Hardest languages in the world for english speakers

If you are a native English speaker, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic and Korean are the toughest languages to learn - taking an average of hours to reach a certain proficiency level. A native English speaker can learn Afrikaans, Dutch, French, Italian, and Spanish in as little as hours or weeks. German is relatively tougher as it takes hours to learn. As many as million people in the world speak Chinese as their first language.

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Content:

• Travel blog's top 10: Estonian one of most difficult languages for English speakers to learn
• The Hardest Languages to Learn in the World
• The Four Hardest Languages to Learn For English Speakers
• The 7 hardest languages to learn (especially if you’re an English speaker!)
• Icelandic rated among the most difficult languages to learn for English speakers
• We went in search of the world’s hardest language
• What Is The Hardest Language To Write For English Speakers?
• Hungarian: One of the Most Difficult Language for Foreigners to Learn
• Here Are the Top 4 Hardest Languages to Learn!

WATCH RELATED VIDEO: Top 10 Hardest Languages to Learn

Travel blog's top 10: Estonian one of most difficult languages for English speakers to learn

November 08, Marianne Stenger. As a general rule, languages that have significant linguistic and cultural differences to English will be more difficult for English speakers to learn. For one thing, some of the most difficult languages to learn are also the most widely spoken.

Mandarin Chinese, for example, is spoken as a native language by million people, which makes it an extremely useful language to learn. Mastering a difficult language is also good for your brain , with research showing that it can lead to improved memory skills and increased focus. Looking to reap some of these benefits while also acquiring a valuable new skill?

Unlike most European languages, which belong to the Indo-European language family, Hungarian is a Uralic language. It is spoken as a native language by 13 million people, most of whom live in Hungary. In the Hungarian language, there are 14 vowels with slight differences in pronunciation. Hungarian consonant clusters also have unexpected pronunciations when compared to English. Interestingly, Hungarian is also a gender-neutral language. Bulgarian is a Slavic language that has around eight million native speakers, primarily in Bulgaria.

Like Russian, it uses the Cyrillic alphabet, which can seem a bit intimidating to those unfamiliar with it. On the bright side, though, there are plenty of great tools and Bulgarian courses available online to help you master Bulgarian. Additionally, Serbian is a recognised minority language in a number of other countries, including Croatia, Romania and Hungary, which makes it valuable to learn if you intend to spend time travelling, working or studying in Eastern Europe.

Serbian is notoriously difficult for English speakers to learn, with two scripts Cyrillic and Latin , seven tenses and a consonant R that can sometimes be a vowel. Albanian is the official language of both Albania and Kosovo, and is spoken by around six million people in the Balkans. Albanian can be quite challenging for English speakers to learn due to its complex grammar. For instance, in Albanian, nouns have both a case and a gender, and the only way to learn them is to memorise the case and gender of each noun as you study the vocabulary.

Despite its challenges, Albanian is a fascinating language that will connect you to a unique culture. By finding opportunities to practice with native Albanian speakers, you can probably pick it up a lot quicker than you think. Turkish is one of the more widely known languages in the Turkic language family. Turkish uses a Latin-script alphabet with a few modifications and includes many loan words from Persian and Arabic, which makes for an intriguing mix.

One aspect of the Turkish language that can be challenging is the need to memorise the many grammar rules and learn how to apply them, as the rules for use of suffixes and word order are significantly more complicated than in English. Farsi or Persian Farsi is an Indo European language spoken as a native language by around 70 million people, primarily in Iran and Afghanistan, but also in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

Although it can take time to master, Farsi is a very poetic language in which many of the words have deep meanings as well as dual meanings, and learning it will connect you to a rich and diverse culture. Greek is spoken as a native language by around 13 million people, primarily in Greece and Cyprus. There are many aspects of Greek that will be challenging for English speakers to learn, including a lot of new vocabulary, three different genders for nouns, and complex grammar rules.

In order to read and write Greek, you will also need to spend some time memorising the Greek alphabet. Even so, as an ancient language that is at the root of many European languages, Greek is very much worth the effort to learn.

