The Easiest and Hardest Languages to Learn Some languages are easy to learn for native English speakers, and others are notoriously difficult. Alphabets, conjugations, vocabulary, and more all factor into making a language easy or hard to learn. According to this list of the most widely spoken languages, the top six languages to consider learning are Mandarin, Spanish, English, Hindu, Arabic, and Portuguese. If you want to be widely understood and open up many new travel destinations, learning one of these languages is a good start. Which ones are the easiest and hardest to learn for native English speakers? 1.Spanish Spanish is a perfect starter language for any native English speaker who wants to learn a new language. Spanish is the easiest language on this list for many reasons. First, both …show more content…
It is the fifth and highest FSI category and requires 22 months (almost two years) and 2200 hours to learn. One of the most difficult aspects of studying the Arabic language is learning to write from right to left across a page instead of left to right. The extra letters and new sounds (like “ayn” for example) are also notoriously difficult for English speakers to pronounce. 5. Mandarin Mandarin is the most difficult language to learn. Like Arabic, Mandarin takes 22 months and 2200 hours to reach proficiency. However, there is one important factor that sets Mandarin apart as the most difficult language in the world to learn: their symbols. The Mandarin language has over 50,000 characters. Instead of using a small alphabet to mix and match known letters to create a word, the Chinese people have a separate symbol for each word, and each one needs to be learned and committed to memory. Not only is this a long and difficult task, it is also so different from the way that we perceive languages as English speakers that it is hard to wrap our heads around, especially when learning Mandarin as an