Dutch is full of English cognatesdrinken (to drink), kat (cat), week (week), licht (light) and hundreds more. How To Learn Persian (Farsi): Guide + Best Courses And Books The 11 easiest languages to learn for English speakers (and how to make It's spoken in South Africa, Namibia, and a few other countries. Dutch is practically Englishs first cousin. According to the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), linguists, and learners, all the languages we mentioned today are fairly easy to learn. From online lessons to books, here is a full discussion of where to look for help when you want to learn this new language. . There is some memorization needed of their verb forming rules and their articles. So many languages are arguably easier to pick up than others for English speakers. Along with natives and Spanish language learners, there are more than 572 million Spanish speakers worldwide. Download our free French essentials eBook to accompany your studies. Spellings are also relatively simple, with many words being pronounced how they are spelled. That being said, it is one of the widest spoken languages in the world, with over 900 million people speaking it daily. You will have noticed that even the easiest languages on this list can take between 575 and 600 hours. and the grammar, pronunciation and spelling is simpler than in many other languages. No matter how busy you are or how difficult you think it may be, theres a language out there for everyone! Other Middle Eastern languages that use similar dialects are Basseri in Southern Iran, Darwazi in Tajikistan and Afghanistan, Hazaragi in Pakistan, and the specific meanings that the Tehrani accent brings to the language. But, Persian has an enormous amount of Arabic influence, which makes it easier for Iranians to speak and understand Arabic. 1. In addition to Farsi speakers in the Middle East, there is evidence of linguistic transmission all the way to the Western world. This makes it easier to get to grips with if you already have prior knowledge of any of them. Politeness is very important in Japan and so this must be demonstrated through language in the way you address people. In addition to this, they also feature hard and soft sounds for each of the consonants, meaning that pronunciation can be difficult to get to grips with. These two words look almost identical, but notice the very small differences of the and the . While French is slightly more difficult.". We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. SHOW ME HOW! 10 Easiest Languages to Learn for English Speakers - Linguatics For instance, He comes from Norway translates to Han kommer fra Norge., Norwegian is spoken by around 5 million people, primarily in Norway. Even so, French is still one of the easiest languages for English speakers to learn. This makes learning new vocabulary much easier because the letters are ones that you are already familiar with and you can figure out how to pronounce something with relative ease. Services such as Custom Writings can also help with these learning these methods, as well as provide assistance with college or university assignments. In the 11th century, the Norman invasion of England led . Nevertheless the language is a beautiful one, steeped in history. He writes about language, travel, and the many places they meet on the road at his blog. Now that you have an understanding of the history behind the Persian language, the influence it carries, and some basic Persian structure, let me go over some general tips for learning the language. This is because the Dutch were some of the first colonizers of the States. Another Romance language you can start learning right away is Italian. Like Norwegian and Swedish, it has fairly straightforward grammar rules and a lot of vocabulary that will be familiar to English speakers., For example, Gode tidende sounds a lot like Good tidings, and the word dyre, which means expensive, is similar to the word dear, which is used in English when something is considered too pricey. Because it is a part of the Indo-European language tree, such influence is common, but not everyone knows the origins of certain words. As one of the intonational languages of the world, Persian vocabulary changes meaning depending on the rise and fall of your voice. This includes the three main dialects of Farsi, Dari, Tajiki, used in countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan. For average native Turkish speakers, is it less difficult to learn/pronounce other non-Turkic agglutinative languages like Korean and Japanese or the languages of the neighbors with whom the Oghuz Turks have historically interacted frequently, like Armenian, Arabic, Farsi, Bulgarian, and Greek Manage Settings For example, everyday German words like Wasser, (water) Apfel, (apple) and Fisch (fish) are very similar to their English equivalents. However, the word Persian is still applicable to the language as a whole, as it refers to the spoken and written forms, as well as the entire backstory of the Persian culture that comes along with just the words. (Download). This doesnt diminish the intrigue and fascination that comes from learning Farsi. Or, for a more step-based lesson book, try Learn Persian (Farsi) Step by Step: Level One Beginner (Steps 1 to 10) by Fruzan Seifi, available in both kindle formats and physical copies. The 5 Hardest Languages to Learn For Spanish Speakers (or Not?) Top 8 is spanish hard to learn for english speakers 2022 Apply for a place in courses that take place in Yerevan, Armenia through Aspirantums Language School, or opt for classes run by the University of Londons SOAS Language Center. If you prefer warmer countries, youll be happy to hear that Spanish is also on the list of the easiest language to learn. 