Being a native english speaker, what would be a fairly easy language to study?

Answer 1

Before I answer the question what language is easier I'll start with ways that can make learning a new language a little less painful. Here are some ideas many second language learners don't normally realize.

FIRST: Completely eliminate idioms when you speak. We use a LOT of phrases that are not understood in other countries, and they use ones we don't understand. Examples: Get to first base. Flip the switch. Hitch a ride. Hit the road.
Put yourself in the place of a new learner of English and ask yourself if you would really understand the meaning of 'hit the road' when you heard it, or would you wonder why somebody is asking you to strike the pavement?
Even between England and North America, for example 'knock someone up'. In North America it means get someone pregnant. In England it means knock on their door. So you can see how embarrassing it might be should you stumble on an idiom that means something else.

SECOND: Realize that it is not ALWAYS a one-for-one word exchange when translating. Some languages can express an idea in as little as one word compared to a few, and vice-versa.
Hand in hand with this, understanding that the idea being expressed is what's important, not the way it's said. Just because the sentence wasn't constructed the way we would have said it doesn't make it wrong.

THIRD: Pronunciation can be improved by reciting the names of things you see as you walk about, and holding conversations with yourself in the absence of friends to practice with. (Warning! Don't do this in the vacinity of mental institutions.)

Not to understate it of course, but listen to and read as much as you possibly can, whenever you can. Immersion, immersion, IMMERSION!

LAST: I cheated. I learnt the worlds easiest language first and now I find I understand English better (my native tongue) and I'm in a better position to learn more languages. I've provided a link below to better explain this.

That language was ESPERANTO. It is designed such that you MUST understand sentence structure, which helps to understand other languages. Plus you end up with a multitude of Esperanto friends; oh the burdens we bear.

Now let's take a closer look at Esperanto.

I frequently make this statement and I live by it.
'If you can't learn Esperanto, you can't learn any language.'
It's completely regular and phonetic. With only 16 gramatical rules and no exceptions. (That's right, you read that correctly, NO EXCEPTIONS!) You only need to learn the respective rules and know that it won't change on you out of the blue.

Believe it or not, Esperanto represents the best chance for the survival of the multitude of dying languages since it's purpose is to provide an alternative to any one National tongue to the disadvantage of others.
Consider if you will, Esperanto is an easily learnt AUXILIARY language. This means that myself and that German, Japanese or Korean fellow over there needn't sink a lot of time and effort into learning each others mother tongues if they don't wish, where whose ever tongue we settle to communicate in will hold the advantage in any discussions; since the likelihood of having a mastery of the second language will be remote at best. Each partner has exerted a similar effort in order to communicate; a linguisticly neutral hand shake if you will. Yet we are still free to talk in our mother tongues when and where we choose.
Further, I am now in a position to visit just about every country in the world and with the help of my new found Esperanto speaking friend (2 million plus) learn of his / her culture and language. This second facet is possible because in learning Esperanto I now have a firmer grip on linguistic principles. Again, that link is provided below on the benefits of learning tertiary languages after Esperanto.
However, if it is Culture you desire, then you've no need to look much further than the Internet. In music there are Folk, Jazz, Opera, Rock, Hip Hop, Rap, childrens' songs, etc. In literature there is multinational translations plus original works. The yearly Esperanto Congresses are a play ground for young and old alike for interaction.
It's use is expanding exponentially. The last educated guess puts the number of functionally fluent speakers at 2 million plus and another 2,000 native speakers (those that were born to an Esperanto household; yes they exist).
In a recent reprint of the Unua Libro (first book), editor Gene Keyes said that when he first started the project in 2000, he did a search for Esperanto on Google and it yielded over 1 million hits. At the completion of his task in February of 2007, the same search yielded over 34 million hits. Out of curiosity, after I had read that I did the same search and it yielded over 39.2 million hits. That's up over 5 million in two months. So it's growing. Slowly (or maybe not so slowly!)
Further, Wikipedia hosts around 250 different languages. Esperanto ranks 15th in the most numerous articles category.
More than these languages to name a few.
16 Turkish
17 Slovak
18 Czech
Check for yourself. http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedias
Yet many feel threatened by it because they feel it is atempting to be the ONLY language spoken, which is NOT the case. It is simply a tool to allow those that might otherwise struggle to learn a new language, the option of expanding their horizons.
Finally, there is currently $600 million plus a year being spent on translation services at the UN, and a similar amount in the EU, because no one nationality wants to loose the prestige of owning one of the 'working' languages in each of those institutions. This a huge waste of resources that might otherwise go to feeding and housing those less fortunate. A single working language, easily learnt (less than a year to become fluent) would certainly go along way towards that goal. The Universal Esperanto Asociation (UEA) currently holds observer status (class B) at the UN and UNESCO. So there is some movement towards this goal.

When you hear it's not useful, those are people who haven't taken the time to research their response.
My kids and I use it, every day, with people all over the world. You do have to look for them, but that gets easier every day.
Research and draw your own conclusions.

Ĝis!

Answer 2

I would say that Dutch is one of the easiest. Dutch like English and German is in the Germanic language family. So many things like grammar, vocab, and syntax are all pretty similar. However, unlike German the sounds would be a lot easier to create for a native english speaker.
The Scandanavian language like Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish would probably be the next best bet. Those are not too much of a stretch either. Finally I would say Spanish (from the Romance language family) should be another easy one to learn.
Good Luck

Answer 3

Spanish, French, Norwegian, Swedish, Italian. If you have a good vocabulary in English, Latin is fairly easy.

Answer 4

Since youdidn't specify foreign language, I'd say English would be the easiest to study.

Answer 5

Italian, Spanish. Rather easy.

Answer 6

Spanish is a pretty easy foreign language to learn.

Answer 7

I'd say Italian, and exclude German - from a personal experience.