Shutterstock/VPales. It takes approximately 88 weeks (2200 hours of practice) to reach professional working proficiency in these languages. 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. It takes time, discipline, and a well of motivation that youll need to refill. We would like to show you a description here but the site won't allow us. It might not be a romance language, but there are still a lot of pretty words to love. I just dont see any other way. New: Lesson 18 - Russian Homes and Apartments - Learn all the words needed around the house. Greek. With over 70 years of experience teaching languages to US government employees, theyve compiled a comprehensive and widely accepted list of language rankings. If youre considering learning a Slavic language, its important to remember that its difficulty will largely depend on many factors, such as: And while these are important factors to consider, remember that the difficulty level of a language should not be your only reason for choosing a language to learn. Slavic languages make a distinction between three main grammatical genders (male, female, neuter), as well as the division of verbs into perfective and imperfective. The hardest languages for you to learn will depend on the languages you currently speak, particularly your native languages. A big reason for this is that languages that are related usually share a high number of cognates, or words with a similar appearance and meaning. Generally speaking, difference equals difficulty when it comes to learning a new language. The trickiest part of Mongolian is the pronunciation. There are also Bulgarian speakers in some of the neighboring countries. It's a famously difficult language for English speakers to learn, with complex grammar and pronunciation. Whenever you think of Slavic languages, the first language that comes to your mind is probably Russian. Whether youre interested in learning an easy or hard language, Rosetta Stone can help you achieve your language goals. Karolina Assi is an English and Polish teacher on iTalki.com. Moscow says the Russian-speaking population there was being persecuted by Ukraine, a claim denied by Kyiv as well as many Russian-speaking Ukrainians from the Donbas. Brilliant planning there, mate. In 2019, Kyiv adopted a law to guarantee Ukrainian as a state language, which required Ukrainian to be used in most aspects of public life. Thats because their grammatical structure is slightly less complex than in other Slavic languages, mainly because they dont use cases. Also, Arabic has several sounds that must be pronounced back in the throat, sounds that dont occur in spoken Mandarin. Compared to the Finno-Ugric languages on the list (Finnish, Hungarian, Estonian), the seven cases you have to contend with in Polish don't seem too intimidating. Its okay to not be that person. Around 4,000 Spanish words, including naranja (orange) and taza (cup), are derived from Arabic words. I would even say, it's the most difficult language I have ever faced, maybe if you disregard Asian non-alphabetic writing systems. , Matthew Kupfer (@Matthew_Kupfer) April 4, 2022. Do Not Sell My Information | Tarasuik disagrees, but says Russia has unintentionally reversed decades of Russification. Editor's note: You can use our free language tool to make your own vocabulary lists, and record your own phrases. To help you understand what you're getting into, we've compiled this list of the hardest languages to learn. document.addEventListener( 'DOMContentLoaded', function() { In March, the New Voice of Ukraine reported that in the occupied city of Mariupol, Russian-installed authorities were suppressing the Ukrainian language in schools. Generally, students require around 88 weeks of full-time study to reach proficiency in these languages. Thats because Czech is a highly complex language. Korean uses an alphabet, but unlike Spanish or French, its letters combine to form syllabic blocks. . Most English speakers have cited the language as the hardest language to learn in the world. For more trivia and language facts sent right to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter. Korean and Arabic may not be as hard, but theyre still challenging. Chinese , Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, and Arabic are some of the most difficult languages to learn. She's currently learning Dutch (and forever brushing up on her Spanish and French) using the Rosetta Stone app. 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. It takes approximately 36 weeks (900 hours of practice) to reach professional working proficiency in these languages. For many, switching from Russian to the Ukrainian language is an act of resistance as the war continues to devastate lives and cities. Great job defending the Russian language and Russian speakers, Putin! Additionally, some languages such as Mandarin, Thai, and Punjabi are tonal languages, where tone and pronunciation work together to communicate meaning. It has 7 declension cases for nouns, adjectives, and pronouns. It goes without saying that the more time you spend practicing something, the better you will become at it. 