Maybe learning a new language is on your bucket list. Or you want to boost your language skills to use at the office. You may even be an avid traveler wanting to pick a few phrases before arriving at your next destination. Whatever your reasons, learning a new language can be exciting and, well, challenging. As you decide what language to learn next, it’s a good idea to consider which languages are the easiest and hardest to learn. 

 

Whether you think a language is easy or hard depends a lot on your native language. Take for example Thai, which is a tonal language. Thai may be one of the hardest languages for a native English speaker who has never used tones before. However, for a Vietnamese native speaker who uses tones regularly, Thai may be easier to grasp. 

 

Today, we’ll go through the 28 easiest and hardest languages to learn – and why – for a native English speaker. Studies show that certain languages consistently rank as the easiest and hardest for English learners around the world. Let’s get linguistic! 

 

Why Some Languages Are Easier or Harder Than Others

The linguistic factors that make a language easy or hard for different speakers are endless. Generally speaking, however, the reasons are grouped into six categories:

 

• Grammatical concepts: Does the language have similar grammar to the native language? Are there new concepts such as gender? Or differences in word order, number of verb tenses or other topics?
• Language family: Does the language belong to the same family? Are there cognates and/or loan words? Are vocabulary words easily identifiable? 

• Sounds and tones: Does the language use the same sounds? Are there new or unique sounds? Does the language use tones (i.e. different inflections of the same sound for different meaning)? 

• Writing system: Does the language use the same writing system? Is the script organized differently (i.e. right to left)? Does the script build or require heavy memorization? 

• Cultural distance: Is the language culturally distant from the native language? Are there significant differences in cultural concepts visible within the language? 

• Language resources: Are language resources readily available? Are primary materials (songs, movies, books, newspapers) easily found? Are they high-quality?

 

These are the main criteria for deciding whether a language is one of the easiest or hardest. Remember that all these categories depend on the linguistic background of the individual. 

 

Note on Our Ranking and the Subjectivity of Easy and Hard Languages

For our ranking, we used the six categories above to show why a language can be easier or harder to learn. Each category is scored between 0-5, with 0 being the easiest and 5 being the hardest. This means that the total score for each language runs between 0 (the easiest) and 30 (the hardest). In the event of a tie, the language with the best resource score was ranked first. 

 

Regardless of the ranking, you’re the boss when it comes to learning a language. All languages require effort and practice. Even the easiest languages to learn won’t be a piece of cake. You’ll have to do the work no matter what! On the other hand, don’t be discouraged by seeing that a language is one of the hardest. You’ll learn any language more quickly if you’re interested in it. While you may consider how long it will take to learn the language and how useful it will be for you, the best predictor for language learning success is being excited about it (and maintaining that excitement over the long-term). Knowing whether a language is easy or hard is good for setting expectations, but it’s still subjective. 

 

Remember: no language is impossible to learn. You got this!

 

The Easiest Languages to Learn for Native English Speakers

 

1. Spanish (3/30)

Number of native speakers: 480 million

Grammatical concepts: 1/5

Language family: 1/5

Sounds and tones: 1/5

Writing system: 0/5

Cultural distance: 0/5

Language resources: 0/5

Spanish may be the #1 easiest language to learn. Not only does Spanish share the same alphabet – with the sole addition of ñ – but it’s also phonetic. That makes figuring out new vocabulary easy, since the spelling tells you how to pronounce it. Atención: since it’s a Romance language, you can expect lots of cognates to boost your vocabulary too. While Spanish grammar is distinct from English, it’s simpler and has some basic overlap. For example, to make plural nouns in Spanish, you add -s like English. The hardest part about Spanish is the huge variety of dialects, as it’s officially spoken in 21 different countries. Some Spanish learners also struggle with the speed. After Japanese, Spanish is the 2nd fastest spoken language – ay ay ay! 

