What Languages Are Easy To Learn

And so you've decided to larn a language. (Skilful choice! We approve.) Your next job, if you're up for it: Choosing among many options. Should yous go for a more widely voice communication like Spanish or Mandarin, a politically relevant 1 like Russian, or one you can use on your next vacation? These are all valid motivations, simply here'south another: You're busy. We all are. Why not tackle a language that volition be relatively easy to learn? With the help of Babbel's team of language-learning experts, we've adamant the easiest linguistic communication to learn for English speakers. Well, let's just say we've narrowed down the list to 9 of them. Hopefully, this volition help you narrow down your options, and so you tin can outset learning correct away.

And The Easiest Language To Acquire Is…

1. Norwegian

This may come as a surprise, merely we accept ranked Norwegian as the easiest language to learn for English speakers. Norwegian is a member of the Germanic family of languages — just like English! This ways the languages share quite a bit of vocabulary, such as the seasons vinter and sommer (we'll allow you effigy out those translations).

Another selling point for Norwegian: the grammer is pretty straightforward, with just ane form of each verb per tense. And the give-and-take order closely mimics English. For example, "Can you help me?" translates to Kan du hjelpe meg? — the words are in the same order in both languages, and so mastering sentence structure is a breeze!

Finally, y'all'll have a lot more leeway with pronunciation when learning Norwegian. That'due south because at that place are a vast array of dissimilar accents in Kingdom of norway and, therefore, more than one "correct mode" to pronounce words. Sound appealing? Lace up your snow boots and give Norwegian a endeavour!

2. Swedish

Our second easiest language to learn likewise comes from Scandinavia and the Germanic family of languages. One reason Swedish is one of the easiest languages for English speakers to learn is the large number of cognates the two languages share (cognates are words in different languages that stalk from the same bequeathed language and look and/or sound very similar to one some other). For case, "grass" is gräs in Swedish — a articulate cognate.

Like Norwegian, Swedish also has relatively simple grammer rules and similar discussion club to English language. And thanks to IKEA, Swedish has something else working in its favor: exposure. English speakers around the world have been exposed to a number of Swedish words while but shopping for piece of furniture (and chowing down on some meatballs, I presume). The popular, minimalistic Lack tables are named after the Swedish give-and-take for "varnish." And the Stockholm rugs, of course, get their name from Sweden'southward upper-case letter. Business concern Insider has broken downwardly IKEA's unique naming organization in this article. Piece of furniture lovers, perchance Swedish is the language for yous.

3. Spanish

This choice should come as no surprise. Castilian has always been a go-to language for English speakers to learn due to its practicality and broad reach. Well, it's also i of the easiest languages to acquire for English speakers.

Spanish is one of the Romance languages, which derive from Latin — equally practise many English words, then the name of the game here is cognates, cognates, cognates. Correcto means "correct," delicioso is "delicious," and pizza is "pizza," to proper noun a few.

Spanish pronunciation is also fairly straightforward. Information technology's a phonetic language — for the most role, its words are pronounced the style they're spelled. But grammar haters beware: Castilian does take a number of different verb tenses and exceptions to grammer rules which can get disruptive. Nonetheless, the tenses largely align with ones we use in English, and then they're not as hard to learn as you may remember.

But perhaps the biggest pro to choosing to learn Castilian is its prevalence in our everyday lives. According to contempo statistics, Spanish is the second most-speech communication in the world, with over 450 million native speakers. Y'all've probably heard Spanish spoken on Television set, on the radio, and even by members of your community. It'south everywhere, so you already take a leg up on learning it!

4. Dutch

Dutch is some other Germanic language on our list. It'south spoken past the majority of citizens of holland, likewise equally a large portion of Belgium's population. It's the tertiary well-nigh-spoken Germanic linguistic communication, after German and English, which makes sense — due to shared vocabulary, Dutch sounds similar a combination of High german and English language.

A really interesting characteristic of Dutch is that many words are spelled exactly the same equally they are in English, more so than in well-nigh any other language. However, use caution, because they're ofttimes pronounced differently. For instance, the word "rat" has the aforementioned spelling and meaning in both languages, merely in Dutch it'due south pronounced like the English word "rot." Also, go along an eye out for false cognates, like the Dutch give-and-take wet, which actually means "police force." If you stay vigilant, Dutch could all the same be the language for you lot.

