Hardest Languages to Learn
Learning a foreign language gives you the greatest benefits for the individual and society. However, not all languages can be classified as equally robust in this regard.
While others do not seem insurmountable, some look as if they demand extraordinary efforts. In this piece, I intend to show you some of the toughest languages for a native English speaker to learn and reasons why those languages are that hard.
What is the Reason it is more difficult to learn other languages?
We’ll get into the list a little later, but first, it is also good to note factors that could make a certain language difficult to master. Some aspects can render a language particularly difficult to learn:
- Grammar Structure: There are languages whose grammar is more than complicated – it is borderline complicated. This means a lot of rules to memorize and often, exceptions to those very rules.
- Sound System: Learners of the language may have problems with certain languages that incorporate sounds or tones that are not present in their native language.
- Scripts: This can be easier said than done especially for people who have not previously studied other languages that use different scripts.
- Culture: Usually, this is true since certain languages are culturebound making it more complex for outsiders to fetch the intended essence of some terms.
Best ten languages in order of difficulty in learning
Now, keeping this in mind, we should not forget to highlight the factors that tend to determine the list of the most difficult languages to learn.
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1. Mandarin Chinese
Why it’s hard:
Mandarin is always among the top five in all these lists. The facets of language that are deemed tones create additional complexity as the reason why the given word may have different meanings.
The syllable “ma,” for example, can mean mother, hemp, horse, or scold based on tone. Apart from that, expect the more challenging aspects stemming from other branches of linguistics. For example, instead of using an alphabet, intermediate Chinese uses complicated thousands of characters
If you ask any English speaker who has ever tried to learn the Chinese language, she will tell you that its pronunciation and writing system make it very difficult- Mark Shearer, language expert explains in one of his recent studies.
2. Arabic
Why it’s hard:
Arabic has a major and a minor dialect even other languages find this rather difficult within its own language family. The script is in reverse order or leftwards wherein some letters would change shapes depending on the location of the letter inside a word.
Moreover, vowels are very rarely present in writing as well as in others, and this means that context will be your greatest friend.
I recall making my first attempt at reading an Arabic text and I was struck by how much of it seemed to be a puzzle since I was unable to discover the vowel signs.
3. Magyar
Why it’s hard:
The complexity and difficulties in Hungarian stem from its language structure. It has 18 noun cases, a fact that influences the grammatical function bear by a phrase or clause. For comparison, English has just three, which are the subjective, objective, and possessive.
The word order, however in Hungarian is less rigid. At face value, that appears to be a plus – until you find out that it means you have to have good background knowledge to get the nuances right.
4. Finnish
Why it’s hard:
The construction of the language similarity is complicated, just like with the Hungarian language, there are 15 noun cases. The Finnish language is agglutinative.
This means components can be joined together into one word by the addition of different kinds of endings. Similarly, both of these languages will present the issue that there aren’t many if any, cognates.
As stated by linguist David Crystal, “Summarizing everything, Finnish is regarded by these explanations as one of the hardest languages to learn for its extensive case system and vocabulary.”
5. Korean
Why it’s hard:
It’s easy to think that Korean isn’t so hard to learn considering that the Korean alphabet, Hangul, is not very hard to master. The catch, however, is in the language structure.
The subject-verb-object sentence order makes a striking difference to the Korean SOV sentence order. There are also levels of politeness in Korean. One can easily cause social discomfort by using the wrong level of politeness.
6. Icelandic
What is challenging:
Every ancient society has an ancient language or language that has not changed much over the years. Therefore many common grammatical structure issues can be found in today’s world.
The language is highly inflectional, which means that nouns, verbs, adjectives, and pronouns are changed by case according to their function in a sentence. This makes it hard to learn for English speakers since their grammar is not complex compared to such languages.
7. Japanese
What is challenging:
Japanese is quite special because of its writing with three different scripts: It uses the Chinese characters known as the Kanji along with syllabary scripts Hiragana and Katakana. There are thousands of kanji which applicants are required to learn.
Also, the grammar of Japanese where the verb is often last can be a puzzle to English speakers who are not used to it.
“Suzuki, an educator says, “It is like climbing a mountain from which one cannot see the endpoint. One has to first conquer the kanji and then come to the Japanese sentence phase.”
8. Russian
Why it’s hard to learn this language:
The language is hard for newcomers and children especially, since it uses the Cyrillic alphabet, which takes some time to learn. More than that, it is really poor in grammar and most of the learners get stuck.
There are six cases in the Russian language and every noun relieves based on its usage. Even the accent, especially the rolled r and certain vowels is quite difficult for a foreigner.
9. Polish
Why it’s hard:
Polish will be most difficult to master due to its well-known pronunciation of consonant clusters. How about a challenge, try pronouncing – “szczęście” (which is happiness) three times fast.
In addition to that Polish also has one of the most complex grammar in the world, inflecting nouns, pronouns, and adjectives through 7 cases.
10. Vietnamese
Why it’s hard:
Vietnamese is a tonal language too. The stress of a word is important not purely phonetically, but by its power to change, even completely, the meaning.
This has made pronunciation important but challenging for those who speak the language every day. To make matters worse, the language also has various phonological systems with regional variations.
Common Questions About Hardest Languages to Learn
How long does it take to learn a hard language?
This depends on several factors language absence, learning types of persons, and how much time they want to commit to study. However, in the case of most that are given above, for quite a few years of study truly only one can get to speak decent fluency.
Is it worth pursuing a career in a foreign language?
Definitely! Even if it is challenging, the benefits are tremendous. Not only you will be able to connect with a million (or even billion) new people, but also, learning a difficult language will enhance your brain and afford you new chances.
Are there any shortcuts?
Regrettably, there are no shortcuts when it comes to learning a hard foreign language. In contrast, diving into the culture, speaking with natives, and keeping up with your schoolwork
Tips for Tackling Hard Languages
- Start with the Basics: To begin, try to learn the alphabet and how the letters are pronounced.
- Use Language Apps: Beginner language learners can use language learning applications such as Duolingo, Memrise, or Pimsleur.
- Practice with Native Speakers: Websites for language exchange or an instructor who is a native of that language may be employed.
- Immerse Yourself in the Culture: You should try to watch movies, and listen to songs and books in a similar language.
- Stay Consistent: It is important to practice regularly to see positive results.
Final Thoughts: Hardest Languages to Learn
It can be intimidating to learn a difficult language, but the challenge is the reward. I have come to understand that the last sentence has barely any truth to it… the more I try to take on the hard languages, the more I develop, and not simply as a language student. Mandarin, Korean, Icelandic, or any other language for that matter, go all the way.