 

2. Dutch (3/30)

Number of native speakers: 24 million

Grammatical concepts: 1/5

Language family: 0/5

Sounds and tones: 0/5

Writing system: 0/5

Cultural distance: 0/5

Language resources: 2/5

Dutch is in the Germanic language family, which includes German and English. That means there’s plenty of linguistic overlap! Plus, Dutch colonists were a major influence on American English when they arrived in the 1600s. Our favorite English word from Dutch is koekje, meaning cookie. Besides shared vocabulary, Dutch also has similar verbs to English, though they’re conjugated differently. The biggest difference is likely the new sounds, including sch and ij. Overall, Dutch is English’s closest cousin. In other words, easy-peasy.

 

3. German (6/30)

Number of native speakers: 95 million

Grammatical concepts: 2/5

Language family: 0/5

Sounds and tones: 2/5

Writing system: 1/5

Cultural distance: 0/5

Language resources: 1/5

It’s not called the Germanic language family for nothing. English and German overlap quite a bit, especially in nouns. In fact, one linguistic study found that 40% of German words sound similar to their English equivalent. There are plenty of examples! From fisch for fish, bruder for brother and haus for house, you’re already halfway there with your vocabulary. German also has consistent verb tenses and only one present and past verb, which is a big help. Of course, German has a rough reputation when it comes to pronunciation and unfortunately it’s got four noun case endings. Not to mention that compound words are likely to freak you once in a while. (To say speed limit in German, it’s this mouthful geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung). But given its similarities to English, German is one of the easiest languages.

 

4. Italian (7/30)

Number of native speakers: 69 million

Grammatical concepts: 2/5

Language family: 1/5

Sounds and tones: 1/5

Writing system: 1/5

Cultural distance: 1/5

Language resources: 1/5

Named the easiest Romance language, Italian has different grammar than English, but it’s consistent and often simpler to create sentences. Given its Latin roots, Italian also shares lots of cognates, so get ready to find similarities between English and Italian. For example, poeta for poet, problema for problem and futuro for future. Some linguists also say that the rhythm of Italian makes it easy to learn in conversation, as intonations make meaning clear. For those struggling with Italian, it’s likely because of their many articles (six compared to four in Spanish) and their heavy use of the dreaded subjunctive tense. Mamma mia! 

5. Afrikaans (7/30)

Number of native speakers: 7.2 million

Grammatical concepts: 1/5

Language family: 0/5

Sounds and tones: 0/5

Writing system: 1/5

Cultural distance: 2/5

Language resources: 3/5

As the official language of South Africa, Afrikaans is – surprise! – a close relative of Dutch. That’s because Afrikaans evolved from Dutch colonists who came to South Africa in the 1600s. Afrikaans was then infused with indigenous languages and other linguist influences. For an English native speaker, Afrikaans is fairly straightforward and one of the easiest languages. Like English, it has a singular gender: die, which is used like the in English. Another benefit is that Afrikaan verbs don’t conjugate by person, so there are fewer endings and noun genders to learn compared to Dutch. Finally, spelling is super intuitive, with many words written halfway between Dutch and English. Take the word for sun, for example: it’s zon in Dutch and son in Afrikaans.

 

6. Esperanto (7/30)

Number of native speakers: 1,000-2,000

Grammatical concepts: 0/5

Language family: 1/5

Sounds and tones: 0/5

Writing system: 0/5

Cultural distance: 1/5

Language resources: 5/5

Esperanto is an unusual language because it was created by a single man, L.L. Zamenhof, in his quest for a universal language. Zamenhof purposely wanted to make an easy-to-learn language for all people. To achieve his goal, he made Esperanto have predictable and phonetic spelling. In addition, Esperanto only has 5 vowels, simply word order and vocabulary based on the Romance languages. For many, Esperanto is the easiest language in the world and considered a stepping stone for learning other ones. While no country has adopted Esperanto as an official language, it’s been widely supported by the European Union and organizations like PEN International. 

