Top 10 Easiest Languages to Learn

The Top Ten
Esperanto

The clever use of morphemes means it's easy to multiply your word knowledge from a single root form because all the endings are regular. You can't do that in English.

For language learners, Esperanto is a great choice as it gives you the tools to learn languages quickly. One TED talk compares it to a recorder versus a bassoon: one is easier than the other, teaches you about music, and allows you to start playing.

If the goal is to connect the world and not get stuck in localized nuances, Esperanto is the best choice. I'm in the Duolingo Beta class, and it's just so much fun. I don't remember having so much fun with languages!

Spanish

I'm learning Spanish, and it is one of the easiest languages, in my opinion. Almost everything is pronounced just like you'd say it in English. The grammar isn't much of a worry, there aren't many accents, and it's easy to listen to once you've learned it.

That being said, Spanish is the second most spoken language, so I think everyone should try to learn it because it's useful and easy!

I'm learning Spanish with Duolingo, and I find it easy to learn. However, the grammar and word placement are a little tricky.

I know I'll get the hang of it because I have Spanish-speaking friends.

Norwegian

I'd say Norwegian is easier, at least for Indo-European language speakers. Germanic languages have easier grammar (except for word order) than Romance languages, which have endless tenses and ways to conjugate verbs.

It's like Danish but with easy pronunciation.

English

English isn't actually the easiest language to learn for foreign speakers, but it is easier for those who speak languages more related to it. English is influenced by many languages, from French to Greek to Japanese, making it very diverse.

Although we have a developed alphabet, grammar can be difficult for foreigners. There are homonyms, nouns that are the same in plural form, and contractions.

English is basically the only language I speak (although I can understand some Tagalog and Spanish), and I still don't understand the tenses of the word "lay" and how to refer to two people, including yourself, possessively (mine and yours?).

Dutch

It's not a beautiful or useful language, but it's easy to pick up. It reminds me of German.

I find Dutch very similar to English. So if you already speak English, learning Dutch would be very easy for you. Good luck!

For an English speaker, Dutch is an exceptionally easy language to learn, as the two are closely related. As you dive deeper into the language, you'll find that many words are built up from other words. There are also many words stemming from Latin roots, which can be easily translated into most other European languages.

Het huis - the house
Verhuizen - to move (to another house)

Snoep - candy
Het snoepje - the sweet

De grap - the joke
Grappig - funny
De lol - the fun
Lollig - funny

Een/één - a/one
Verenigen - to unify
De vereniging - the association
De student - the (university) student
De studenten - the students
De studentenvereniging - the student association

Unlike English, Dutch spelling and pronunciation are very straightforward. You only need to learn which sound corresponds to which letter, and you can pronounce anything (except for French and English loanwords).

Swedish

The grammar and sentence structure are quite basic for a native English speaker.

French

I myself learn French, and I have experienced it to be very easy. If you are an English speaker, then it will be way easier for you.

The only problem is vocabulary and verbs. If you master them, then everything else is absolutely easy!

Verb conjugations are pretty simple, and so is most grammar. If you know at least one Romance language, it will make the others so much easier because they are extremely similar.

If you speak English, it's easier for you to create phrases. If you speak Russian, it's easier for you to pronounce.

Italian

Italian is the easiest language in the world.

Romance languages are extremely easy for English speakers, especially Italian.

Indonesian

As an Indonesian, I have to say that Indonesian is the easiest language to learn. I have learned and, to some extent, spoken an awful lot of languages: English, Chinese, French, Italian, Javanese, and Finnish.

By far, Indonesian is the easiest to learn because the grammatical structure is the simplest I have encountered. The other languages, especially English, Italian, and French, have a lot of exceptions and rules that just have to be memorized. In Indonesian, you can scramble the parts of the sentences and it still makes sense.

In an effective daily conversation, we use only 500-1000 unique words, even though we have many more than that in our dictionary. We tend to keep our sentences short and simple, even in written form.

Portuguese

Portuguese is easy for English speakers and for Spanish speakers too.

Easier than English, in my opinion. I learned English at 5 and Portuguese at 2. I'm not from the US or the UK.