10 Hardest Languages to Learn for English Speakers. There is a lot of overlap between Portuguese and English as they share many of the same cognates. Look at this Norwegian sentence: Jeg spiste egg til frokost(I ate eggs for breakfast). Spanish also uses the same alphabet as English, and many of the words are pronounced just as they are spelled., Another benefit of Spanish for English speakers is that the sentence structure is not only similar to English, but its also not as strict as it is in English, which means there are often multiple ways a sentence can be put together.. So many languages are arguably easier to pick up than others for English speakers. It has Dutch at its core but it is also intertwined with other dialects and indigenous languages from Africa. This beautiful language shares many similarities with English in terms of cognates and sentence structure. The Empire stretched over areas such as Macedonia, Thrace, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Bulgaria, Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey, Syria, and even parts of Egypt and Libya. Esperanto was designed with you in mind: Minimal grammar, easy rules and as a bonus, lots of things that resemble many other world languages. But all the languages we mentioned today do have certain things in common. Cognates are words in two languages that have the same origin and a similar pronunciation, spelling, and meaning. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. Furthermore, Portuguese and English have a lot of shared words. For average native Turkish speakers, is it less difficult to learn There are some key grammatical rules that must be followed, such as the inclusion of suffixes on words, particularly verbs. It shares quite a bit of vocabulary with English, and unlike some Germanic languages, the pronunciation of most Norwegian words is fairly straightforward. It has Dutch at its core but it is also intertwined with other dialects and indigenous languages from Africa. Just like Spanish, Portuguese has an advantage of exposure. In terms of learning hours, it is thought that it takes you around 575 to 600 hours to learn Spanish to an intermediate level (this is more than enough to converse fluently in the language). However, if the writing style is very different from what you are used to then you may well struggle to get to grips with this at first. And with the right resources, you can learn these easy languages even faster. With the wide range of smartphone applications available for every purpose under the sun, its no wonder you can find language learning there too! Polish is a member of the language family known as the Slavic family, meaning it is similar to Russian. Founder of Linguatics. With Swahili speakers spread over 14 countries, Swahili is the most widely spoken language in Africa. But although the country is surrounded by Slavic-speaking countries, Romanian is actually a Romance language and uses much of the same vocabulary as Italian, Spanish and French., For example,La revedere, which is used for saying goodbye, is similar to the Italian Arrividerci, and the apology Scuz-m is similar to the French Excusez-moi. Its also a phonetic language, which means most words are spelled the same way they are pronounced., Of course, there are a few trickier aspects to this language, including grammatical differences and letters with diacritics. But, overall, Romanian, which is spoken by around 30 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova, is a surprisingly easy language to learn., Danish is a Germanic language spoken by around 6 million people, most of whom live in Denmark. Another superb option is Persian Learning with your host, Majid, who goes over everything you need to know about the language. More than 9 million people are native speakers of Tigrinya as of 2012. This is where, to keep the sounds in harmony, suffixes are added to words. At the end of the day, if you surround yourself with the Italian language, youll be able to learn it much quicker. Norwegian 4. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. Indeed, fluency doesnt happen overnight, no matter which language youre learning. 