7. Portuguese (9/30)

Number of native speakers: 223 million

Grammatical concepts: 2/5

Language family: 1/5

Sounds and tones: 2/5

Writing system: 1/5

Cultural distance: 2/5

Language resources: 1/5

Hotly debated as the most beautiful language in the world, Portuguese is a Romance language with some overlap with English. Cognates are commonplace between Portuguese and English, thanks to the influence of French on English. But that’s not the only reason why it’s one of the easiest languages to learn. Portuguese has almost identical word order and structure to other Romance languages (especially Spanish). This can be both a blessing and a curse, as Portuguese is known for having lots of “false friends,” words that sound similar but mean something different. A good example is the word puxar, which sounds like it should mean push, but actually means pull. Pronunciation can also be a little tricky, as some nasal sounds are unique to Portuguese. 

 

8. French (9/30)

Number of native speakers: 76.8 million

Grammatical concepts: 2/5

Language family: 1/5

Sounds and tones: 3/5

Writing system: 1/5

Cultural distance: 1/5

Language resources: 1/5

French and English go way back. When William the Conqueror stormed England in the 11th century, the English language became forever entwined with French. In fact, linguists say that 45% of English words have a French origin. You can see this in the huge number of cognates, i.e. similar sounding words with identical meanings. Words like fruit, garage, menu and nature all come directly from French. These familiar words will be a welcome sight for English speakers and make it one of the easiest languages to learn. Of course, not everything about French is simple. Their notorious silent letters can make you feel like a cat’s got your tongue. 

 

9. Danish (9/30)

Number of native speakers: 5.5 million

Grammatical concepts: 1/5

Language family: 0/5

Sounds and tones: 2/5

Writing system: 1/5

Cultural distance: 2/5

Language resources: 3/5

Danish is favorite for polyglots and one of the easiest languages for English learners. As a Scandinavian language, it’s similar to Norwegian and Swedish, but with a few twists. Unlike them, Danish has only nine verb forms. (Yay for simplicity!) It’s case system is basic too, so there’s not a ton of extra pronouns to add on. Oh, and it’s definitely got similar sounding words to English. A common example is the days of the week: Mandag (Monday), Tirsdag (Tuesday) and Onsdag (Wednesday). The only tricky part? Pronunciation may require some practice. 

 

10. Norwegian (9/30)

Number of native speakers: 5.2 million

Grammatical concepts: 1/5

Language family: 0/5

Sounds and tones: 2/5

Writing system: 1/5

Cultural distance: 2/5

Language resources: 3/5

Velkommen to Norwegian! This language isn’t as distant from English as you may think. As a Germanic language, Norwegian and English share tons of cognates (like welcome). In addition, Norwegian grammar is a cinch, with present endings for all groups ending in -r. Other tenses use only one ending as well! If you want to create the passive tense, just add -s. And if you want to create possessive, pop on -s too (just like English). As if that wasn’t easy enough, Norwegian also has somewhat similar word order to English, at least compared to German. 

11. Romanian (10/30)

Number of native speakers: 25 million

Grammatical concepts: 2/5

Language family: 1/5

Sounds and tones: 2/5

Writing system: 1/5

Cultural distance: 2/5

Language resources: 2/5

Romanian may sound like an exotic language – given the whole vampire thing – but it’s actually one of the easiest languages to learn for native English speakers. In case you didn’t know, Romanian is a Romance language and linguists say it’s 80% Latin. That means plenty of Latin roots and cognates to look forward to, such as cetate for city. Romanian is also consistently phonetic, so words are pronounced as they’re spelled. It also uses Latin script, though it was once written in Cyrillic. Of course, Romanian has Slavic influences and sounds a bit like Italian with a Russian twist!

12. Swedish (11/30)

Number of native speakers: 10 million

Grammatical concepts: 2/5

Language family: 0/5

Sounds and tones: 3/5

Writing system: 1/5

Cultural distance: 2/5

Language resources: 3/5

Last but not least, Swedish is one of the easiest languages because it shares Germanic roots with English. Not only are there thousands of cognates, but also similarities in the grammar, syntax and vocabulary. The sweetest part: there’s no distinct verb endings. All you need is -är to form verbs for everybody. Some English speakers complain about their articles en and ett, which have to be memorized for every case, as well as the extra vowels å, ä and ö. But there’s no doubt that this sing-song language is within your reach.  

