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The most difficult language in the world will be tough for most foreign people to read and write. People who take an interest in learning new languages must know the toughest challenges they can take up. Check out this post to know all about the difficulty of languages.
Most difficult language in the world
The following are some of the most difficult languages to learn:
Mandarin Chinese
Most people consider Mandarin the most difficult language in the world. However, due to the high Chinese population, Mandarin is a common language globally. This language has a different writing style which is difficult to grasp by the English speakers.
Unlike the Latin language, Mandarin is difficult to learn. People comfortable using Latin alphabets might find the language difficult too.
Another challenge of learning this language is remembering numerous special characters, unlike Latin languages. Writing is not the only difficult part of this language; it also has complex verbal pronunciation.
There are four different patterns of pronouncing a single word. This feature of the language makes it more difficult and confusing for people. For example, the word “ma” may refer to “mother,” “scold,” “rough,” or “horse.” The meaning of the word depends on the pronunciation.
Arabic
Arabic is another one of the most spoken and most difficult languages in the world. The Arabic language has a different variety, which depends on the areas in which it is spoken. It isn’t easy to pronounce this language as they omit the vowel alphabets from the words. For instance, they write “this” as “ths,” “language” as “lngg,” etc.
The Arabic language follows the pattern of writing from right to left. This is also why it takes time for people to familiarize themselves with the language. Some pronunciations of the language are very difficult and do not seem to be present in other languages.
Learning the grammar of the Arabic language is also very difficult and different from that of the other languages. It is a language consisting of twenty-eight script letters. It consists of non-Latin letters.
Polish
The grammar and spelling of this language can be challenging for English speakers and others. They use full of consonant alphabets in each word. Thus it makes the pronunciation as well as an understanding of the words difficult.
For instance, the word “happiness” spells as “szczescie,” and “ruthless” spell as “bezwzgledny.” The meaning and the spelling of the terms differ a lot. It is, therefore, one of the most difficult languages in the world. However, the knowledge of this language is beneficial as Poland is rapidly developing to contribute to Europe’s economy.
Thus the above three languages fall in the list of the most difficult language in the world. They are difficult to grasp by English speakers as well as others. Learning the above languages are time taking for learners. Several other languages fall under the list of the most difficult in the world. Some of the examples of such languages are Russian, Turkish, Danish, Hungarian, etc.
Easiest language in the world
Learning a new language excites many. Learning something new is a hobby for many. Thus no other option can be best than learning a new language. The following are some of the easiest languages in the world that people can attempt to learn:
English
English is the most common language that people speak all over the world. It is the easiest language to learn both verbally and in writing. Around 30% of the world’s population knows how to read or write in English.
French
French is a top language, widely spoken all across the world. The vocabulary of this language is quite similar to that of the English language. This feature of the language makes it easier to grasp it quickly by the learners.
There are minute differences between the French and the English languages. This is due to the difference in pronunciation used by both. The interchange or sharing of vocabulary among the English and French languages makes it easier.
Thus, the above is why the French language is comparatively one of the easiest languages in the world. Therefore the new learners should go ahead with the learning of this language.
Spanish
This is another language among the easiest in the world. It is easy for native English speakers. The Latin language is one of the significant sources of words in the Spanish language. This is quite similar to that of the English language.
The pronunciation of the Spanish words is relatively easy to understand. The pronunciation and spelling of the Spanish words are the same. Thus there are fewer chances of confusion. However, there are specific differences concerning the grammar rules of this language.
The difference in grammar rules may be confusing for the learners at the initial stage of learning Spanish. However, it has been identified that the tenses of the Spanish language are quite similar to the English language.
Some of the examples of Spanish words are the word correct spells as “correcto.” The word delicious spells “delicioso,” etc. Some of the recent research on different languages identifies that Spanish is the second largest spoken language worldwide.
The main factor that makes this language the easiest is pronounced the way it is spelled or written.
Dutch
The Dutch language is a part of Germany. Most people belonging to Netherlands and Belgium speak this language. The vocabulary and pronunciation of the language are pretty similar to the German and English languages. Most of the spelling of Dutch words is similar to that of the English language.
However, the concern should be regarding their pronunciation as it differs for certain words. For instance, “rat” means rat in Dutch but is pronounced as “rot.” Thus, despite some confusion in the pronunciation and spelling of the language, it is considered easy for learners.
Deciding to learn a new language is not an easy task. It requires passion, motivation, and dedication towards understanding. Thus, the languages mentioned above can be considered the easiest ones that can be learned quickly at the initial stage.
