What's the hardest language to learn? what's the easiest?

Answer 1

my language teacher told me the following:

From easiest to hardest (based on research done at the university level)

Spanish
French
German
Russian and other Eastern European Languages
Japanese
Arabic
Chinese

Answer 2

Please read the following:

We are often asked what is the most difficult language to learn, and it is a difficult question to answer because there are a lot of things to take into consideration. Firstly, as a first language, or mother tongue, the differences are unimportant, so the question of how hard a language is to learn only arises in the area of second language acquisition.

A native speaker of Spanish will find Portuguese much easier to learn than a native speaker of Chinese, for example, because Portuguese is very similar to Spanish, while Chinese is very different, so first language is an important factor. the more different a language is from our mother tongue, the harder it will be to learn. Many people answer that Chinese is the hardest language to learn, possibly influenced by the thought of learning Chinese characters, and the pronunciation of Chinese does appear to be very difficult for foreign learners. However, for Japanese speakers, who already use Chinese characters in their own language, the writing will be less of a challenge than it will for people from languages using the Roman alphabet.

Some people can learn languages naturally and easily without much effort, while others find it very difficult, so natural aptitude for language learning is another factor. Teachers and the circumstances in which we learn also play an important role, as well as the motivation for learning. If people learn a language they need to use, they often learn it faster than people studying a language that has no direct use in the lives.

There is no single answer to this question; it depends on so many factors. However, the British Foreign Office has looked at the languages that diplomats and other embassy staff have to learn and has worked out which they find the most difficult to learn. The second hardest is Japanese, which probably comes as no surprise to many, but the language that they have found to be the most difficult to learn is Hungarian, which has 35 cases (forms of a nouns according to whether it is subject, object, genitive, etc). This does not mean that Hungarian is the hardest language to learn for everybody, but it causes British diplomatic staff, who are used to learning languages, the most difficulty. However, Tabassaran, a Caucasian language has 48 cases, so it would probably cause more difficulty if British diplomats had to learn it.

Different cultures and individuals from those cultures will find different languages more difficult. In the case of Hungarian for British learners, it is not a question of the writing system, which is alphabetic, but the grammatical complexity, though native speakers of related languages may find it easier, while struggling with languages that we find relatively easy. No language is easy to learn well, though languages which are related to our first language will be easier. Learning a completely different writing system is a huge challenge, but that does not necessarily make a language more difficult that another. In the end, it is impossible to say that there is one language that is the most difficult language in the world.

Answer 3

It's always been said that English is the hardest language to learn. I don't know the easiest. I don't think any new language is easy to learn.

Answer 4

With all of the bastardizations and idioms we have created in English, as a second language it would be hell. I don't know if I'm right or wrong as far as the hardest is concerned, but it gets my vote.

Designed to be learned easily, Esperanto is the gateway to many other languages and cultures. Check the site below for information on Esperantos' value in learning other languages.

I frequently make this next statement, and I live by it.

"If you can't learn Esperanto, you can't learn any language."

It's not uncommon for a student of Esperanto to become fluent inside of a month, maybe less, if you've the desire.

The sites below are the best initial places to investigate the language and it's history. (Yes, it has a history (119 years) and a culture.)

Research and make your own conclusions.

Ĝis!

Answer 5

The most difficult language to learn is Basque, which is spoken in northwestern Spain and southwestern France. It is not related to any other language in the world. It has an extremely complicated word structure and vocabulary.

"What about Indonesian? Some, like Barry Farber, say its the easiest major language to learn. The grammar is extremely straightforward and simple--like Chinese, but without the tones and characters. It has an easy pronunciation with a logical orthography."

Answer 6

the hardest is DEFINATELY not latin. i would say it was ALOT easier than english to learn.

english is the hardest, with all it's rules. like you can't say 'buyed' and you have to learn 'bought', which is really wierd if it's your second language. the hardest to pronounce is probably german because you need a german 'tongue' to be able to speak it -all this tongue rolling.

latin's the easiest for me. most of the words follow the same rules, a vast majority of verbs are a catagory of about five rules. why does everyone think latin's so hard???

Answer 7

From what my language teacher had told me... English is the hardest language to learn. We may not think so because we're brought up with it, but it is with all the rules and structure.

As for the easiest? I would have to say, Japanese.

Answer 8

Hard for who to be taught? For English audio system, I've heard that the Romance languages, mainly Spanish and Italian, aren't too tricky to be taught. I studied Italian and it wasn't too dangerous. These languages are very phonetic and feature few abnormal verbs. Dutch may be now not dangerous seeing that it is rather very similar to English, despite the fact that it is rather abnormal. It's simply abnormal within the identical method English is. Any language that has declensions can be very tricky for an English speaker to grasp. Among European languages, Finnish is among the toughest to be taught seeing that it has 26 (!) declensions. Plus it's not Indo-European so it should not have many cognates with English like Spanish or German could. People I understand who've attempted to be taught person-founded languages like Japanese and Chinese believe the ones varieties are the toughest for English audio system to be taught seeing that the writing process is so utterly exclusive; it isn't even an alphabet. Plus Chinese is tonal, which makes it terrific tricky for English audio system. Vietnamese may be tonal, however no less than it makes use of a Roman alphabet like English. However, Korean is it sounds as if now not too rough to be taught considering it truthfully is an alphabet. It appears adore it has characters like Chinese, however it is simply the way in which Koreans prepare letters into phrases. Also Korean isn't a tonal language, which makes it slightly less difficult. So my wager (sorry I don't have any citations, simply private enjoy with plenty of individuals who have studied different languages) is that Chinese is the toughest language for an English speaker to be taught. Among Asian languages, Korean is not too difficult to be taught. Among European languages, Finnish is the toughest to be taught, and Spanish, Italian, or Dutch most commonly the simplest.

Answer 9

I would say that for an English speaker, a Chinese language/dialect would be among the hardest to become fluent.

For the easiest, I would vote for Esperanto.

Answer 10

I'd have to agree with English being the toughest. And I'm a native speaker.

I did pretty well with French in high school, though I've forgotten most of it in the 36 years since.

I lived in South Korea for a year and was surprised at how easy Korean was once I got my Western ear tuned to the sounds. And written Korean (Han-Gul) can be learned in as little as one day! I'm not fluent by any means, but I can survive quite easily and being able to read a train or bus schedule, street map, or restaurant menu is absolutely priceless.

As written languages go, Chinese is probably the toughest. It's one thing as a child when language learning is nearly automatic but as an adult it's nearly impossible.