13. Swahili (14/30)

Number of native speakers: 15 million

Grammatical concepts: 2/5

Language family: 3/5

Sounds and tones: 2/5

Writing system: 2/5

Cultural distance: 3/5

Language resources: 2/5

Swahili is widely spoken throughout East Africa, including officially in Tanzania and Kenya. Swahili is one of the few African languages without tone, which makes it one of the easiest languages for native English speakers. It’s a unique language with 35% of its vocabulary coming from Arabic. However, it’s also heavily influenced by Bantu, Persian, English and Romance languages. This should be muziki to your ears, since you’ll find a fair number of cognates. The most unusual aspect of Swahili is the lack of verb conjugations. Instead, it adds affixes to verbs to indicate tense and subject. So, for a simple sentence like “I am going,” Swahili speakers would say “nina-kwenda”: ni is I, na is present tense and kwenda means “to go.” 

 

14. Indonesian (15/30)

Number of native speakers: 43 million

Grammatical concepts: 1/5

Language family: 4/5

Sounds and tones: 2/5

Writing system: 2/5

Cultural distance: 4/5

Language resources: 2/5

Indonesian is a popular language that’s easy to pick up. To start, Indonesian shares certain characteristics with English. For example, there’s no gendered nouns in Indonesian. In addition, it uses a phonetic Latin script (so no need to learn a new alphabet) and similar word order to English. To make life easier, Indonesian doesn’t have distinct verb endings, and adds prefixes and suffixes onto words to change the meaning. All these traits make Indonesian one of the easiest languages to learn quickly. Bonus: in case you were worried, there are no tones in Indonesian either! 

 

The Hardest Languages to Learn for Native English Speakers

 

15. Hindi (17/30)

Number of native speakers: 260 million

Grammatical concepts: 3/5

Language family: 3/5

Sounds and tones: 3/5

Writing system: 4/5

Cultural distance: 3/5

Language resources: 1/5

Hindi is highly phonetic, which means it’s spelled the way it sounds – score! Besides that, however, Hindi has some challenging differences in terms of grammar, pronunciation and writing. First, Hindi uses an SOV (subject object verb) word order and has new sounds for English speakers, including dha and hka. In addition, their writing system, Devanagari script, has 47 characters including 14 vowels and 33 consonants. This script system is quite distinct from the English alphabet because it doesn’t uses letter case (so no caps here!). While some Hindi learners use a Latin alphabet, the Devanagari script actually helps clarify pronunciation once characters are understood. In case you need motivation: Hindi is spoken by half a billion people worldwide! 

 

16. Polish (17/30)

Number of native speakers: 45 million

Grammatical concepts: 4/5

Language family: 2/5

Sounds and tones: 4/5

Writing system: 3/5

Cultural distance: 2/5

Language resources: 2/5

Polish falls within the Slavic language family, but luckily for English speakers, it uses the Latin script. However, other features make it one of the hardest languages to learn. First off, Polish has 9 additional letters – ą, ć, ę, ł, ń, ó, ś, ź and ż – which can be challenging to get right. Polish is also stuffed with consonants. For example, the word happiness in Polish is szczęście, which has six syllables. Yikes! Like English, Polish isn’t too consistent with phonetics either, so the same sound could be spelled in several ways. Finally, Polish has notoriously complex grammar, including five grammatical genders, free word order and 17 different forms for saying numbers. The good news? There are only three verb tenses in Polish: present, past and future. 

 

17. Czech (17/30)

Number of native speakers: 10.7 million

Grammatical concepts: 4/5

Language family: 2/5

Sounds and tones: 4/5

Writing system: 3/5

Cultural distance: 2/5

Language resources: 2/5

While it doesn’t use the Cyrillic alphabet, Czech is part of the Slavic language family and takes complexity to the next level. Just consider its noun case system. With 7 cases across 4 genders, nouns can be extremely tricky to properly decline. Compared to German nouns, for example, Czech has 15 times more possibilities! That’s not all: adjectives have 6 cases, pronouns have 7 cases and it has a complex way of declining numerals. Don’t forget about all the irregular nouns and verbs too (uh-oh). Czech is also one of the hardest languages because of the way that consonants cluster together in words, making pronounciation a mouthful! Many learners also consider the ř sound devilishly difficult to say.