Most difficult language to pronounce
Difficulty in pronunciation may vary from people speaking different languages since English is considered the largest spoken language worldwide. There may be a difference in the level of difficulty in pronunciation between a person speaking French and the one speaking Mandarin Chinese.
Pronunciation of a language depends on two factors. These factors are the spelling of the languages and their pronunciation. In most languages, it is found that there is a massive difference in their pronunciation compared to what they are spelled.
Difficulty in pronunciation of a language is therefore dependent on the native language of a person. Some physical movements such as the tongue, mouth, or teeth also determine the level of grasping pronunciation of new languages. However, certain words of some languages may be difficult to be pronounced by people from other parts of the world.
Mandarin Chinese is a complicated language for people speaking English to grasp or get used to. The words in Arabic are another language that is difficult to pronounce. The words in the Arabic language do not consider vowels which makes them difficult to pronounce by people.
In most cases, a language that is easy or hard is based on the people’s native places or native languages. Apart from this, tonal languages are more complex than others.
The languages being tonal can be considered to be the most difficult languages to be pronounced. The tones and sounds of different words of different languages are difficult to grasp by the people learning them. However, similarities in different languages or dialects can make this relatively easier. When the similarity does not exist, it makes pronunciation difficult for people from different native languages.
Hardest language to learn for English speakers
Specific languages are very much different from the English language. Thus it is difficult for English speakers to master these languages. The following are some of the languages which English-speaking people find difficult to manage.
Hindi
Hindi is one of the most complex languages for people speaking Engish. Devanagari is the script that is used in writing Hindi. It is difficult for English speakers to get a hold of it.
The written version of the language makes it more complicated for English speakers. The language lacks some phonetic marking that cannot make the non-natives aware of pronouncing the words correctly. However, the Arabic people may find the Hindi language a bit easy as some of their vocabularies are similar.
Arabic
This language is quite a challenge for English speakers. In this language, people can write a single letter in four different forms. This is based on their position in a word. Another challenge is the various Arabic language forms with different meanings that depend on the countries in which they are spoken. Thus, it makes the language hard to for English speakers to master.
Hungarian
This is a language consisting of 26 cases that are different from one another. People need to follow cultural tones to grasp this language. The suffixes used in a sentence describes the tense rather than considering the word order used for the same.
Apart from the above challenges, grammar makes it difficult for English speakers. Thus it is one of the most complex languages to learn for English speakers.
Korean
The Korean language is a unique language having no similarities with any others. The word order of the language is extraordinary. The grammar of the Korean language is also very complex. It also has complex alphabets. Thus the indifferent nature of the language makes it difficult for English speakers as well as others.
Navajo
Navajo is another language using a considerable number of consonants in a particular word. This is not familiar to the English speakers, thus making the language difficult to learn. In this language, the prefixes and the suffixes replace the prepositions.
The lack of similar words to other languages makes it difficult for the learners. Its indifferent grammar composition also makes it very difficult for English speakers.
There were no dictionaries available for the Navajo language in the past. This is the reason that makes the language more difficult as people had no sources to decode the meaning. However, with the help of the internet and online sources, it is possible to understand the language for people interested in learning it.
Vietnamese
The language uses numerous vowels in its words. There are huge differences between the dialects of English and Vietnamese languages. Their dialects are far different from the English language. The people speaking both English and Chinese still find some similar dialects in the Vietnamese language. Otherwise, it is difficult for people speaking English to grasp the language.
Japanese
Japanese is another language that people speaking English cannot grasp. To learn this language, you need to know about the two most essential alphabets. Hiragana and Katakana are the two alphabets used in Japanese languages.
The factor which makes this language difficult for English speakers is the number of individual characters. The learner needs to memorize all the characters to grasp knowledge in this language.
There is a huge similarity in the vocabulary of Chinese and Japanese languages. It thus makes the language more complex for English speakers.
Mandarin Chinese
Mandarin is difficult to learn for English speakers. The tonal of this language utilizes unique idioms. They also consist of certain homophones, words sounding similar but having a different meaning.
The most difficult language in the world stands as Mandarin. The Chinese language is the most difficult language globally and the hardest language for English speakers. However, you can always start learning with easier ones that people commonly speak.
Final thoughts
So, this was the list of the most difficult language in the world to learn. Find out which one you would want to challenge yourself with and see if you can learn it from scratch.
