which languages are harder to learn?

Question

I am in high school and I really want to learn a new language. I am thinking about taking some foreign language at a community college, but I'm not sure which one to learn. I already know spanish fluently, so I was thinking about learning Italian because I heard it is similar. I can take French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Vietnamese. Could you please rate them from easiest to hardest, keeping in mind that the courses last one semester, not two.

Answer 1

Italian or French would be closest to Spanish so they might be easiest for you.

If you plan to go into business that is related to electronics, definitely choose Japanese. My brother has to go there all the time on business.

If you plan on getting work in the social sciences area or teaching, Vietnamese might be a good choice just because there are fewer people in this country that speak it and it would make you even more marketable than the other choices.

If you're going to work in the sciences, choose German. A lot of scientific journals are written in German.

Answer 2

Italian
French
German
Japanese
Vietnamese

Answer 3

Italian would probably be easiest for you, followed by French, since they are both Romance languages like Spanish. Then German, since it is also a Western language and there will be more similarities in grammatical structure and many cognates. I don't know which of Vietnamese or Japanese would be more difficult.

Answer 4

I would strongly suggest you take French. as French is a base language, for a lot of European countries. Chinese is the hardest language to learn as there are lots of character. Why would you take Italian as it's similar to Spanish.? You'll be wasting your time. French is also spoken in Vietnam. Usage of the other languages are limited such as Japanese, Chinese, Korean or Thai or Cambodian. or Hindi. French like English is more universal. German is okay too. But French is more romantic just like Spanish. If they offer Latin, now that's good as Latin is the root of all languages.

Answer 5

Italian, German, French, Japanese, Vietnamese.

Italian is very similar to French, but the pronunciations resemble Spanish more than French.

German is rather easy. It's pretty similar to English, actually.

I don't know enough about Vietnamese actually, but it is rarely seen so it's probably difficult, especially if you want to practice it outside of class. It may be more simple than Japanese.

Answer 6

I agree with korean queen about the letters, it's actually very easy to learn to read/write the alphabet, there are something like 24 letters only... MUCH easier than chinese/japanese in my opinion =) I've been taking korean for combined 4 yrs and if you've studied other languages then you already have a leg up. since you said you've studied french and dutch then at least you're not going into it with no language background and not understanding that wow there are other languages besides english!!! =) check local community colleges around you or even korean cultural centers (that's where I'm taking it now) and just do some introductory courses and see how you like it. even check out some library books or language aids. I've given you the link to the cultural center in LA if you live nearby. good luck!

Answer 7

i would say japanese & vietnemese would be the hardest as they dont resemble either english or spanish at all. after that german and then french & italian. french & italian would be the easiest 2 because they are both latin based languages as is spanish (i know i speak french fluently)

Answer 8

All these would be a waste of time unless you want to read their literature in the original. If you want to learn a language which will be useful in the future, (since you already know Spanish) pick Chinese. But, like Russian, it is an inflexive language, meaning *how* you say it is as important as what words you use, so it's hard to get it out of books.

Answer 9

It's pretty funny seeing what people write most of the time. Example: Omg german is like sooooooo hard omg. Silly lazy people, it's one of the easiest languages I've ever learnt. (Second language I learnt.) I'd say choose something you think you'll have no problem to start off with, then move on to something else.

Answer 10

french, italian, german, vietnamese and japanese the hardest. i speak german if u wish u can contact me for help [e-mail]!! why don't u learn greek?? the most beautiful language....