With million native speakers and million non-native speakers, Russian is a valuable language to learn, and will connect you to a fascinating world of literature, philosophy and visual arts. As a Slavic language, Russian shares similarities with Ukrainian, Polish and Serbian , and has many words where consonants are grouped together. This can make Russian pronunciation challenging for English speakers. Another thing that can be confusing for English speakers is that while some Russian letters are identical to Latin ones, others look the same but sound different.

Hindi is one of the official languages of India and the native language of million people. Hindi descends from Sanskrit, an ancient South Asian language that can be traced back thousands of years and has similarities to ancient Greek and Latin.

Hindi is written in Devanagari script, which can take a considerable time for English speakers to master. When it comes to pronunciation, Hindi is a phonetic language, but there are many sounds that English speakers will not be familiar with. Many of the differences between words are also so subtle that it can be difficult for new learners to pick up on them. Despite the obstacles to learning it, however, Hindi is a beautiful language with a rich history, and learning it will open up countless new travel, work and study opportunities.

Vietnamese is part of the Austroasiatic language family. Vietnamese can be useful to learn if you will be travelling through or staying in Vietnam for a longer period of time. This is particularly true if you plan to venture beyond the main cities and popular tourist areas where English is more likely to be understood.

Vietnamese can be tricky for English speakers due to its difficult pronunciation. It has six tonal variations, which are determined by diacritics. Fortunately, practice makes perfect, and once you get used to the different tones, Vietnamese grammar is actually quite straightforward. Thai is the national language of Thailand and is spoken by approximately 60 million people, primarily in Thailand. With that said, Thai is a difficult language for English speakers to learn, because, like Vietnamese and Chinese, it is a tonal language.

This means learners must be able to recognise the pitch of a tone in order to understand the context of what is being said.

The Thai language has five tones, and some of them are not found in the English language. Thai also uses its own script, which consists of 44 consonants, 18 vowels, and six diphthongs that must be memorised. The Korean alphabet was actually created by King Sejong the Great in He wanted to develop a simplified writing system specifically suited to the Korean language.

But, although the writing system is fairly straightforward, learning Korean is still likely to be a challenge for English speakers due to differences in word order as well as double consonant and vowel sounds. When you think of languages that are difficult to learn, Chinese is probably the first example that comes to mind. But, with million native speakers and million non-native speakers, Mandarin Chinese is an extremely worthwhile language to learn. Like Thai and Vietnamese, Mandarin is a tonal language.

It has four tones, and the meaning of a word may change depending on the intonation used. Written Chinese is also extremely complex, and the Chinese writing system uses tens of thousands of distinctive characters to represent ideas, concepts or objects.

Even so, learning Arabic will give you a greater insight into the rich and diverse Arab culture and open up countless new career opportunities, not to mention the sense of personal satisfaction and achievement you will gain from mastering one of the most difficult languages in the world. If you're a polyglot looking for your next challenge, you might also want to keep these notoriously difficult, yet fascinating languages on your radar, alongside the ones mentioned above.

Share this. I have read the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Berlitz USA. Click to call. Corporations All business services Language training Testing and assessment Business communication Culture training Business resources Tuition reimbursement. Home All 15 of the hardest languages to learn, for English speakers - ranked. Learning a second or even third language is a challenging but rewarding endeavour that can enrich your life and lead to exciting new career and travel opportunities.

So why would you choose to learn a language that will require more time and effort? Hungarian Unlike most European languages, which belong to the Indo-European language family, Hungarian is a Uralic language.

Bulgarian Bulgarian is a Slavic language that has around eight million native speakers, primarily in Bulgaria. Albanian Albanian is the official language of both Albania and Kosovo, and is spoken by around six million people in the Balkans. Turkish Turkish is one of the more widely known languages in the Turkic language family.

Farsi Farsi or Persian Farsi is an Indo European language spoken as a native language by around 70 million people, primarily in Iran and Afghanistan, but also in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Russian With million native speakers and million non-native speakers, Russian is a valuable language to learn, and will connect you to a fascinating world of literature, philosophy and visual arts.

Hindi Hindi is one of the official languages of India and the native language of million people. Vietnamese Vietnamese is part of the Austroasiatic language family. Thai Thai is the national language of Thailand and is spoken by approximately 60 million people, primarily in Thailand. Mandarin Chinese When you think of languages that are difficult to learn, Chinese is probably the first example that comes to mind. Hardest languages, honorable mentions: If you're a polyglot looking for your next challenge, you might also want to keep these notoriously difficult, yet fascinating languages on your radar, alongside the ones mentioned above.