 

18. Persian (18/30)

Number of native speakers: 70 million

Grammatical concepts: 3/5

Language family: 3/5

Sounds and tones: 3/5

Writing system: 4/5

Cultural distance: 3/5

Language resources: 2/5

Persian, which you may known by the dialect names Farsi (Iran), Dari (Afghanistan) and Tajik (Tajikistan and Uzbekistan), is spoken by 110 million people. What’s the deal with Persian? Well, it’s an Indo-European language, which means there are some useful cognates between Persian and English. Take for example the word star, written as setareh in Persian. Numerous Persian words have even been incorporated into English, including bazaar, candy, caravan, checkmate and kiosk. However, Persian is one of the hardest languages to learn because of its writing system. Though right to left, Persian uses Arabic script, as well as four more letters in their alphabet. While perhaps not as tricky as Arabic, Persian alphabet doesn’t have letter case (so no capitals), joins words together and has some redundant letters. Finally, Persian grammar can be difficult to grasp, including a large number of prefixes and suffixes added onto words. 

 

19. Gaelic (18/30)

Number of native speakers: 195,000 (57,000 Scottish, 138,000 Irish)

Grammatical concepts: 3/5

Language family: 2/5

Sounds and tones: 3/5

Writing system: 2/5

Cultural distance: 3/5

Language resources: 5/5

Gaelic starts out on the right foot: it uses the Latin script, has phonetic spelling and follows consistent grammar rules. But its many grammatical cases and dialects make it one of the hardest languages to pick up. With combinations like bhF and mB, Gaelic has some unusual sound combinations, too. In addition, it uses VSO (verb, subject, object) word order, which can be tricky to get the hang of. Luckily, there is some overlap with English, since Ireland and Scotland are neighbors to England. For example, the word galore in English comes from the Gaelic go leór. Even the word car comes from càr in Gaelic! 

 

20. Arabic (19/30)

Number of native speakers: 310 million

Grammatical concepts: 3/5

Language family: 3/5

Sounds and tones: 4/5

Writing system: 5/5

Cultural distance: 4/5

Language resources: 0/5

Arabic is just about as linguistically and culturally distant from English as you can get. The first zinger? Arabic doesn’t include vowels in writing, so you have to fill in the blanks yourself. No wonder the Foreign Service Institute estimates a whopping 2,200 hours to learn Arabic! In addition, Arabic is read from right to left, has a unique alphabet and requires you to learn new sounds. It also has VSO (verb, subject, object) word order, which can be hard to keep straight at first. Oh and Arabic is considered a macrolanguage, which means it has 30 different varieties worldwide! All these traits make it one of the hardest languages to learn. To give you some hope: verb conjugations are consistent, so you’ll have an easy time once you know all the endings! 

 

21. Korean (20/30)

Number of native speakers: 77.2 million

Grammatical concepts: 3/5

Language family: 4/5

Sounds and tones: 4/5

Writing system: 4/5

Cultural distance: 4/5

Language resources: 1/5

Korean is one of the hardest languages to learn for native English speakers because of some key grammatical and pronunciation rules. First, Korean follows a SOV word order, so you’ll have to get used to ending the sentence with the verb. Words can also get long and windy because Koreans use suffixes to modify the word. Not to mention that Korean uses lots of connectors, making sentences even longer! Korean also has some difficult pronunciation, such as the double G, double P, double J and double K, which can be challenging to say fluidly. In addition, you’ll have to watch what you say when addressing your superiors. Like Japanese, Korean has a lot of endings to show respect for authority, which means more verb endings to remember. On the plus side, the Korean alphabet hangul is easy to learn.

