Learning a second language is a very intelligent thing to do; it gives one a certain advantage, and opens up additional doors. The easiest languages to learn are those that present the least challenge; the least difficulty in learning.
Generally speaking, it is agreed that the languages which people find easy to study often depend on their original languages. The similarity of grammar and vocabulary makes it quite easy to grasp the new language, and to become proficient at it.
Top 50 Easiest Languages To Learn
1. Italian
Italian is the language of Italy; one of the oldest countries in Europe. There are a lot of similarities between Italian and English; as evidenced by words like “soluzione,” “spazio” “difficoltà,” and “silenzio.”
English and Italian have these similarities because they come from same root language; which is Latin – the language of Roman Empire. While Latin in its original form is regarded as dead; it lives on in the form of its seed languages, chief among whom are English and Italian.
With the sheer volume of common words, and the similarities in vocabulary; it is easy to come to the conclusion that Italian is the easiest language for an English speaker, even though there are many factors to consider, such as the interest of the individual students, as well as the availability of centers to learn.
2. Spanish
Spanish is just as easy to learn, if not even more so. This is for a number of reasons. Spain is a cultural super power just like England; its language and culture are spread throughout the world.
Spain has former colonies in Africa, as well as in North, South, and Central America. In fact, Spain is the reason why it is called Latin America.
As a result, most people are already familiar with Spanish; anyone who has ever been to any country outside his own has probably come in contact with Spanish. In fact, it is spoken by around 40 million people in the USA, and it is also spoken by many people in other English speaking countries as well.
Spanish is also quite popular in the entertainment industry; even in English language film and music, it is a regular feature.
Furthermore, Spanish has a lot of similarities with English; it has many similar words such as “perfecto”, “correcto”, and “abstracto.” In fact, it seems that one can make do by simply adding “to” to many English words to make them Spanish. This may be as easy as it gets.
3. German
At first glance it is rather easy to be intimidated by the German language; some of the spellings seem like they will be difficult to master. However, German is a lot easier than most other languages; it has very much in common with English.
The problem is that German is not so popular outside Germany, and as a result; most people have no way of becoming familiar with it. Nevertheless, there are German language classes available in almost every corner of the developed world.
Both English and German are Germanic languages; which means they come from the same root. Furthermore, they have use the same letters from the Latin alphabet: the German Alphabet is almost the same as the English Alphabet.
Still, some agree that German is easier spoken than written; the vocabulary is not extremely difficult to master, it is the spellings that create a challenge.
4. Norwegian
Norwegian is another Germanic language; its ease of understanding comes from the similar roots. Norwegian is an offshoot of Old Norse, which is the language the Vikings spoke. Interestingly, many Norwegians also speak English; probably because since both languages come from the same language family, they have a similar grammar; the words are arranged in a similar fashion.
Furthermore, there are many Norwegian words that are just the same as in English; such as Flyte, Klappe, Komme, Føle, Like, Mean, and Sitte. English speakers can probably guess the meanings of these words; and Norwegian speakers probably understand that there are identical words in English.
There are many places to learn Norwegian in almost every big city; and this is a language that (due to the grammar) can be easily learned online; either through text, or through videos.
5. French
They say French is the language of love. Well, it is also the language of more than 300 million people across Africa, Europe, Oceania and America. It is the language of France; a cultural super power with former colonies and territories across the world.
Some language experts assert that if one cannot master the French language, then he cannot possibly master any other language. There are many similar words between English and French; words like brilliant(e), magnifique, éléphant, restaurant and ignorant(e) easily come to mind.
French and English are both Romance languages, which explains why there are similar lexicons between them. However there is a difference in grammar; new French learners may cause a few laughs when they attempt to speak the language, but it soon passes as they know how to arrange the words.
French is quite widespread; so anyone who is a movie aficionado, or who has traveled out of his comfort zone has likely come in contact with the language.
6. Dutch
Dutch is a similar language to German; it is primarily spoken by the 23 million people of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname. It is possible for a Dutchman and a German to hold a conversation; each man using his own language.
Dutch is not as popular as Spanish or French; it does not have as many speakers, and the range of its domain is not that wide. Nevertheless, it is a language that has a potential to be spread throughout the world because it is relatively easy to study and master.
Dutch is also of Germanic roots; it has been described as a mixture of English and German. This means that while it has a similar structure with German, it also has many words that sound similar to the English words. For example; “groen” and “oude man” are both Dutch, but English speakers would have no problem guessing their meanings.
New Dutch speakers will be spared the deeper end of the language; there are phrases that have no English equivalent. Many young Dutch people are not even familiar with those words, so there is little chance of coming into contact with them.
7. Portuguese
Portuguese is the language of Portugal. Portugal is a cultural super power because its language and culture is present across the world, in countries like Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, and Mozambique.
Portuguese is certainly a worth learning because an international travel could bring a person in contact with the language. Furthermore, knowing the Portuguese language can give one distinct career advantages, due to the number of countries that speak it.
Portuguese is quite an easy language to master, Chocolate, Banana, Cinema, Radio, and Familiar are all familiar words, but the Portuguese stress them differently. The grammar is also somewhat different; questions are made with sentences, they just stress the tone at the end to show that they are questions.