Related Articles. November 01, Indian languages: A useful guide to all the languages spoken in India Read Article. October 29, How long does it take to learn a language? What the research says Read Article. October 25, 15 of the easiest languages to learn for English speakers - ranked Read Article. What language do you want to learn? What program are you interested in? When would you like to start?

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The Hardest Languages to Learn in the World

A lot of people struggle to learn English… it is a strange language made up of many parts. So, we did a bit of research and now present to you, the Top Ten hardest languages for English speakers to learn! Mandarin Right at the top is the most spoken language in the world: Mandarin. This is a tonal language which, for an English speaker, in extremely difficult to master.

The Four Hardest Languages to Learn For English Speakers

But what are the hardest languages for English speakers to learn? However, for those of us who are interested in languages , here are some of the most difficult languages to learn. While it might be natural to think that reading and writing thousands of new characters might be the biggest barrier to learning this Chinese language, many find that tone is the biggest hurdle to overcome. This is because unlike English, Mandarin is a tonal language. Which could get confusing in a restaurant…. For a start, you read Arabic from right to left, not left to right. Written Arabic also has fewer vowels, and a complex system of grammar rules, which can leave non-native speakers in a tangle.

The 7 hardest languages to learn (especially if you’re an English speaker!)

This is a list of the very hardest languages to learn whether because of grammar, pronunciation, syntax, or all of the above — written by actual language learners. The hardest languages to learn are, mercilessly, also some of the most widely spoken languages. The variants of Arabic and Chinese are spoken by over 1. There are, of course, small and difficult languages. Yes, people love to talk about how Finnish and Estonian are some of the hardest languages in the world.

Icelandic rated among the most difficult languages to learn for English speakers

When it comes to learning difficulty, not all languages are created equal. Some are simply much harder to learn than others. It should also be noted that not all students are created equal, meaning a language difficult for an English speaker might be less difficult for someone who speaks Russian or Mandarin. Japanese One would think that Mandarin, Hungarian, or Finnish might start this list off, but we begin with Japanese, as it is dubbed the most difficult language by the Foreign Service Institute, a government organisation that trains employees of the U. Seems simple enough, right? According to Ethnologue, a think tank that analyses world languages, there were 1.

We went in search of the world’s hardest language

It is difficult to determine which language is the hardest to learn, as it depends on which languages you already know. With that in mind, we tried to compose a list of languages that would be extremely difficult, as long as you are not already a speaker of one of its relatives. An obvious inclusion. A language with the greatest number of speakers in the world is strangely difficult to learn. This language is a tonal language and any given sound in its writing system has 4 ways it can be pronounced.

What Is The Hardest Language To Write For English Speakers?

Many of those who study foreign languages wonder which language is the most difficult one in the world. Linguists say that there is no precise answer to this question because everything depends on which language you speak. Neurophysiologists believe, though, that the Chinese or the Arabic could be described as world's most difficult languages. The brain of native Chinese or Arab speakers may find it difficult to perceive those languages.

Hungarian: One of the Most Difficult Language for Foreigners to Learn

RELATED VIDEO: Comparison: Hardest Languages To Learn

Hungarian may be the most difficult language in the world for an English speaker to learn , for a variety of grammar, spelling, and pronunciation reasons. Ah, language learning. While some might suggest Arabic or Cantonese, I would suggest that Hungarian or Magyar, as the natives sometimes refer to it is hands-down the most difficult language for an English speaker to learn. The first piece of evidence for my suggestion is the fact that Hungarian has 35 distinct cases.

Here Are the Top 4 Hardest Languages to Learn!

Your Name. Your Email. Your Message. Your Phone Number. There are very many different languages around the world — hundreds of them in fact! Some languages are the most useful languages to learn because they are spoken more widely than others.

Chances are, wherever you go, you will find someone speaking English. We often forget that learning foreign languages can be very rewarding. It can open another level to your travelling experience , help with your career, improve your memory, and enhance your ability to multitask.