 

22. Mandarin Chinese (21/30)

Number of native speakers: 910 million

Grammatical concepts: 2/5

Language family: 4/5

Sounds and tones: 5/5

Writing system: 5/5

Cultural distance: 5/5

Language resources: 0/5

Mandarin is one of the hardest languages to learn for English speakers. Almost everything about Mandarin can be overwhelming at first (although the grammar rules are thankfully fairly simple). First, Mandarin is a tonal language, with four different tones that change a word’s meaning. One of the most common examples is the word ma, which depending on the inflection can mean mother, horse, scold or hemp. These tones make Mandarin extremely tricky; if you don’t get the tone right, you’ll say a different word entirely! Mandarin also uses characters for the writing system, which entails lots of memorization at first. Finally, Mandarin is known for its many homophones and idioms, which can be culturally distant from English. Of course, 910 million people speak Mandarin, so that’s huge motivation to learn it well! 

 

23. Japanese (21/30)

Number of native speakers: 125 million

Grammatical concepts: 3/5

Language family: 4/5

Sounds and tones: 4/5

Writing system: 5/5

Cultural distance: 4/5

Language resources: 1/5

Japanese may not be a tonal language, but it’s one of the hardest languages to learn. The first difficult aspect is writing in Japanese. Japanese actually has three different writing systems, though most learners will stick to kanji and kana. Kanji can be notoriously difficult to master because it’s a character-based system, so you have to memorize how words are written. Luckily only 2,000 kanji characters are commonly used, which helps matters. In addition, Japanese can be tough because of its SOV word order and use of articles to denote information such as subject, motion, object and questions. Since Japan is a polite culture, it’s important to use hierarchical forms to show respect to authority figures, too. To top it off, Japanese takes the top spot as the fastest spoken language in the world! 

 

24. Turkish (22/30)

Number of native speakers: 75.7 million

Grammatical concepts: 5/5

Language family: 5/5

Sounds and tones: 4/5

Writing system: 3/5

Cultural distance: 4/5

Language resources: 1/5

Turkish is a distinctive language with some quirky rules. While Turkish has used Latin script since 1928 – lucky for English speakers! – pronunciation can still be a challenge. Turkish uses vowel harmony, so some vowels will shift depending on context. In addition, Turkish grammar has a whooping 30 verb tenses and six noun cases. Many words will also take on suffixes to change the meaning, which can throw learners for a loop. Its redeeming factor? Turkish has no gender or articles.

 

25. Finnish (22/30)

Number of native speakers: 5.4 million

Grammatical concepts: 5/5

Language family: 5/5

Sounds and tones: 4/5

Writing system: 3/5

Cultural distance: 2/5

Language resources: 3/5

Finnish is the dark horse of languages found in Europe and one of the hardest worldwide. Though within Europe, Finnish isn’t part of the Indo-European languages. You won’t find shared roots or cognates here, which means Finnish is a bit of a blank slate. Then there’s the grammar. Finnish has 15 grammatical cases and each verb can have 200 possible endings given all the endings! In addition, it has some finicky rules about consonants, which change spelling depending on endings, especially the letters k, p and t. Learners may also be put off by the way words can be inflected by verbs, nouns and adjectives. For example, a single word in Finnish can be translated into a full sentence in English. One favorite Finnish word is söisinköhän, meaning “I’m wondering if I should eat something.” The silver lining of Finnish is that it’s fairly phonetic! 

 

26. Icelandic (22/30)

Number of native speakers: 358,000

Grammatical concepts: 3/5

Language family: 5/5

Sounds and tones: 3/5

Writing system: 3/5

Cultural distance: 3/5

Language resources: 5/5

In 2010, the volcano Eyjafjallajökull erupted in Iceland, throwing TV reporters in turmoil. Eyjafjallajökull was so difficult for them to pronounce that most shortened it to E13. Icelandic has a reputation for difficult pronunciation, due to its long words and new sounds like Þ and Ð, which can be either voiced or voiceless. It also has quirky grammar because of its geographical isolation, which allowed it to keep old rules and forms. Icelandic has an unusual noun system, with four cases, three genders and two numbers. In addition, their verbs have three persons, two numbers, two tenses and two moods. Icelandic requires quite a bit of upfront study, but once you get the hang of it, the rules are consistent. And you may even discover a few cognates, such as geyser from the Icelandic geysir.  