5 Easy Languages To Learn If You Speak Arabic 1. That is, Farsi is Persian, particularly the type that is spoken within Iran and parts of Afghanistan, and the term Farsi is not used for dialects in other countries of the Middle East. This dialect was very similar to Semitic languages and actually used Aramaic script for its alphabet. There are also no capital letters in Persian writing, making it difficult to decipher as an English speaker. That being said, perhaps that is a good thing. Check out our article on the best way to learn a new language here. Italian and English use a similar sentence structure in most cases, and fortunately, the pronunciation is quite logical. It was created by a Polish man in the late 1880s to make a phonetic language that would be predictable and easy to understand. And whether you find a certain language easy or not depends on many factors. First and foremost, it is a Romance language, but you cannot deny its Slavic influences, especially when you consider that Romanian once used the Cyrillic script. Do you want to learn a new language but you dont have a lot of free time on your hands? This is partly down to the fact that Indonesian is a phonetic language, which means words are spelled as they sound. It shares many similarities with English, especially when it comes to vocabulary. So if you're curious about the easiest languages to learn, I've got 10 great suggestions to help you out. After Xerxes assassination in 465 BC, the litany of the last Achaemenid kings made strides in Persias cultural phase. You would not be alone in assuming that it would be a Slavic language given its proximity to Russia and other Slavic countries. As one of the Romance languages, Portuguese is certainly very beautiful. Its spoken in Brazil and Portuguese, and although there are differences between the two, you can still get around in every Portuguese-speaking country. As if that wasnt enough, there are also no tones used in the Indonesian language, so you will not have a difficult extra element to learn. They also write right to left, which is very different from English writing. "Italian and Portuguese are equally easy for Spanish speakers. Korean has a reputation for being notoriously difficult for a native English speaker to learn. ), using the Cyrillic, Arabic, or Kana System (among many others) instead. However, whilst it is very close to England, that does not mean the languages are similar. The word order format here follows a particular pattern of subject-object-verb, with prepositional phrases nestled between the subject and object. was designed with you in mind: Minimal grammar, easy rules and as a bonus, lots of things that resemble many other world languages. Here are the top 7 languages for Arabic speakers to study. For example, it is spoken in Iran and called Farsi. This can help you practice more and learn it far quicker. This family contains sub-groups of languages, namely the Germanic languages, the Romance languages (Spanish, French, and Portuguese among others), and Balto-Slavic languages (Prussian, Russian, Czech, Latvian, and more) to name but a few. We have another popular Romance language for you to consider of course, its French. After all, thanks to exposure and wide reach of Spanish, English speakers wont find it very unfamiliar. For scheduling 1-on-1 conversation sessions with native Persian speakers, you absolutely should have an italki account. One important concept that can affect whether a language is learned easily by a native English speaker is the grammatical framework. Romanian 3 Moderate languages to Learn 1. You can't get much easier than this. So if youre curious about the easiest languages to learn, Ive got 10 great suggestions to help you out. Likewise, some words get added onto names as a term of endearment, respect, or politeness. There are plenty of German language resources available online. For instance, to change a singular word to plural, all you have to do is repeat the word or add an extra one. Passionate multilinguist. First of all, English and Norwegian share a lot of . Phonetically speaking, once youve learned how to pronounce the letters of the alphabet youre pretty much set when pronouncing words. But if youre new to language learning and youre looking for a relatively easy language to learn, any of the languages on this list would be great to start with. Of these, Spanish and Italian are the easiest for native English speakers to learn, followed by Portuguese and finally French. The Middle Persian language was also inflectional, but started showing changes towards a simpler manner of denoting relationships between vocabulary. Languages that are more closely related to English share certain qualities and characteristics that make them easier for English speakers to pick up. For instance, polisi is police and baiskeli is bicycle., There are also some key differences, of course, but if youre looking to gain fluency in one or more African languages, Swahili is an excellent one to start with.. Since its a phonetic language, most words are pronounced as they are spelled, so you should have any problems with it. This can be difficult for a learner to get used to, especially if it is not something that they have ever come across before. Therefore, from a linguistic perspective, Norwegian and English have quite a lot in common. Originally, Persian was the language spoken by the rulers and people within the Empire of Persia, stretching back for thousands of years. Dont worry according to FSIs language difficulty ranking, Portuguese is also in Category 1. French features a few tricky components for native English-speaking learners, like gendered nouns, inconsistently pronounced letters, and lots of tricky silent letters. Above all, have fun. Swedish grammar is another advantage. In fact, Italian vocabulary is widely used in English, and youre probably already familiar with more Italian words than you may realise, from those relating to food, such as gelato and panini to others like diva, solo, finale or fiasco.. Depending on where in the States you are, you may find that you are surrounded by Italian speakers thanks to the mass Italian immigration to places such as New York in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Easiest Languages To Learn For English Speakers, According To Experts These grammatical constructs are often difficult to grasp for many languages but the simplicity of Norwegian grammar makes it a little easier. This location of spoken Persian in Iran is where another term is used for the language. 28 Easiest Languages to Learn for English Speakers Which language is easier to learn for a Persian speaker: Arabic or At the end of the day, it all comes down to your motivation and persistence. Although its considered fairly easy, mastering Norwegian takes time. The Norwegian sentence can be translated word for word in the exact order as it would be said in English. Hungarian. With its roots in Old Norse, it can be a fascinating language to study, and fluency in Norwegian will give you greater access to the countrys rich literary culture and mythology., Although Spanish is a Romance language rather than a Germanic language, its fairly easy for English speakers to learn because many English words stem from Latin. You probably have so many Spanish words in your ear. However, this time frame is not because it is more difficult per se, but rather because of the grammar rules that need to be remembered. And unlike most African languages, Swahili is not a tonal language, so you dont have to pay attention to the pitch of a word. It is also known as the Perso-Arabic alphabet and is written in horizontal lines from right to left, with numbers written from left to right. To learn Icelandic you must be prepared to study, memorize rules, and really put in the work. Continue with Recommended Cookies. However, theyre both relatively easy to learn for English speakers. Some of the easiest languages for Americans to learn include Spanish, French, and Italian. The Romanian language is a beautiful amalgamation of Russian sounds and Italian sounds, resembling each of them in different ways. As a Romance language, Spanish derives from Latin, just like many English words. According to the FSI, professional working proficiency in this set of languages might take 23-24 weeks. Afrikaans is one of the easiest languages for English speakers to learn because--like many of the languages on this list--it's part of the Germanic language family. We have mentioned Arabic many times already as the Arabic script is used in many different languages. (Good choice! An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. They share many words with English, but it's that common vocabulary . As well as looking and sounding similar, there are masses of resources out there to help you learn French, and it is spoken widely around the world. Learners need to learn a whole new alphabet and character system to understand Russian. FluentU is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Afrikaans is a beautiful language that is surprisingly easy to learn for native English speakers. Learning Mandarin Persian language will help you in learning Traditional Persian Language in an effective way. Once again, similarities in vocabulary make things a whole lot easier. The Finnish language often uses just one word to say a whole sentence, which can be confusing for those used to the complex sentences of the English language. You wont have to spend a lot of time developing reading skills. More job opportunities, including a higher income with being bilingual or multilingual. These new letters and the fact that Polish words also have more consonants than English words can mean that pronunciations are very difficult to grasp for a beginner, and can make spelling difficult. However, once you have the grammar down the rest is much simpler. Its the most closely related to English out of all the languages in this list. For this reason, it is considered a macro language because its reach is vast and extensive. Before delving any deeper into this fascinating language, its important to talk about the difference between Persian and Farsi, as we will be encountering both words as we continue. Whereas Dutch demands verb conjugations like those in Englishfor instance, I am, you are, it isAfrikaans doesnt bother you with the details. Dutch is another language that is generally considered easy to learn for English native speakers. Italian: Italian is the easiest language for Spanish speakers to learn. The 28 Easiest and Hardest Languages to Learn for English Speakers Spanish 2. Another popular language school is the International Language Institute, offering multiple levels of classes to