common. Some tonal languages may be particularly difficult for English speakers, as this is not something that they are used to. Therefore, from a linguistic perspective, Norwegian and English have quite a lot in common. Norwegian grammar is generally pretty straightforward, so it wont take you long to take a hang of it. 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. First of all, Indonesian is one of the few Asian languages that use the Latin alphabet. Afrikaans is a beautiful language that is surprisingly easy to learn for native English speakers. He writes about language, travel, and the many places they meet on the road at his blog. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. And while the idiomatic complexity comes with spoken Persian, its melodic tones can be picked up and understood quicker than some other Middle Eastern languages. We hate SPAM and promise to keep your email address safe, Jakob is a full-time traveler, obsessive language learner, and dedicated language teacher. 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. (Download). Yes, I would like to be contacted about special events, newsletters and program information. That being said, we do have the Persian language to thank for many words that we use in English such as kiosk and bazaar, so you may well find some similarities within this beautiful language! There is some memorization needed of their verb forming rules and their articles. That's why the US Foreign Service Institute - the guys who train diplomats - rank Spanish as one of the fastest languages to learn for English . 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. There are over 30 varieties of Arabic worldwide. The main reason why English speakers find it quite easy to learn is the large number of cognates. Its got a few more vowels than its cousin over in Spain, but Italians big advantage is that most of its consonants and vowels are among the most common sounds found in world languages. The 10 Easiest Languages to Learn for English Speakers. This makes it a very unique language to write, speak and hear. 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. This location of spoken Persian in Iran is where another term is used for the language. 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. It is not widely spoken and resources for it are sparse compared to other languages on this list. Word order is flexible. , Pimsleur Spanish Review Repetitive But Effective. Persian is an important language of the Middle East and Central Asia, spoken by over 100 million people and ranked among the world's top 20 most widely spoken languages. Learning a language is a lifelong skill and you will be learning it forever but guess what? For example, the noun system is different from most other languages you may have heard of since it has three genders and two numbers. The natural rhythm of Persian spoken aloud is just as important, as it is a syllable-timed language that requires the right pronunciation to get your meaning across. With the wide range of smartphone applications available for every purpose under the sun, its no wonder you can find language learning there too! Yes, that is systems, plural. 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. ), using the Cyrillic, Arabic, or Kana System (among many others) instead. 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. We love hearing from our readers. So many languages are arguably easier to pick up than others for English speakers. If you are interesting in learning Korean, it is worth looking at the Rocket Korean language course, part of the Rocket Languages series. You will be glad you did when you hold your first conversation in your new language with a native speaker! Lastly, brush up on your Colloquial Persian with Abdi Rafiee's 3rd edition copy of this classic conversational sourcebook. So if that is not enough motivation to learn we dont know what is! It shares many similarities with English, especially when it comes to vocabulary. Unlike most European languages, which belong to the Indo-European language family, Hungarian is a Uralic language. The Persian language uses the Arabic script, something that native English speakers are unfamiliar with. This includes literature, history, traditions, and food, as well as the language.

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