What are the hardest languages to learn? It depends on what your native language is. If it’s English, you’re in the right place. Show
When you peel the onion back to the beginnings of language formation, such as by studying the language families tree below, you will be able to see where different languages branched off. Now, you may be able to notice why Spanish has similarities with languages like German, Italian, French, etc. That’s why the hardest languages to learn for native Korean speakers will be different from those that are hardest for native English speakers like us. Today, we’re going to focus solely on the hardest languages to learn for English speakers (hint: they’re located in different branches on the language tree).[1] If you’re looking for official statistics, the Defense Language Institute (where they teach members of the CIA foreign languages) has organized languages into four categories, the 1st Category being the easiest, and the 4th Category being the hardest languages to learn for English speakers.
Before we take a closer look and see which of the above are the most difficult languages to learn, you can check out this TED Talk with John McWhorter to help you get inspired to learn a new language: 1. MandarinNumber of native speakers: 1.2 billion ⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄ ⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄ Country with the greatest number of speakers: China It may be the most widely spoken language in the world, but it is particularly challenging for English speakers. It is often spoken of as being the hardest language in the world to learn (and certainly the most difficult language on this list!). First, since Mandarin is a tonal language, you can have a completely different meaning of a word just by changing your tone. Just take a look at this visual of the four tones, and you can begin to imagine the difficulties this could cause English speakers[2].  Add to that thousands of characters, complex systems, Chinese dialects, and the language’s richness in homophones,[3] and you’ve got one of the hardest languages to learn in the world. 2. IcelandicNumber of native speakers: 330,000 Country with the greatest number of speakers: Iceland ⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄ ⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄ While the Icelandic language has not changed much since the island was settled in the ninth and tenth centuries[4], it continues to add new meaning to old words. It also doesn’t help that there are fewer than 400,000 native speakers who you can learn and practice with. 3. JapaneseNumber of native speakers: 122 million Country with the greatest number of speakers: Japan Japanese has three independent writing systems[5]: hiragana, katakana, and kanji. Before they can start writing, Japanese learners need to learn thousands of different characters in these writing systems. It is, however, significantly easier to learn than Mandarin! 4. HungarianNumber of native speakers: 13 million Country with the greatest number of speakers: Hungary Most languages spoken in Europe come from the Indo-European language family shown in the tree above, but not Hungarian. It is, instead, a Finno-Ugric language[6] in which words are formed in an isolated manner. ⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄ ⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄ In other words, it’s one of the hardest languages to learn because the word order is nothing like how English speakers normally structure words or sentences. For example, “with my [female] friend” is combined into just “barátnőmmel.” If you’re confused, don’t worry. So are we. 5. KoreanNumber of native speakers: 66.3 million Country with the greatest number of speakers: South Korea Korean is a language isolate, which means it isn’t linked to any other language family root. It also has seven different speech levels that native speakers flip back and forth to depending on the formality. The image below just begins to scratch the surface of the complications caused by the speech levels and the use of honorifics[7]: 6. ArabicNumber of native speakers: 221 million Country with the greatest number of speakers: Egypt ⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄ ⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄ Despite having 221 million native speakers you can potentially learn from, Arabic is still one of the hardest languages to learn. First, vowels are not included when writing. And, to complicate things further, most Arabic letters are written in four different forms, depending on the placement of the word. 7. FinnishNumber of native speakers: 5.4 million Country with the greatest number of speakers: Finland If you’ve ever watched The Lord of the Rings, you’ll know about the strange language the elves speak. The Finnish language is what the author J.R.R. Tolkien based the Elvish language on[8]. Finnish, like Hungarian, is a Finno-Ugric language in which grammar complications are taken to the extreme, which makes it difficult for English speakers. Furthermore, just when you’ve got the hang of translating Finnish to English, you’ll quickly find that modern Finnish speakers have their own way of expressing emotions that’s different from the traditional translation! The Bottom LineThe hardest languages for English speakers to learn depends on a number of different factors, not just one. The number of speakers, the language’s origins, its similarity to English, and other factors contribute to determining how much difficulty you’ll have learning it. However, what’s important is not which is the hardest language to learn. As with learning any language, it comes down to how passionate you are about learning, how you’ll deal with psychological fears, and who you will go to for help. ⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄ ⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄ Every language will come with its own challenges, but it’ll also come with its own rewards, experiences, and fulfillment. Remember, whichever language you decide to learn, your time will be well worth the investment. More Language Learning Tips
Featured photo credit: ORIENTO via unsplash.com What are the top 10 hardest languages for English speakers to learn?Let's explore the 10 hardest languages for English speakers to learn, and the challenges they deliver:. Mandarin. Mandarin is spoken by 70% of the Chinese population, and is the most spoken language in the world. ... . Arabic. ... . 3. Japanese. ... . Hungarian. ... . Korean. ... . Finnish. ... . Basque. ... . Navajo.. What is the 7 hardest language to learn?At the same time, for some other speaker with different characteristics, that same languages will be a lot harder to learn.. 1 – Chinese (Mandarin). 2 – Arabic.. 3 – Japanese.. 4 – Korean.. 5 – Hungarian.. 6 – Finnish.. 7 – Xhosa.. What language is easiest for English speakers to learn?Easiest (about 600 hours of study)
Of these, Spanish and Italian are the easiest for native English speakers to learn, followed by Portuguese and finally French.
What is the hardest language to learn if you don't speak English?If you don't speak English, the hardest language to learn would be Spanish. Spanish is a Romance language that is spoken in many parts of the world. It is also one of the most difficult languages to learn because it has many sounds and grammar rules that are different from English.
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Whats the hardest language to learn for english speakers
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