Is a person's second language the hardest to learn, or are the third and subsequent languages equally as hard?

Answer 1

I'm currently learning my 4th language and I can tell you that in my experience they've all had the same difficulty.

Answer 2

Learning a first foreign language is hardest. The other languages are a bit easier to learn, especially if they are related. Due to the history English is very much related with French, which is known to have a very large percentage of the roots of English words.

Answer 3

My first language is English, but I had two second languages which I learned at the same time, Latin and French, in high school. I found Latin more difficult because of the declensions .... easier to pronounce, though.

My fourth language was Italian, which I can fudge around in ....and my fifth is German, which also is strictly "fudge" ! .... But German like Italian also has declensions.....and the adjectives are also in agreement / declined ....

....I really think it depends upon the complexity of the language, which is to say how many grammatical components are involved ... and how near or far it is from your mother tongue....and if you are a quick study ...

Some people just are naturals when it comes to languages, and they adopt them very easily.....I have a habit of forgetting them very easily

hope this helps
Scots Pines

Answer 4

Hi
Learning a new language depends on:-
1) The age
2) The way
3) The usage (practice)
4) The determination
5) The teacher
If you have all of them, then it is easy
I learned 5 languages because I had good teachers (my Girlfriends) they were speaking their Mother tongue only

And it is getting easer because the brain gets used to memories new words

Good luck

Answer 5

Another factor is how old you are. Younger people have an easier time learning languages. Children pick up new languages very easily if they are living somewhere that language is being spoken.
At any age, it helps to have people who speak that language around you. It is very difficult to learn from books only.

Answer 6

It mostly depends on the languages and a persons ability to pick them up.

Similar languages, like French, and Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, for example, will be easier to pick up after learning one of the others. It won't be a straight cross-over but it will be easier. Many of the Asian languages are easier once you've learned one. Korean and Japanese both have derivations Chinese, and have similar phonetics, and the grammatical structure is the same so those are all similarly easy once you've learned one.

Hebrew and Arabic are similar enough to have cross-over words and are thus also easier once you've learned one of them.

These are all basic generalities but in my experience they are applicable.

Answer 7

if you learn them at a very early age they are not that hard,but as you grow older the second language is easier to learn and the third can depend on weather you are willing to work hard and learn that particular language,
take me for an example when i first Learnt french at university it was so difficult but as i put my mind into it i found that i could understand it more better.and it was my fourth language

Answer 8

I don't think its the second or third or any after that are hard to learn. I think what is crucial to learning another language is age. The younger you are when you study the other language, the easier it will be to learn it. My guess is that when you are younger you are less inhibited about making mistakes when you speak, as you get older, you become more afraid of making mistakes. One of my cousins studied french in school and is completely fluent in it as well as english and spanish (our native tongue). My other cousins are fluent in english, spanish, and chinese (mandarin) courtesy of their father...

Answer 9

in my opinion that the second language is the hardest but the third one it will be a little easyer because by the time you gott used to learn different language than yours

Answer 10

Either way, it is easier to learn if the language you are trying to learn is the only language available. When I came to the USA, I learned it fairly quickly because that was the only language. AND I am starting to learn Spanish, and I have asked my Spanish friend to only speak Spanish with me, and ta-da, I am fairly well at it.

Answer 11

Assuming you're not thinking of languages regarded as particularly difficult, No. 3 is easier than No. 2 as long as you have learned No. 2 rather than been brought up with it.