Noun case is probably the hardest part of Russian for English speakers to fully master. And this of course makes us ask: What exactly is Russian noun case? Simply put, the ending of a Russian noun tells you what it does/what role it has in a sentence.
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).
The Ukrainian language is easier to learn than Russian, as Russian has more complex grammar. Learning Ukrainian also makes it easier to learn other Eastern European languages, as it is closer to Czech, Slovak, and Polish. Whereas, if you learn Russian, you can understand fewer languages naturally.
As far as trouble learning, Arabic is more difficult than Russian. It has a few distinct lingos, so learning one doesn't imply that everybody will understand you. (In the first place, you need to learn MSA then pick a lingo you need to learn.)
Greek is a relatively difficult language to master, even more so for English speakers. But it's still easier to learn than Russian or Arabic. The reason many English speakers find Greek to be so difficult is that it's not closely related to the English language.
- The Russian language has more verb tenses than the English language does. - The Russian language has a lot of irregular verbs (verbs that don't follow regular rules), which makes learning them harder than learning regular verbs in English.
Is Russian and Polish Mutually Intelligible? Russian is East Slavonic and Polish is West Slavonic. While the two share a similar grammar system and some vocabulary words, Polish and Russian aren't mutually intelligible. If a Russian person lands in Warsaw, nobody would understand him if he only spoke Russian.
Although not easy at all, Bulgarian and Macedonian are often considered the easiest Slavic languages to learn for English speakers. That's because their grammatical structure is slightly less complex than in other Slavic languages, mainly because they don't use cases. They also have a relatively easy noun system.
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.
From the point of view of spoken language, its closest relatives are Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Rusyn, the other three languages in the East Slavic branch.
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.
Many studies have suggested that learning a new language improves brain function, providing better memory, more mental flexibility, and creativity. Learning a language from a different language family from your native language – for example, Russian – is a great way to maximize these benefits.
Be strong and firm from the word go
We did say that Russian women are strong-willed, and so you should be too. You need to be firm, and sure of what you are doing. Take charge of the first date like you own it, and you surely do. Choose the venue and the time and then ask her whether she will be available.
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.
Can you learn Russian in two months? Unfortunately, even if you spend 2-3 hours studying daily, two months won't be enough. Especially challenging this process is going to be for those who do not speak any other Slavic language (e.g. Czech or Polish).
Grammatically, Russian is not as difficult as Polish but pretty darn close. Polish has seven cases, while Russian has six. Also, