Knowing how high a barrier youre up against will help you not get discouraged when you run into obstacles, as well as savor the progress you make. The alphabet has a staggering 44 consonants and 32 vowels. Hardest languages to learn for English speakers . It made people rethink what language they wanted to speak and I started hearing Ukrainian literally everywhere, said Tarasiuk, a front-end designer who had to put her career on hold because of the persistent blackouts caused by Russian attacks. The verb conjugations can be intimidating, too, with many more variants and combinations to comprehend than other Slavic languages. Mandarin Chinese is challenging for a number of reasons. Russian is rated a two of three in difficulty by the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), which ranks languages based on how long it would take the average native English speaker to learn it, so it's not as difficult as some of the other languages on this list. Czech and Polish are often considered the most difficult Slavic languages to learn for English speakers. Dont let their place on this list deter you from diving right in, thoughweve built courses to help you learn quickly and effectively! She said many soldiers she works with who spoke Russian before the invasion are continuing to do so. The Russian language uses the Cyrillic alphabet, which can be challenging for English speakers to learn. 6. But even though they know the language, the challenge lies in changing their inner machinations, the way they think, the Zahalskyys said. The time estimates here reflect how long it would take the average person to reach a Level 3 proficiency level, which is pretty fluent by most standards. . Were grouping Spanish and French (which are the worlds fourth and fifth most widely spoken languages, respectively) because they are both Romance languages, and theyre similar enough that both Spanish and French speakers will find the same languages difficult for largely the same reasons. Languages that don't use a Latin script, though, tend to give Mandarin speakers the most trouble. Shutterstock/VPales. The Foreign Service Institute includes time estimates alongside their difficulty rankings, but its important to note that everyones language goals are different. Experts say these things bring unlucky energy. Thats German for ice skating. German is often preceded by its hard-to-master accent and enthusiastically long vocabulary. Having originated in the Philippine islands, Tagalog is the first language of most Filipinos. As an English speaker, youll encounter three types of writing systems: Languages that fall in the first category are often the easiest languages to learn. See for instance this, Whether you already speak or are familiar with any other Slavic language, Availability of learning resources online. We have also become interested in Ukrainian history, Ukrainian culture before, there was a large gap, he said. Arabic only has three cases nominative, genitive, and accusative while Finnish has a staggering 15 cases. The term "Slavic" is a catch-all adjective for all languages in the group, and it is typically used to describe anything common to all or most Slavic languages. Get the most out of this nighttime activity. The languages youll find in the second category are moderately challenging. Chinese. Polish also has seven different grammatical cases that are affected by gender. Or what abou. Afrikaans is a beautiful language that is surprisingly easy to learn for native English speakers. Another intriguing yet foreign concept to many English speakers, for instance, is the emphasis on respectful speech. Furthermore, learning a new language enhances your worldview, improves nonverbal communication, helps you multitask and aids in your brain adapting and responding to new circumstances. The closer a language is related to yours, the easier it will be to learn. For example: You know that friend you have that speaks three languages fluentlyeffortlessly even? Also, like other Slavic languages, Russian distinguishes three genders: male, female, and neuter. Because of its pictorial writing system, you aren't going to be able to learn to read phonetically. Hungarian is a member of the same small language family as Finnish, so the average English speaker won't be finding much familiarity in its vocabulary. Trying to learn a language that uses different grammar rules could mean retraining your brain to think of words and sentences in brand new ways. But Ukrainian society more broadly, Ferlain said, is making the switch just to pay respect for the nation. Spanish is one of the easiest languages to learn, so it's logical why it is the second-largest language worldwide.. The main phonetic similarity between all Slavic languages is the presence of phonemic palatalization, known as softening. Forget carpe diem. The West Slavic languages include Polish, Czech, and Slovak. But being able to speak is a completely different can of worms, thanks to grammar that is totally different from English and pronunciation that is laden with difficult-to-master rules. For English speakers, an additional concern is the three gendered nouns. If you think picking up a little French or Spanish in your spare time is difficult, then you should know the kind of