Germanic languages nab 3 of the top 4 spots on this list, but English's other cousins, German and Danish, are absent — and for good reason. German didn't make the cutting because although it shares thousands of cognates with English, absolutely no i would describe its grammer as "like shooting fish in a barrel." And while written Danish looks a lot like Norwegian and Swedish, the pronunciation can exist too intimidating for casual learners. If you're up for the challenge, bank check out our listing of hardest languages for English speakers to learn.

v. Portuguese

The fifth easiest language to larn on our list is Portuguese, a member of the Romance linguistic communication family that'south spoken in both Portugal and Brazil.

Similar Spanish, this translates to a big number of shared vocabulary words, which ever makes picking it upward easier. Only beware of false cognates. You might be really excited about getting Portuguese pasta, only to be handed a "folder."

Portuguese (particularly Brazilian Portuguese) is another language that gives learners the advantage of exposure. Brazilian food, drinks, music and films have been making frequent appearances in global popular culture, giving students of Portuguese plenty of opportunities to enhance their learning.

6. Indonesian

This option may also come as a surprise, but Indonesian has several qualities that make it a logical selection for English speakers.

For starters, Indonesian — spoken natively by nigh 23 one thousand thousand people — is one of the few Asian languages that uses the Latin alphabet. Many Asian languages are incredibly difficult for English speakers to master due to the unfamiliar characters in their writing systems, simply non Indonesian.

It'southward also a phonetic language, made up of words that are pronounced exactly the style they're spelled. At present, Indonesian grammatical structures are very unlike from those in English, but don't let that deter you! Its lack of rules make learning grammar a lot easier. There are no verb conjugations (you read that correctly!), no plurals (but echo the word twice), and no grammatical genders. If you're not a fan of grammer rules, Indonesian could be a match made in heaven!

7. Italian

Next up is another Romance language. Though not as widely spoken as Castilian or Portuguese, Italian still has more than 63 meg native speakers. Its Latin roots allow for a sizable chunk of cognates English speakers will recognize, such every bit futuro ("future") and lotteria ("lottery"), two things we all wish we could controllare ("control").

Perhaps the best office of choosing Italian is the possibility to learn with food! Italian cuisine has become a staple of many Western countries, bringing a number of Italian words into our regular vocabularies. Penne all'arrabbiata translates to "angry pasta" (presumably because it's spicy!), and farfalle (the pasta shaped similar bow ties) actually means "butterflies." Doesn't learning Italian sound delizioso?

8. French

There's i more major Romance language on our list, and this one is often a fan favorite. Although it'due south not equally easy to learn as some of its linguistic communication cousins, French (and/or its various dialects and creoles) is spoken past most 300 million people in many different parts of the world (France, Canada, Belgium and Madagascar — to name only a few).

Equally with the other Romance languages, the biggest benefit to choosing to learn French is the big amount of shared vocabulary. Just this isn't solely due to its linguistic roots. During the lengthy history of wars and conquests between France and England, key language parts were passed from one land to the other. This mostly came in the form of French vocabulary added to the English language, such as advanced and à la carte, although the discussion-sharing went from English to French equally well (e.thousand. week-end). French pronunciation is a bit tricky, at outset, only we frequently hear French accents in pop civilization, making them easier to replicate than you may think.

ix. Swahili

The last language on our list is perhaps the "to the lowest degree easiest language to learn" of the easiest languages. Swahili is widely used across eastern and southeastern Africa, including in Republic of kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, among other countries, but ordinarily as a lingua franca — a mutual language adopted among native speakers of different languages.

Swahili words oft sound just similar they're spelled, and the pronunciation is relatively easy for English language speakers to choice up. It's said to be the easiest African language for English natives to learn, partially because of the surprising corporeality of loan words taken from English, similar penseli ("pencil") and mashine ("machine").

Finally, Swahili is fairly straightforward in terms of grammar. Verb conjugations utilize prefixes in a logical manner, making them less difficult to learn. If you want to try something different, run into if Swahili is the language for you. However, if y'all desire to pick up a new linguistic communication as easily equally possible, we recommend starting with something from the top of the list — like Castilian, Swedish or Norwegian.