English as a second language is fairly widespread in Europe; in fact, it seems like you’ll always find someone who knows English to some degree wherever you go.
Indeed, with the vast rise in online materials, it has become easier than ever. To learn a new language as an English speaker. Multilingualism is a terrific and potentially free method to boost your employability and give you an advantage over your competition while looking for work overseas.
Many businesses are eager to migrate abroad to expand into new markets as the globe becomes increasingly globalized. As a result, businesses must hire native speakers in order to connect successfully with clients.
Considering the necessity of effective communication in the business world, this article lists the 15 easiest languages to learn for English speakers. Read carefully!
Table of contents
What makes a language simple?
Let’s talk about what influences the difficulty of learning a new language before we get into the simplest languages to learn.
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1. The language’s resemblance to English
To begin, think about how similar it is to the English language. It can be difficult to learn a language that needs you to grasp a new alphabet that does not resemble the letters you are accustomed to. As a result, languages with comparable, if not identical, letter systems are naturally thought to be the easiest to learn.
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2. The amount of time you’ve been exposed to the language
Another significant consideration is how many languages exposures you can obtain. If you live in a tiny town in East Texas, it’s doubtful that you’ll come into contact with many Indonesian speakers. However, there’s a good possibility you’ll hear Spanish.
3. Possibility of practising
After you’ve mastered the fundamentals of the language, it’s time to put them into practice. More than memorizing vocabulary words from a dictionary, utilising the language in real-life situations can increase your fluency.
As a result, practical usability is another essential component in determining how easy a language is to learn. It will be considerably more difficult to learn a new language if you do not practice with another individual.
4. Resources on hand
Finally, we must analyze the available technologies that can assist you in learning a language. There are numerous resources accessible for some languages. Others, on the other hand, aren’t so sure.
So, when deciding on whatever language to learn, make sure you have enough resources at your disposal. The more resources available, the easier it will be to learn the language.
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What Characterizes a Language as Useful for Learning?
Some factors determine the usefulness of a language. Some of the factors include:
#1 Amount of Speakers
Unsurprisingly, knowing the number of native speakers of a language is critical before committing to learning it. The majority of people choose to learn languages that are spoken by the greatest number of people. You should also consider the number of persons who speak the language as a second language. With this knowledge, you will be able to communicate with people worldwide.
#2 Geographical Area
Here’s where your objectives and passions come into play. Do you intend to stay in one place for an extended period? If that’s the case, find out what languages are spoken there. If you wish to learn a language that is widely spoken worldwide, English, French, or Spanish, which are spoken on all continents, are good choices.
#3 Versatility and Usability
You should consider versatility when choosing a language. Specifically, can you communicate in this language at home and abroad? What about in both professional and social settings? “How much will I utilize this language?” you might wonder. Learning a language takes time and effort, and you’ll want to learn the one that will be most useful to you!
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#4 Opportunities for Employment
Consider your current or potential line of work, as well as the location of your firm. Spanish is an extremely helpful language to learn if you work in the United States.
Learn languages that will be useful in your field if you expect your industry or company to do a lot of international business. Chinese, Japanese, Italian, or German are all possibilities.
Easiest Languages to Learn For English Speakers
Below is a comprehensive list of the 14 easiest languages English speakers can learn
1. Norwegian
Surprisingly, Norwegian has been ranked as the easiest language to learn for English speakers. Norwegian, like English, is a member of the Germanic language family. This means the languages have a lot of vocabulary in common, such as the seasons winter and summer (winter and summer)
Another advantage of Norwegian is that the grammar is simple, with only one form of each verb per tense. In addition, the word order closely resembles that of English.
“Can you help me?” translates to “Can you help me?” – the words are in the same order in both languages, making sentence building a snap!
Finally, you’ll have much more leeway with pronunciation when studying Norwegian. This is because Norway has such a diverse range of accents that there is more than one “proper” way to pronounce words. Does this seem attractive to you? Put on your ski boots and try your hand at Norwegian!
2. Swedish
Our second-easiest language to learn is from Scandinavia, belonging to the Germanic language family. The enormous number of cognates that the two languages share is one of the reasons Swedish is one of the easiest languages for English speakers to learn. For example, the Swedish word for grass is gräs, a clear cognate.