The Newcomers

? Russian

Russian is so easy! I speak five languages (English, Turkish, German, Russian, and Spanish), and Russian is probably the easiest!

? Isizulu

It's not a well-known language, but in South Africa, it is the easiest African language to learn.

The Contenders
German

If you struggle with grammar and don't like it, German isn't easy. However, if you enjoy and understand grammar, then German is easy. It has simple and logical pronunciation. Words are spoken clearly and concisely, and are always enunciated, so it is easy to listen to, unlike slurred and flowing languages such as French and Italian. The vocabulary is simple and easy.

German may have three genders, but the genders are mainly based on spelling, not on the type of word. For example, Mädchen (which means girl) is a neutral word because it has -chen at the end, which is always neutral. So German is very easy, and it is fun to learn.

Latin

I think Spanish should be in the 3 to 5 range because I learned it in 2 months. It is way too easy.

Turkish

When you finally grasp the word order, which is subject-object-verb, unlike English (which is my native language) where the order is subject-verb-object, you can get into the language, and it becomes very easy.

There are no articles (a, the), which makes it easier because there are no gendered articles (like le, la, un, une, una, lo, die, der, das). Overall, it is a beautiful language.

Absolutely one of the most straightforward and systematic languages in the world. The most important foundation of the grammar is the vowel harmony found in the majority of Turkic languages. No genders! I promise, this is way easier than Danish (written vs. spoken), Tagalog (complex verbal conjugation), and German (genders aah!).

Malay

Super easy! Everything you spell is everything you say!

Afrikaans

Not a very well-known language, but very easy to learn considering the shared use of Germanic and Latin roots and practically no genders or conjugations.

Afrikaans literally came about as a simplified Dutch so it would be easier for natives to learn.

Its grammar is easy, verbs never change, there are only two irregular verbs, no genders, and it's similar to German, Dutch, English, and Swedish. Its spelling is as simple as cake.

One of the easiest languages to learn if you speak a Germanic language.

Irish

It's really easy to pronounce but extremely hard to spell correctly and accurately!

Irish is a simpler language than people think. Sure, its grammar and alphabet are a little different, and it has some additional letters not found in English. But, most importantly, it is far more regular in terms of grammar and spelling compared to English.

In fact, once you know how to pronounce certain letters, you're good to go. The only exception is S, which can make both the /s/ or /sh/ sound. But that's just one letter. In English, there are many (e.g., X can make the /ks/, /gz/, or /z/ sound; Y can be both a vowel and a consonant; W too. And S can make /s/ or /z/ sounds).

Additionally, Irish has far fewer silent letters. For example, unlike in English, the e's are pronounced at the end of a word (e.g., Rince is pronounced Rin-cay). Grammar is regular too, with only 11 irregular words - nothing compared to English.

Serbian

I'm Slovenian, and it's easy for me to speak Serbian because our languages are very similar.

Tagalog

Tagalog is a bit complicated. I remember traveling to the Philippines four years ago to taste some street foods. They were delicious, except for ISAW, which is a chicken intestine dish I found horrible.

On July 2, 2016, I started learning the Filipino language, and it was amazing!

In English, you have to make the sounds correct. In Tagalog, you pronounce it literally.

Sometimes there are context clues like "Paslangin," which means to kill, and "Bilangguan," which means jail.

Swahili
Danish

Other than the pronunciation, the grammar is very close to English. Where it does differ, the difficulty is either on par with English or even easier. Verbs only decline through tense and not by person.

The definite suffix takes a bit of getting used to, but it's a minor thing. The only difficulty is remembering a word's gender. The pronunciation isn't too bad once you get used to it.

Hindi
Romanian
Toki Pona

This language is basically useless, but it is undoubtedly the easiest to learn. The grammar is ridiculously simple, and there are only about 120 to 130 words.

You can't get much easier than this. Only 120 words and extremely simple grammar. How is this below Latin?

Korean

Once you get past the conjugation system, it's pretty easy. It's kind of like English, except there aren't any exceptions to grammar and spelling rules, so it's easier than English.

Korean doesn't have articles or different pronouns like "he" or "she."

The alphabet is simple. For pronunciation, just watch a couple of videos of Korean people talking.

Greek
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