8. Swedish
Swedish is the language of Sweden, and it spoken in the neighboring countries of Finland and Denmark. Swedish is spoken by around 10 million people, which means there is quite some potential to it. Swedish is one of the Germanic languages; and as such it has a similar structure with English and German.
Some of the familiar words which English speakers would be surprised to find in Swedish gräs, konferens, uniform, and champag.
One can find Swedish classes in almost every major city; and there many online resources, some of which are free to use. Once again, this language seems a lot easier to speak than to write; the spellings are somewhat different. With practice however, it is quite doable.
9. Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a language of South Africa and Namibia. It was once thought to be a dialect of the Dutch language; which is its nearest relative. Since it is related to Dutch, it is also a West Germanic language, which means it is similar to German and English, and even has similarities with Swedish and Portuguese.
Afrikaans has a similar structure of sentences with English, which means it is not too hard to comprehend, and once one gets the proper way to pronounce the words, there should be no problem at all.
Afrikaans is may not seem like much; especially when one considers the fact that there are less than 10 million speakers of the language. However, those 9 million speakers are mostly high net worth individuals which means speaking their language has a lot economic potential.
10. Romanian
Romanian is another Romance language; it has its roots in the language of the Romans which of course is Latin. It is the language of Romania; it is spoken by around 22-26 million as their native language.
Romanian is the only Romance language that sprang up in the Eastern part of Latin Europe. There are certain words and phrases that are shared and between them, such as contemporanii, simplu, problem, and week-end bun are familiar words that need no explanation to both English and French native speakers.
Romanian is a very interesting language to learn; English, French and Spanish speakers will find the similar words, and the similar grammar easy and comforting.
The following are the 50 easiest languages to learn in the world, as well small details about them.
| Rank | Language | Where It Is Spoken | Number Of Speakers |
| 1 | Italian | Europe, America, San Marino, Switzerland | 85 million |
| 2 | Spanish | Europe, America, South America, Africa | 486 million |
| 3 | German | Germany | 95 million |
| 4 | Norwegian | Norway | 5.2 million |
| 5 | French | France, Belgium, Africa, Oceania | 80 million |
| 6 | Dutch | Netherlands, Suriname, | 25 million |
| 7 | Portuguese | Portugal, Brazil | 230 million |
| 8 | Swedish | Sweden | 10 million |
| 9 | Afrikaans | Southern Africa | 25 million |
| 10 | Romanian | Romania | 29 million |
| 11 | Indonesian | Indonesia | 190 million |
| 12 | Malaysian | Malaysia, Other parts of southern Asia | 290 million |
| 13 | Swahili | Mostly Eastern and Southern Africa | 100 million |
| 14 | Albanian | Albania | 8 million |
| 15 | Amharic | Ethiopia | 32 million |
| 16 | Armenian | Armenia | 5.4 million |
| 17 | Slovak | Slovakia | 5 Million |
| 18 | Bengali | Indian | 300 million |
| 19 | Bosnian | Bosnia | 2.5 million |
| 20 | Bulgarian | Bulgaria | 17 million |
| 21 | Burmese | Myanmar, Bangladesh, India, China, Thailand | 33 million |
| 22 | Croatian | Croatia | 7 million |
| 23 | Czech | Czech Republic | 10.7 million |
| 24 | Urdu | Pakistan, India | 70 million |
| 25 | Finnish | Finland | 5 million |
| 26 | Georgian | Georgia | 3.7 million |
| 27 | Greek | Greece | 13.5 million |
| 28 | Hebrew | Israel, Poland, south Africa | |
| 29 | Hindi | India | 615 million |
| 30 | Hungarian | Hungary | 9.5 million |
| 31 | Icelandic | Iceland | 357,069 |
| 32 | Khmer | Cambodia | 16 million |
| 33 | Lao | Laos | 7 million |
| 34 | Latvian | Latvia | 1.8 million |
| 35 | Lithuanian | Lithuania | 2.8 million |
| 36 | Nepali | Nepal | 16 million |
| 37 | Pashto | Afghanistan | 60 million |
| 38 | Russian | Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan | 230 million |
| 39 | Estonian | Estonia | 1.2 million |
| 40 | Azerbaijani | Azerbaijan | 24 million |
| 41 | Ukrainian | Ukraine, Crimea | 32 million |
| 42 | Macedonian | Macedonia | 1.3 million |
| 43 | Persian | Iran, Tajikistan | 4 million |
| 44 | Slovenian | Slovenia | 2.5 million |
| 45 | Polish | Poland | 45 million |
| 46 | Turkish | Turkey | 90 million |
| 47 | Uzbek | Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and China | 45 million |
| 48 | Serbian | Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Montenegro. | 12 million |
| 49 | Mongolian | Mongolia, china | 5.2 million |
| 50 | Thai | Thailand | 90 million |
Related:
- Most Powerful Languages In The World
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Closing:
The easiest languages in the world depend largely on what languages the individual is already familiar with. An interesting example is Chinese, which is a very important language in the world, but which is conveniently left out of this list. However, people who live in Indonesia, Malaysia, and southern Asian countries may say that this is the easiest language they have ever seen.