Swedish, like Norwegian, has simple grammar rules and comparable word order to English. And, thanks to IKEA, Swedish has another thing going for it: exposure.
While merely shopping for furniture, English speakers all around the world have been exposed to a lot of Swedish words.
Lack tables are named after the Swedish term “varnish,” which means “to varnish.” On the other hand, Stockholm rugs are named after Sweden’s capital.
3. Spainish
It should come as no surprise that this choice was made. Because of its practicality and extensive reach, Spanish has long been a popular language for English speakers to learn. For English speakers, it’s also one of the easiest languages to learn.
Because Spanish is a Romance language derived from Latin, and many English words are cognates, cognates, the game’s name is cognates, cognates, cognates. To mention a few, correcto means “correct,” delicioso means “wonderful,” and pizza means “pizza.”
The pronunciation of Spanish is likewise fairly simple. It’s a phonetic language, meaning that most words are pronounced the same way they’re written.
However, grammatical snobs, beware: There are many verb tenses and exceptions to grammatical norms in Spanish, which might be perplexing.
However, because the tenses are similar to those used in English, they aren’t as tough to master as you may imagine.
But arguably, the most compelling reason to learn Spanish is its pervasiveness in our daily lives. Spanish is the world’s second most spoken language, with over 450 million native speakers, according to the latest figures.
You’ve undoubtedly heard Spanish spoken on TV, the radio, and perhaps by people in your neighbourhood. It’s all around you, so you’ve already gotten a head start on learning it!
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4. Dutch
Another Germanic language on our list is Dutch. It is spoken by the majority of Dutch citizens as well as a sizable portion of the Belgian population.
It’s the third most spoken Germanic language, after German and English, which makes sense because Dutch sounds like a mix of German and English due to their similar vocabulary.
The fact that many words in Dutch are written exactly the same way they are in English, more than in virtually any other language, is fascinating.
However, be wary of how they’re pronounced because they’re frequently mispronounced. For example, the term “rat” has the same spelling and meaning in both languages, but it is pronounced in Dutch as “rot.”
Watch out for erroneous cognates, such as the Dutch term wet, which means “law.” Dutch may still be the language for you if you stay alert.
Three of the top four languages on this list are Germanic, but English’s two cousins, German and Danish, are absent – and for a good reason.
German was left out because, while sharing thousands of cognates with English, no one would describe its syntax as “simple.”
While written Danish resembles Norwegian and Swedish in appearance; the pronunciation can be difficult for beginners. Check out our list of the most difficult languages to learn for English speakers if you’re up for the task.
5. Portuguese
Portuguese, a Romance language spoken in both Portugal and Brazil, is the fifth most straightforward language to learn on our list.
This, like Spanish, translates to a huge number of shared vocabulary terms, making learning easier. However, be wary of phoney cognates. You may be looking forward to receiving Portuguese spaghetti, only to be handed a “folder.”
Another language that gives learners the advantage of exposure is Portuguese (particularly Brazilian Portuguese).
Brazilian food, drinks, music, and films have all made frequent appearances in global pop culture, providing Portuguese students with numerous opportunities to improve their language skills.
6. Indonesian
This choice may also come as a surprise, but Indonesian has several characteristics that make it a natural fit for English speakers.
Indonesian is one of the few Asian languages that use the Latin alphabet, with nearly 23 million native speakers. Because of the unfamiliar characters in their writing systems, many Asian languages are difficult for English speakers to master, but not Indonesian.
It’s also a phonetic language, with words pronounced exactly the same as they’re written. Now, the grammatical structures in Indonesia are quite different from those in English, but don’t let that stop you! Its lack of rules makes it much easier to learn grammar.
There are no verb conjugations (that’s right!), plurals (repeat the word twice), or grammatical genders. If you dislike grammar rules, Indonesian could perfectly match you!
7. Italian
The following language is a Romance language. Italian has more than 63 million native speakers, although not being as extensively spoken as Spanish or Portuguese.
Because of its Latin roots, it has a lot of cognates that English speakers will know, such futuro (“future”) and lotteria (“lottery”), two things we all want we could controllare (“control”).
8. French
There’s one more major Romance language on our list, and it’s a popular choice amongst fans. Even though it is more difficult to learn than some of its linguistic siblings, French (and/or its multiple dialects and creoles) is spoken by almost 300 million people in a variety of countries (France, Canada, Belgium, and Madagascar, to name a few).