work you're getting into learning some other languages from around the world. This list captures languages spoken by the majority of the worlds population. For more on the Czech language, see this comparison of Czech with Russian and German. Arabic is a language most Mandarin speakers will find challenging. But the fun doesn't stop there. The main problem lies in the writing system. It means that, in Czech, different grammatical aspects are condensed into one word by changing its structure. And switching to Ukrainian is one way to fight back. Todd Bridges and Gary Coleman played brothers. Natasha has been taking Ukrainian courses online. The Icelandic language remains one of the hardest languages to learn, which makes sense considering the language hasnt changed since it settled in the ninth and 10th centuries. Furthermore, Thai has its own script with 44 consonants, 18 vowels and six diphthongs to memorize. Whether for gaining a deeper cultural understanding of a country or for the simple necessity of co-existing and even performing business, multilingual speakers put themselves at the forefront of new possibilities. It's incredibly helpful for learning pronunciation, and can enable you to read some written . Where its most commonly spoken: Iran, Afghanistan. In theory, pronunciation is also fairly straightforward, but it can be easy to get hung up on long vowel and consonant sounds. Terms & Conditions | One example is Arabic. 2023 Galvanized Media. The Macedonian language lost the traditional (Slavic) grammatical cases during its development, and it became an analytic language. In terms of grammar, the main feature that makes this language easier to learn than other Slavic languages is the lack of noun cases. Mandarins four distinct tones give the same word ma four very different meanings. One example is Thai. } Even a lot of authors that wrote their books in Russian or singers or poets that wrote in Russian have decided to stop spreading the language of the aggressor, added Ferlain. For instance, in Italian, sentences are structured subject-verb-object (such as I threw the ball). Pronunciation is also tricky because word stress varies based on context, and you cant rely on a few simple rules to learn proper Russian pronunciation. In contrast to English, Czech is a synthetic language. First, vowels are not included when writing. Most major writing systems generally fit into one of these categories: The easiest writing systems you can learn are ones of the same type and that use the same letters or characters as your native language, while the hardest writing systems to learn are different types altogether. While Russian is not that hard for some speakers in Eastern Europe, it appears challenging for English speakers. Russia announced similar plans for other regions it controls, though some of the proposals, like introducing the Russian currency rouble in the Kherson region, are in flux. Despite being the most widely spoken native language in the world, Mandarin Chinese tops the list of the toughest languages to learn. Privacy Policy | An Austronesian language, Tagalog features a complicated grammar and sentence structure that make it hard to learn. Known as keigo, how you say a word depends on the formality of a situation. By Theo Ioannou. And because there are no characters, its harder to visualize them for memorization purposes. It's a famously difficult language for English speakers to learn, with complex grammar and pronunciation. This is just one example of unique grammar rules that dont exist in other languages. And while mastering a German accent can be tricky, most speakers will understand what youre saying through the missteps. We researched the top 5 most widely spoken non-English languages to see which languages are the hardest for their speakers to learn. Also known as Persian, this Indo-European language is chock full of words English speakers can recognize, thanks to many English words originating from Farsi. The phrase I speak Spanish would be yo hablo Espaol, while you speak Spanish would be tu hablas Espaol.. There are three different genders for nouns and various grammar rules unfamiliar to English speakers. Russian grammar and phonetics would sound more familiar to you, and some Polish and Russian vocabulary is related. Alphabets: These use letters to represent a languages phonemes, which are both consonants and vowels. Each Slavic language developed under the influence of others, which makes them all slightly similar. For instance, Arabic has complex grammar and a different alphabet . Each language has a different level of correlation with other languages, even in the same group. Logographic systems: These use characters to represent entire words or concepts. These are the most difficult to learn, as new learners will find that learning through listening is much more accessible than learning through text (though Pinyin is changing the way learners approach the language). Where its most commonly spoken: Hungary, Romania, Slovakia. You need about 3,000 to . If your goals align more with a Level 1 or 2 proficiency, you may be able to learn a language even faster. Russian is the most spoken native language in Europe and the 8th most-spoken language in the world. 