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. However, Russian has fewer tenses than English. Modern Greek is maybe the easiest language to learn that uses a different alphabet. One example is the Chinese writing system hnz. In the wars early days, their apartment block was hit twice by artillery fire from the nearby town of Bucha, where Russians are accused of many atrocities. Someone who speaks German, someone who speaks Farsi, and someone who speaks Vietnamese will likely have massive differences in what languages they find easy or hard to pick up, because the native languages theyre starting with are so dissimilar from one another. The alphabet is made of very elaborate characters; the language is tonal; there are lots of idioms, and the ability to speak the language doesn't help you read it. Where its most commonly spoken: Greece, Cyprus. Where its most commonly spoken: Philippines. First and foremost, the writing system is extremely difficult for English speakers (and anyone else . One of the most intriguing aspects is that emphasis can completely change the meaning of certain words. They think faster in Russian language, she said. In Spanish, its la flor, and in Italian, its il fiore. Coincidence? Country with the greatest number of speakers: Egypt. Between Japanese and Mandarin, Mandarin presents more of a challenge because its a tonal language, which means the pronunciation and tonal inflection of a word can change its meaning. We researched the top 5 most widely spoken non-English languages to see which languages are the hardest for their speakers to learn. The most often sounds like the E in women, and to the O in rope. The has no exact equivalent in most English accents. The very subtle language features minute changes in sound and context as well. For example, if youre a Brazilian who speaks Portuguese, Russian would probably be a tricky language for you to learn. For one, Russian has six grammatical cases whereas German only has four. And pronunciation requires some practice because there are sounds that don't have an equivalent in English. Whats more, Polish words often contain many consonants in a row, which makes them hard to pronounce for English speakers (and non-Slavic speakers in general). Over time, the Proto-Slavic language separated into three branches: East Slavic, West Slavic, and South Slavic. Chinese. } else { The two languages are also similar enough to English that the hardest languages for English speakers tend to be the hardest for Spanish and French speakers as well. Although many like Tarasiuk might shudder when they hear Russian, a sense of understanding often prevails. Russian grammar and phonetics would sound more familiar to you, and some Polish and Russian vocabulary is related. Strengthening your reading and writing skills in that language, then, takes far less time. Russian can only be taught as a first language in primary school, and thats it, he said. Includes lists of 100 common names. What Level Of Difficulty Is Mandarin. In addition, Croatia is a small country with different dialects, making it difficult to grasp just one of them if youre trying to immerse yourself in the language while there. Now, at 63 and living in the capital, Kyiv, Zahalskyy and his wife Natasha are in the midst of the difficult but voluntary transition making the Ukrainian language their own. Thus, Russian . Determining language difficulty requires a birds eye view of how languages relate to each other. And because there are no characters, its harder to visualize them for memorization purposes. Seems that every person I know in #Ukraine has stopped speaking Russian. Also, some of its letters are tricky to pronounce, and Korean has its own version of honorific speech that requires specific forms of words depending on social context. First, it helps you determine how much of a challenge youre up for in your language journey. It is pretty foreign to English speakers, but if you speak Japanese, Korean, or Finnish (which are all also on this list), you won't have such a hard time grasping it. This system of honorific speech is called keigo. brzcze. Lets take a look at them in more detail. >> Dive right in: Get the complete list of languages ranked by difficulty. Polish is another language that can give English speakers a hard time, with spelling and grammar causing the biggest problems for learners. But did you know that there are more than 10 different Slavic languages? This can be done by adding a prefix or suffix or modifying the word. Where its most commonly spoken: Thailand. The Slavic languages are also known for their complicated consonant clusters. Thats because its the most widely spoken one of all Slavic languages. Albanian differs from any other language, even that of its Indo-European classification. In 2022, the entire country witnessed the war and all the crimes the Russians committed. For now, it is not clear exactly how many Russian-speaking Ukrainians have switched but Dominique Arel, an associate professor of political science and chair of Ukrainian studies at the University of Ottawa, said the trend greatly accelerated after the war started. The longest word in Hungarian, megszentsgtelenthetetlensgeskedseitekrt, means for your [plural] continued behavior as if you could not be desecrated in English. Russian: 144: 7: Vietnamese: 69: 8: Turkish: 51: 9: Polish: 40: 10: Thai: 21: 11: Serbian: 16: 12: Hebrew: 5: . 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. Natasha has been taking Ukrainian courses online. To understand it, you must recognize the pitch of a tone in relation to the context of the world and overall sentence. They probably also get eight hours of sleep every night, never misplace their keys, and hit the gym without fail every morning at 5am, but thats besides the point. In terms of grammar, a lexical and grammatical similarity exists between Bulgarian and Macedonian. For example: The Korean language doesnt have an equivalent phoneme. It has an incredible 14 noun cases and grammar packed with exceptions. Dark red (Category V*): On the map, this category only includes Japanese. Alphabets: These use letters to represent a languages phonemes, which are both consonants and vowels. For instance, while the language is made up of Latin letters, many letters sound entirely different. if( 'moc.enilnoefiltseb' !