The largest advantage of learning French, like with other Romance languages, is the vast amount of shared vocabulary.
This isn’t simply owing to its linguistic origins, though. Key linguistic components were transferred from one country to the other during the long history of battles and conquests between France and England.
The majority of this came in the form of French vocabulary added to English, such as avant-garde and à la carte. However, word-sharing also occurred from English to French (e.g. week-end).
9. Japanese
Even though the Japanese language is not commonly spoken outside of Japan, it is useful to know. Knowing Japanese can help you in a variety of ways, whether you want to vacation in Japan, enjoy the culture and food, or want to learn about technology.
It’s also a great way to learn about other Asian languages. With comparable grammar to Korean and some Chinese characters, learning Japanese sets you on the path to mastering all three languages.
10. Hindi
With one of the greatest populations of speakers in the world, Hindi is without a doubt one of the most important languages to learn.
But, like with other languages, it’s not only the huge number of speakers that should inspire you to study the language; it’s the language’s global influence.
India is a major player in today’s global economy, and Hindi is the most widely spoken language in the country.
11. Korean
The Korean language is fascinating to study because its letters are phonetic, meaning that their shapes resemble the shape of your lips as you create a sound. It has a distinctive writing style that makes learning the language simple.
12. German
Germany is the most frequently spoken language in Europe, owing to the country’s economic dominance. As a result, if you do business in Europe or plan to do business in Europe, German is an essential language to learn.
It’s a pleasant language to learn since words have endings that give them distinct meanings.
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13. Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language that began as a dialect of Dutch but has now evolved into its own language. Nearly 9 million people speak it worldwide, with the highest concentration in South Africa and Namibia.
It has also spread to other regions of the globe, where it is spoken in small pockets in the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Belgium, and Kuwait.
For native English speakers, Afrikaans has been regarded as the easiest language to learn.
To begin with, its grammatical structure is significantly simpler to learn than that of other languages. Some of the complexity of the Dutch have been removed. There are no genders for nouns or conjugations for verbs. There are only three tenses in English: past, present, and future. So there’s no need to be concerned about imperfect, pluperfect, or subjunctive—areas where native English speakers often flee.
14. Swahili
The last language on our list is Swahili. Swahili is widely spoken in eastern and southern Africa, including Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, among other countries. Still, it is mostly employed as a lingua franca – a common language spoken by native speakers of other languages.
Swahili words frequently sound exactly as they are spelt, and the pronunciation is relatively simple for English speakers to learn.
Finally, in terms of grammar, Swahili is fairly simple. Prefixes are used logically in verb conjugations, making them easier to understand.
See if Swahili is the language for you if you want to try something new. However, if you want to learn a new language quickly, we recommend starting with one of the top languages on the list, such as Spanish, Swedish, or Norwegian.
Which Language is the Easiest To Learn?
Because language learning is so subjective, there is no easy answer to the issue of which language is the easiest to learn. Some people are inherently better at grammar, while others have a knack for pronouncing words correctly it all depends on you as a student!
The list would be radically different for speakers of Chinese or Russian, for example, because closeness to your native language has a big impact on how easy any language is for you to acquire.
I’ll conclude by saying something I always tell people: all languages are simple if you practice every day.
Even if you merely study once a week, learning any of the languages on this list will be difficult.
Any of the languages on this list would be an excellent place to start if you want to learn a language that won’t tie your brain in knots.
Conclusion
Ultimately, our list of the easiest languages to learn for English speakers demonstrates that language acquisition isn’t limited to other cultures.
FAQs On Easiest Languages To Learn For English Speakers
The most popular language is Chinese Mandarin, spoken by 1.3 billion people.
As of January 2020, English was the most popular language online, representing 25.9 per cent of worldwide internet users.
Mandarin Chinese. With over one billion Mandarin Chinese speakers in the world, of course, it tops the list of most important languages to learn in 2024
References
- babbel.com — easiest-languages-for-english-speakers-to-learn
- uopeople.edu – most-important-languages-to-learn
- fluentu.com – easiest-second-language-for-english-speaker
- europelanguagejobs.com – easiest-languages-English-speakers
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