1. There are also various sounds made in the language that dont exist in many other languages. The Foreign Service Institute is a reliable industry expert here. In addition, because Mandarin is the simplified version of Cantonese and is widely used across mainland China, there simply aren't as many resources for learning Cantonese. This means that you just have to memorize the nouns with their corresponding gender. Where its most commonly spoken: Arabian Peninsula, the Middle East, North Africa. This Slavic language consists of two scripts (Cyrillic and Latin), seven tenses and a consonant (R) that is also sometimes a vowel. I knew Ukrainian well but the hardest thing was to stop thinking in Russian. It isn't the grammar that will bog you down when you're trying to learn Thai, it's the writing and the pronunciation, which has five different tones and long and short vowel sounds. A Korean speaker learning Arabic, for example, might have a hard time with the letter , which sounds like an h that is pronounced using the throat. Thats because Czech is a highly complex language. Human speech as a whole uses over 800 phonemes, which are the individual sounds that act as the building blocks of spoken language. Being able to judge how hard a language will be to learn aids you in a few ways. And for the English words you're still getting wrong, check out The 14 Hardest Words to Pronounce in the English Language. The Japanese writing system actually has three different scripts to learn (two are syllabaries and one is a logographic script, similar to Chinese characters). Benefits of Chatting with Native Spanish Speakers. Other languages with non-Latin alphabets, such as Russian and Greek, are also hard for Mandarin speakers. 3. Whats more, the Macedonian verb system is slightly different from other Slavic languages, as it doesnt use the infinitive form of verbs. In terms of grammar, a lexical and grammatical similarity exists between Bulgarian and Macedonian. On the flip side, you may be looking for a language thats as easy to learn as possible, and being able to judge which languages are most similar to your own will help you find one. And for some useful wisdom from a "dead" language, here are 40 Latin Phrases So Genius You'll Sound Like a Master Orator. 1. Russian speakers could also request Russian versions of other documents, such as marriage certificates. If you have ever heard a Russian person speak English, you might have spotted this mistake: "I put the pizza in oven". To listen to more examples of Polish pronunciation, refer to the audio recordings provided in the following articles: When it comes to grammar, Polish is quite complex. Terms & Conditions | You can see this illustrated with some simple sentences centered around the Finnish word for house, talo.. Each language has its own distinct set of these rules. Conversely, languages that are completely unrelated to your language will be more challenging and take longer to master. } ); Most Ukrainians can speak Russian and many speak what has been labelled Surzhyk a blend of Russian and Ukrainian so measuring who speaks what is challenging. First of all, there are many resources available online to learn Russian, and its also taught in many languages schools. In Gaelic, though, verbs go at the beginning of a sentence, so Gaelic sentences are structured verb-subject-object (Threw I the ball). Abugidas: These generally use letters to represent consonant-vowel combinations. Most Slavic languages implement an extensive system of cases in which the endings of nouns (declination), adjectives, and prepositions change depending on the case. Czech and Polish are often considered the most difficult Slavic languages to learn for English speakers. Estonian is packed with a whopping 14 noun cases. The language also has a high number of vowel sounds considered difficult for most English speakers to master. Number of native speakers: 221 million. Unlike other Slavic languages, Bulgarian has no case system. Its one of the official languages of the European Union, spoken by over 40 million people, mainly in Poland. Its going to be a generational change, but its going to happen eventually.. Some friends in Central Asia are also trying to avoid it. xhr.open('POST', 'https://www.google-analytics.com/collect', true); It means that an average person takes up to 600 hours, or about 24 weeks . Plus, it doesnt even take that long to get used to the new alphabet, as its pretty straightforward! No matter the difficulty level of your new language, Rosetta Stone makes learning easy, effective, and fun. So far, she has traveled to 28 countries and lived in 4. The language is packed with mouthfuls of consonants, making individual words total tongue twisters. What's New at RussianLessons.Net. Many linguists consider Slavic languages to be the most challenging languages to learn for native English speakers. Arabic may be on the list of most difficult languages to learn, but you can still learn new words in Arabic easily with Drops. In 2022, the entire country witnessed the war and all the crimes the Russians committed. According to Arel, any identification with Russian culture, including the Russian language, is untenable right now. There's a reason "it's Greek to me" is a common idiom for expressing confusion, after all.