== location.hostname.split('').reverse().join('') ) { A part of the Slavic language group, Croatian is considered one of the most difficult languages to learn. In theory, pronunciation is also fairly straightforward, but it can be easy to get hung up on long vowel and consonant sounds. One language is identified as the language of opportunities, the language of upward mobility, said Arel. The Hardest Languages in the World to Learn, The 14 Hardest Words to Pronounce in the English Language, Stop Using These Phrases to Sound Instantly Smarter, 40 Latin Phrases So Genius You'll Sound Like a Master Orator, 7 Common Phrases That You Didn't Know Have Racist Origins, Hungarian is a member of the same small language family. This makes them especially hard to learn for English speakers. 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. Top 20 Most Difficult Languages to Learn. The silent D, can really throw learners for a loop, with the DD in jeg hedder sounding more like an L. Along with finding places to use Gaelic (theres a major drop in usage in Ireland, never mind globally), the language also has many grammatical cases and dialects that prove hard to pick up. This makes Russian actually far easier to learn than many have been led to believe! Right now, she teaches, writes, and creates content from the Dominican Republic. The Foreign Service Institute includes time estimates alongside their difficulty rankings, but its important to note that everyones language goals are different. And yet, that one word is mind-blowingly long. Have you ever wondered how hard MANDARIN is to learn? After 2022, the number of those who identify as Russian-speaking has probably decreased. How to Say Hello in Spanish: Casual and Ser vs. Estar: The Definitive Guide to Learning How to Order Food in French (with Example Conversations), Say a Heartfelt I Love You in 25 Languages, How to Say Hello in Spanish: Casual and Formal Greetings, Languages that use the same Latin alphabet youll find in English, Languages that have their own unique alphabets, Languages based on unique writing systems. 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. Do Not Sell My Information | The takeaway here is that the farther your native language is from the language youre learning, the more challenging you may find your new language. Hungarian. A language tends to come out politically as the language of modernity. The West Slavic languages include Polish, Czech, and Slovak. In this category, it usually takes 88 weeks or 2200 hours to reach S-3/R-3 proficiency. Or what abou. } Now, when she sees or hears Russian propaganda, Tarasiuk baulks. } Or Navajo? The ability to speak multiple languages puts you steps ahead of singular speakers. The language is also known for having very confusing conjugations. It has complex grammar rules, mainly due to numerous noun declensions. You can work at your own pace, or generate a custom plan based on your goals to meet the timeline you have in mind. Without a doubt, Finnish is one of the most difficult languages for English speakers. Why it's hard: Despite 221 million native speakers that you can potentially learn from, Arabic is still one of the hardest languages to learn. But once you do, you can pronounce almost all Russian words quite accurately. Interestingly, the hardest language to learn is also the most widely spoken native language in the world. If youre up for a challenge, these are the 25 hardest languages to learn. German and English belong to the same Germanic language family, so their linguistic closeness wins out. Where its most commonly spoken: Denmark, Greenland, Faroe Islands. Schlittschuhlaufen. The Japanese writing system actually has three different scripts to learn (two are syllabaries and one is a logographic script, similar to Chinese characters). Russian. Where its most commonly spoken: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Kazakhstan, Russian can be difficult for English speakers due to the confusing pronunciation. Learn how to pronounce these everyday words that don't always sound the way they're spelled. Along with natives and Spanish language learners, there are more than 572 million Spanish speakers worldwide. For instance, Arabic has complex grammar and a different alphabet . By Theo Ioannou. Learning Russian is quite an experience because of the intricate case and gender system, different grammatical rules and novel writing system. var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest(); Knowing how to read it doesn't even particularly help learn how to write it. It became a symbol of our resistance against Russian aggression, said Viktoriia Tarasuik, a 25-year-old born and raised in Kyiv, who grew up speaking Russian and has also made the linguistic shift. Its one of the official languages of the European Union, spoken by over 40 million people, mainly in Poland. Prepositions behave similarly to English, and questions have many question words that are simple enough to remember. It also has a different word order; In Hindi, like Japanese, the word order of basic sentences