 

27. Hungarian (23/30)

Number of native speakers: 13 million

Grammatical concepts: 5/5

Language family: 5/5

Sounds and tones: 4/5

Writing system: 3/5

Cultural distance: 4/5

Language resources: 2/5

Like Finnish, Hungarian is part of the Uralic language family that is completely separate from Indo-European languages. For English native speakers, this makes Hungarian one of the hardest languages to learn. To start, Hungarian has a reputation for complex grammar. And with 35 different cases, we can see why! Hungarian also has 14 different vowels (compared to 5 in English) and something called vowel harmony – also found in Korean and Turkish – where suffixes are added to words to keep the sounds in harmony. This rule adds another 2-3 suffixes to Hungarian, depending on the word. On the bright side, Hungarian only has three verb tenses: past, present and future! 

 

28. Basque (26/30)

Number of native speakers: 750,000

Grammatical concepts: 5/5

Language family: 5/5

Sounds and tones: 4/5

Writing system: 3/5

Cultural distance: 4/5

Language resources: 5/5

Spoken solely in Basque Country, Basque is an intriguing language. For many it’s considered one of the hardest languages to learn because it’s a language isolate. Even though Basque Country is located in Europe, Basque isn’t related to any Indo-European languages. Linguists think it’s one of the oldest languages in the world, which is why it’s a bit old-fashioned. Compared to modern languages, Basque is extraordinarily different. For instance, Basque doesn’t simply change the end of the verb, it changes the beginning too. It also tacks on participles and pronouns to show subject and object within the verb. Nouns are likewise stuffed with information: Basque has 12 nouns cases, with many suffixes and prefixes added to change meaning. By the way, you won’t find any cognates either. Besides all this, Basque has a few easier traits. There are only two new sounds, tx and tz, and the alphabet uses Latin script. There is itxaropena (hope) after all! 

 

Tips to Speed Up Your Language Learning

To kick off your language learning, it’s important that you ask yourself why you want to learn this language. Your language goals will be different depending on whether you want to travel and speak with locals, converse in depth with a native friend, or read literature in that language. This motivation is what’s going to get you through the ups and downs of the language learning process.

 

Once you’ve determined the why, you can speed up your language learning with these tips:

 

• Set language goals: Make a clear goal for how often you want to practice or study the language. Daily goals? Weekly goals? You decide what’s best. Even just ten minutes a day can keep the language fresh in your mind. 
• Focus on critical tasks: Don’t spend hours studying that rare past perfect tense, if you aren’t going to use it. Instead, the best way to learn a language is to follow the famous 80-20 rule that states that 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts. In other words, go for the low-hanging fruit. Practice the critical stuff, such as common vocabulary, useful verb tenses and casual phrases. 

• Get a language partner or teacher: There’s no use learning a language if you can’t speak it. Get a language partner or hire a teacher to get one-on-one time with a native speaker. The more experience you can get with real-life conversation, the better. Of course, a language teacher has effective techniques to speed up your learning. But if you’re in a pinch, a language partner will also help. 
• Record yourself speaking: Learning how to SPEAK a language might just be the hardest part of the process. But there are useful tools that can make it easier.  Nowadays with apps like WhatsApp, it’s easy to record and send audios of yourself. Every day, try sending an audio to a friend or family member so that you’re using the language constantly. If you don’t have anybody, you can also simply record yourself and review what went well or not-so-well. Practice makes practice!

• Enjoy music, books, TV shows, movies, radio and newspapers: Expose yourself to the culture of the language you’re learning. You’ll find useful vocabulary and get the feel for natural phrasing. Music and movies can be motivating as well! Whenever possible try to listen to materials at least once without subtitles to stimulate your learning. 

 

At the end of the day, learning a language can be tough, but also rewarding. No matter what language you choose – whether easy, hard or something in between – you’ll enrich your life by learning another language. Best of luck!