2. Swedish. Our second easiest language to learn also comes from Scandinavia and the Germanic family of languages.
Like French and Spanish, Italian belongs to the Romance family of languages. And it's one of the easiest languages to learn for many of the same reasons. There are very few unfamiliar sounds – the gli sound is probably the hardest – and it's also written phonetically. So there are few traps once you know the rules.
Across multiple sources, Mandarin Chinese is the number one language listed as the most challenging to learn. The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center puts Mandarin in Category IV, which is the list of the most difficult languages to learn for English speakers.
As mentioned before, Mandarin is unanimously considered the most difficult language to master in the world! Spoken by over a billion people in the world, the language can be extremely difficult for people whose native languages use the Latin writing system.
Except for Frisian, Dutch is linguistically the closest language to English, with both languages being part of the West Germanic linguistic family. This means many Dutch words are cognates with English (meaning they share the same linguistic roots), giving them similar spelling and pronunciation.
It's widely accepted that English is hard to learn - if not the most difficult language to learn. Let's take a look at some of the most common reasons why people find it so challenging.
The 3 best languages to learn (after English) are: Spanish, French, and Chinese. Naturally, if you're going to work in a specific country, you don't need to think twice about what language to learn next. The decision is already made for you!
Listening is the easiest skill to practice
All four language skills are incredibly important and present their unique challenges. When I say that listening is easiest, I do not mean that it requires less time or commitment than reading, writing, or speaking.
There's a long-standing consensus among language learning enthusiasts that learning multiple languages simultaneously is more difficult than learning multiple languages sequentially. When asked, most people who have learned to speak one language at a time reply that they don't think it's a good idea.
Foreign language study enhances one's opportunities in government, business, medicine, law, technology, military, industry, marketing, etc. A second language improves your skills and grades in math and English and on the SAT and GRE. Analytical skills improve when students study a foreign language.
But, why is it so hard to learn a foreign language, anyway? Put simply, it's hard because it challenges both your mind (your brain has to construct new cognitive frameworks) and time (it requires sustained, consistent practice).
According to a UNESCO survey, Bengali has been classified as the sweetest language in the world. As a language, Bengali is widely spoken all over India, including Assam and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The sweetest language in the world is also recognized in the Constitution of India.
Mandarin Chinese in the form spoken in and around Beijing forms the basis for Modern Standard Chinese—Guoyu, “National Language,” usually called putonghua “common language” by the Chinese. Modern Standard Chinese is also spoken officially on Taiwan.
So what exactly makes a language “harsh”? There is no singular defining element, but the languages that English natives tend to view as harsh, including German, Dutch, and Russian, incorporate many noises made at the back of the throat –– these are called uvular fricatives.
Of the thousands of different languages spoken around the world, the one language that has been regarded as the 'queen of all languages' is Kannada. Kannada is spoken in the southern state of Karnataka and is one of the most prominent Dravidian languages in India.
World's oldest language is Sanskrit. The Sanskrit language is called Devbhasha. All European languages seem inspired by Sanskrit. All the universities and educational institutions spread across the world consider Sanskrit as the most ancient language.