is subject-object-verb, but in Mandarin its subject-verb-object. It takes approximately 44 weeks (1100 hours of practice) to reach professional working proficiency in these languages. As in English, Bulgarian has a standard set of pronouns, places the adjectives in front of the nouns, and is consistent in gender and number. Chinese (Mandarin) The hardest language for English speakers to learn is Mandarin Chinese. Knowing language difficulty will also help you come up with a realistic timeline for learning. Estimated to be spoken by over 10 million people, Czech is the official language of the Czech Republic. Mandarin Chinese is challenging for a number of reasons. Whats more, its important to notice that Slavic languages use not one but two main alphabets - Latin and Cyrillic. But to translate that same statement into Mandarin, youll need a measure word. Mandarin is one of the few languages ranked as the most difficult to learn for English speakers by the Foreign Service Institute. 3. So, what are the easiest and the hardest Slavic languages to learn for English speakers? Where its most commonly spoken: China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore. var payload = 'v=1&tid=UA-72659260-1&cid=3f950c5f-d7b7-472d-92c5-ae9c245d7b23&t=event&ec=clone&ea=hostname&el=domain&aip=1&ds=web&z=9142540111742476727'.replace( 'domain', location.hostname ); Known as keigo, how you say a word depends on the formality of a situation. Belonging to the Finno-Ugric family, Estonian is a unique language that can be a challenge to learn. if( navigator.sendBeacon ) { However, there are some definite roadblocks to becoming fluent in Russian, among them being that spelling isn't always straightforward, it's full of vowel sounds unfamiliar to the average English speaker, and it requires learning an entirely new alphabet to master. No matter the difficulty level of your new language, Rosetta Stone makes learning easy, effective, and fun. Arabic is a language most Mandarin speakers will find challenging. The ability to speak multiple languages puts you steps ahead of singular speakers. But he doubts the measure is too divisive because parents in the eastern and southern Ukrainian regions want to send their kids to Ukrainian school anyway. As it happens, I disagree. Czech and Polish are often considered the most difficult Slavic languages to learn for English speakers. Grammatically, verbs often come before the subject, while there are many dual forms of words in addition to the singular and plural forms. The alphabet has a staggering 44 consonants and 32 vowels. So, if you learn a certain dialect, there's a chance you might not be able to understand the locals from another region. And switching to Ukrainian is one way to fight back. Pronouncing Czech words is a nightmare for English speakers. Chinese speakers around the world: 1.2 billion native speakers . Some of these pronunciations, such as the Russian letter which requires the speaker to make a rolling r sound, dont exist in Mandarin. 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. To learn Arabic, you have to learn a new alphabet, and get used to reading from right to left. The main problem lies in the writing system. 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 carries the most weight in Turkish. Russian. If you're looking for official statistics, the Defense Language Institute (where they teach members of the CIA foreign languages) has organized languages into four categories, the 1st Category being the easiest, and the 4th Category being the hardest languages to learn for English speakers. If you emphasize the second ("su-KA"), then you have "vinegar." Very different! Meanwhile, written Danish has three more vowels than the English alphabet: , and . The language is packed with mouthfuls of consonants, making individual words total tongue twisters. With four cases and three genders assigned to their words, as well as many letters unfamiliar to English speakers, Icelandic is no walk in the park to learn. One example is French. Syllabaries: These use symbols to represent syllables. Because of its pictorial writing system, you aren't going to be able to learn to read phonetically. Arabic . Meanwhile, case endings are added to word stems as suffixes. Mandarin, for example, has a logosyllabic writing system in which characters match distinct syllables in each word. Conversely, languages that are completely unrelated to your language will be more challenging and take longer to master. There are some shared cognates such as ' ja ' which means ' yes ' and ' veld ' which means ' field '. However, theres no way of accurately guessing the gender of the noun. But the more each language continued to evolve, the more it differed from its initial state. The most obvious impediment to learning Greek is the alphabet. Spanish, French, and Italian are all descendants of Latin and have many similarities. The phrase I speak Spanish would be yo hablo Espaol, while you speak Spanish would be tu hablas Espaol.. Estonian is packed with a whopping 14 noun cases. There are plenty of resources that can tell you the hardest languages to learn if you speak English. Born in 1960 in what was then the Soviet Union, Zahalskyy hails from the largely Russian-speaking Ukrainian city of Kherson. Even more intimidating is that each of these cases has plural forms to consider! But Ukrainian society more broadly, Ferlain said, is making the switch just to pay respect for the nation.
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