Advertisements. An example of this is the Russian words and . That being said, it is one of the widest spoken languages in the world, with over 900 million people speaking it daily. And whether you find a certain language easy or not depends on many factors. There are dialects of French even here in the States and of course, in Canada. This may be because it is influenced in many ways by English and some of the more familiar Romance languages. Here are nine of the easiest languages to learn for Spanish speakers: 1. Although it doesnt seem so at first, Norwegian is one of the easiest languages for English native speakers. The grammar structure is, on the other hand, a bit unusual for English speakers. Why? Its also an official language of 29 countries, including Switzerland, Luxembourg, Seychelles and Rwanda.. You may even find that some of the vocabulary words are easily identifiable because they are similar to words in your native language. German is, as the name suggests, a Germanic language. Its the most closely related to English out of all the languages in this list. 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. Therefore, from a linguistic perspective, Norwegian and English have quite a lot in common. 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. Swahili has little resemblance to English, but it has a ton of loan words, which makes learning Swahili vocabulary quite simple too. Resources for learning Spanish are also very easy to come by, since it is so widely spoken all over the world. SHOW ME HOW! Learning a new language takes time, regardless of its difficulty. There will be times where you feel like giving up, but keep persevering. Today, there are many versions of the Persian language, depending on where you are in the world. It was only during Alexander the Greats 330 BC campaigns into Persia that the states began to fall apart, and the Empire of the Persians finally disintegrated into the control of other political and dynastic factions, like the Ptolemies. is pronounced as Ay twah and Pouvez-vous? (Can you?) In fact, did you know that for most English speakers, Persian is one of the easiest Middle Eastern languages to learn? 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! Indonesian is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, with over 40 million native speakers and more than 150 million non-native speakers. Frisian was once the primary language of what during the Middle Ages was known as Frisia. Welsh, the language of Wales (Englands neighbor) is a beautiful ancient language spoken by around 29% of the population in Wales. 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. And if you want vocabulary courses that helps you learn Farsi words, Memrises courses are helpful. And others might be easier to learn because youre exposed to them in one way or another. However, whilst it is very close to England, that does not mean the languages are similar. Afrikaans is a beautiful language that is surprisingly easy to learn for native English speakers. Italian 7. You wont have to spend a lot of time developing reading skills. Another member of the Germanic family of languages that is considered easy to learn is Swedish. An example is the large group of languages called the Indo-European language family. One important concept that can affect whether a language is learned easily by a native English speaker is the grammatical framework. 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. Although it is only spoken by a maximum of 750,000 people spread between Germany and the Netherlands, if we go straight to the truth, Frisian is the easiest language for English speakers to learn. Spanish 2. This truly simplifies the entire language, as every subject is referred to with the same pronoun , pronounced ou or . (Download). It has no cognates or loan words, and you are highly unlikely to draw similarities between Finnish and English. FluentU brings a language to life with real-world videos. A large part of learning a language is learning how to write it. Amharic Amharic is the first language of Amharas, an ethnic group from the Highlands of Ethiopia. For example, the language register used by the speaker depends on who he or she is speaking to. As a Romance language, Spanish derives from Latin, just like many English words. Fill in the form below and well contact you to discuss your learning options and answer any questions you may have. The Korean hangul will need to be memorized when you first begin to learn the language. By the way, why not check out our list of the best apps to learn French? 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. Georgian script is unicase, meaning there are no capital letters and it runs from left to right. 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. Although it doesn't seem so at first, Norwegian is one of the easiest languages for English native speakers. And the same goes for Italian grammar. Spanish is considered relatively easy for English speakers: it has 1000s of similar words (fant stico!) they frolicked in a field on a warm summers day) comes from the Dutch word vrolijk which means happy and cheerful. 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. For example, everyday German words like Wasser, (water) Apfel, (apple) and Fisch (fish) are very similar to their English equivalents. Kanji is a character-based system with thousands of characters 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. Manage Settings It's spoken in South Africa, Namibia, and a few other countries. 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. However, if you are looking for a modest challenge then Swahili is a great language choice for you. Download our free French essentials eBook to accompany your studies. 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. It is a vibrant, fluid, and ancient language, that ignites passion and intrigue in researchers, teachers, and those who want to learn how to speak it. When you're differentiating between some of the easiest and hardest languages to learn, you will likely stumble upon the Danish language. This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you First of all, English and Norwegian share a lot of vocabulary. 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. Language vs Dialect: Whats the Difference? 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! Can you guess what English word this resembles? Many of their words feature many consonants, as well as beginning with two consonants which can be jarring for a native English speaker. You could even hire a teacher or tutor for yourself, or attend language classes to help you along with your journey. 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! For example, a writer targeting the Japanese market might learn Japanese . For instance, if youre familiar with Spanish, learning Italian will be much easier. They also write right to left, which is very different from English writing. Also, if youve been taking Spanish lessons, Portuguese vocabulary will be much easier to learn. This is what makes it obviously easier to learn by a native English speaker. And to rule the vastness of the Empire, Persia needed kings. It is spoken as a native language by 13 million people, most of whom live in Hungary. Arabic grammar is notouriously complex, and Persian speakers will have just as much problem with mastering the grammar as do English-speakers. Of these, Spanish and Italian are the easiest for native English speakers to learn, followed by Portuguese and finally French. 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. Word order is flexible. The main reason for this is because of the use of the Cyrillic script. Afrikaans - the easiest language to learn for both English and Dutch speakers Afrikaans, the same as English, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish, is a Germanic language. 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. This dialect was very similar to Semitic languages and actually used Aramaic script for its alphabet. However, that also depends on many other factors. 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. It is thought that the language may begin to rise in popularity, though, since it is featured on the popular language immersion app, Duolingo. 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. There are many Mandarin Chinese language resources available online. The only verb ending that needs to be used is -r!). 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. There are some false cognates you should be careful about though. For instance, Et tois? (And you?) Members of this language family tend to have complicated grammatical rules and more than double the amount of vowels that the English language uses. This is especially important if the language you are learning is a tonal one. 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. For instance, He comes from Norway translates to Han kommer fra Norge., Norwegian is spoken by around 5 million people, primarily in Norway. Since French is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, youve probably come in contact with it one way or another. So you've decided to learn a language. We have history to thank for this. Many of their words are very long with unfamiliar letters and letter sounds such as and . Because of this, many words can change meaning entirely when a suffix is added! It has 47 different characters that must all be learned before you can fully get to grips with the language. Read up on the cultures associated with the languages to see which sound most fun to learn about. This can help you practice more and learn it far quicker. 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. 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. Some writing systems require writing from right to left, as opposed to the left to right method that Germanic languages (English, German, etc.) By this, we mean some may not use what is known as the Latin alphabet (A, B, C, D, etc. For example, tonal languages can be difficult for someone who has no prior experience of tonal languages (for example, most of us English speakers). Indonesian. There are also fewer singular and noun genders to learn than other languages, which makes it easier to learn. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. 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! And The Easiest Language To Learn Is. Here are some of the best apps for learning Farsi or Persian. This location of spoken Persian in Iran is where another term is used for the language. 10 Easiest Languages to Learn for English Speakers. French is a language that has many similarities to English, and they share a large number of cognates. 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.