The grammar rules in Russian are very complex and have numerous exceptions. In addition, many learners struggle with the pronunciation – the stress in words is largely unpredictable and not marked in writing, while there are multiple homonyms.
Therefore, according to FSI findings, Russian is in Language Group IV and it will take you around 1,100 hours to learn it. Russian may be one of the difficult languages for English speakers to learn, but that makes it all the more rewarding!
Russian. Ranking fourth on our list of hardest languages to learn, Russian uses a Cyrillic alphabet — made up of letters both familiar and unfamiliar to us. But speaker beware: some of the Cyrillic letters may look familiar but make a different sound than the Latin letter they resemble.
After reading through all the differences, Russian probably comes across as the easier language to learn. And it is! For native English speakers, Russian is categorized as taking 44 weeks to learn (or 1,100 hours), while Japanese takes 88 weeks (2,200 hours).
Russian is more difficult, in that the grammar is more complex, although verb tenses in Spanish are no piece of cake, and there other tricky elements. It is also true that having to read in a less familiar alphabet also makes the language more difficult, and more tiring to read.
Since Russian is a global language with so many speakers, learning the language could be a great step for anyone's career. With many Russian-speaking nations experiencing economic upswings, knowing the language could be the key to striking the ideal business deal.
Polish uses Latin letters, just like English. So, when you're learning the Polish alphabet, all you have to pay attention to are the special accents and the pronunciation. This makes Polish a much much easier language to learn than Russian. Russian on the other hand uses the Cyrillic alphabet.
In spite of this, complex as it might be, Russian is an incredibly beautiful and lyrical language. It's no coincidence that some of the world's greatest poets hailed from here. And once you have achieved some level of proficiency, the sense of achievement makes it all worthwhile.
The Foreign Service Institute of the United States has determined that it takes about 1100 hours of study to reach fluency in Russian. If you're willing to study 3 hours every day, it could take you a year to reach that level.
Russian is one of the coolest sounding languages in the world, and your ability to speak it fluently will be sure to impress. Especially if someone calls you up randomly and you have to start speaking it on the phone!
2. Arabic. Arabic is the queen of poetic languages, the 6th official language of the UN and second on our list of toughest languages to learn.
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.
Of all the European languages a native English speaker can learn, Russian is among the most difficult. The Germanic and Romance languages have a lot of the same core because they both have roots in Latin. Russian is from a completely different language branch called the Slavonic branch, which includes Czech and Polish.
The Mystery Of The Russian Alphabet
One of the first things people notice when they encounter Russian is that it uses a different alphabet. Right from the start, this makes it seem hard since you have to (re)learn how to read. And make no mistake, mastering Cyrillic is absolutely essential to learning Russian.
Does Duolingo teach Russian well? Duolingo offers a complete Russian course, but that doesn't mean it teaches the language well. If you're looking to pick up some useful words and phrases, it's a great option. If you want to become fluent in Russian though, Duolingo is not the best choice.
Hi in Russian – Привет (Privyet)
The Foreign Service Institute has determined it takes around 1100 hours for native English speakers to reach fluency in Russian. If you spend 60 minutes per day studying Russian, it will take you 3 years. If you spend 6 hours per day, you will reach an upper intermediate level in half a year.
In Russian communication, a smile is not a signal of politeness. Russians consider a polite smile as “servant's smile.” It is considered a demonstration of unwillingness to show one's true feelings.
Russians do not smile at strangers
If you smile at a stranger in Russia, he/she can smile back, but it can already mean an invitation to come and talk. Russians take smiling as a sign that the person cares about them. To smile at a stranger can raise the question:” Do we know each other?”
1. Italian. When it comes to the most attractive languages, for many people the native language of Italy likely springs to mind. Italian is a famously beautiful language with its rolled 'r's, round vowels, and melodic rhythm.
Ukrainian and Belarusian are the closest languages, as together with Russian they form the East Slavic group of languages. These three languages have an 86% lexical similarity; that is, they share 86% of the same words.
Czech and Polish are often considered the most difficult Slavic languages to learn for English speakers. That's mainly due to their complex grammatical structure and difficult pronunciation.