learn Persian and Farsi in Washington, DC. This has meant that Italian culture and the language have stayed very much alive in these places. Swedish has 10 million native speakers, mainly in Sweden but also in Finland. Spanish 6. Advertisements. And The Easiest Language To Learn Is. We hope our list of the easiest languages to learn for English speakers inspired you to start with your language lessons. You may even find that some of the vocabulary words are easily identifiable because they are similar to words in your native language. Yes, we are being serious! One of the best ways to connect with native speaker audio and a Persian teacher is by listening to podcasts, which can really help your understanding of pronunciation. Learn Persian Language on the App Store Easiest Languages for English Speakers - Rocket Languages Dutch 7. Because of this, many words can change meaning entirely when a suffix is added! With the help of cognates and surprisingly simple grammar rules, you'll be on your way to mastering a language in no time. There are some shared cognates such as ' ja ' which means ' yes ' and ' veld ' which means ' field '. A solar calendar was introduced, as was Zoroastrianism as the Empires religion, and strides in metal-working and primarily gold production for coinage. So, if youve ever taken German lessons, youll find it relatively easy. Therefore, you should be able to master the basics and learn how to speak French in no time. Spanish is a close relative of French. This languages alphabet utilizes six different vowel sounds (, a, e, i, o, u) and two diphthongs (ey, ow), but the diacritics that denote them, such as the alef do not have a specific sound. Now we come to the language of Iran, and what modern native speakers use to communicate. Word order is flexible. The main goal of the language was to create something that was universally simple. Looking for a language thats not going to require three-hour evening classes Monday through Friday for the next 10 years? For this reason, many native English speakers may find that these languages are a little easier to learn than a language such as Chinese Mandarin or Arabic. With the languages on this list, you should be able to get started identifying your low-hanging linguistic fruits. Its also an official language of 29 countries, including Switzerland, Luxembourg, Seychelles and Rwanda.. An example of this is the Russian words and . If you are learning Spanish, get some Spanish music on or tune into a Spanish soap opera. This will help you to work out whether a particular language is right for you or whether you may want to start with the one that is more similar to your native language. These languages share many similarities with English, both in terms of grammar and vocabulary. There are dialects of French even here in the States and of course, in Canada. Sure, learning grammar rules and acquiring vocabulary takes time, but the learning process should be very smooth. When you are learning a language alone, it can be difficult to find the time to practice speaking it. Chinese is a very difficult language to learn (whether Mandarin or Cantonese) due to the use of tone and of course the unfamiliar script. Recommended: 7 Easiest Language To Learn For Spanish Speakers Advertisements #1. Arabic grammar is notouriously complex, and Persian speakers will have just as much problem with mastering the grammar as do English-speakers. Are you thinking about taking Portuguese lessons? All Rights Reserved. This is a rough estimate, whether you are learning in the classroom or learning from home. As we just mentioned, it can be very rewarding to make a friend who is on the same language learning journey as you. Download our easy, visualItalian essentials eBook and get a head start. Indonesian is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, with over 40 million native speakers and more than 150 million non-native speakers. Iceland is known to have some pretty difficult words to pronounce, from place names to everyday words. It has 47 different characters that must all be learned before you can fully get to grips with the language. Even so, French does share many similarities with English, especially when it comes to the vocabulary. For an immersive Farsi language experience, download StoryTime in Farsi or Farsi Speaking Kids, but be prepared for a more advanced level of language learning without direct English translations. It technically belongs to the Uralic family, just like Hungarian and Sami (the indigenous language of Lapland). Top 10 Easiest Languages To Learn | Mondly Blog Many of their words feature many consonants, as well as beginning with two consonants which can be jarring for a native English speaker. And while the idiomatic complexity comes with spoken Persian, its melodic tones can be picked up and understood quicker than some other Middle Eastern languages. Swedish is spoken by somewhere around 10 million people, and while most of them live in Sweden, a small minority can be found in Finland, where Swedish is also a national language., Swedish is on the easier side for English speakers to learn, because again, its a Germanic language.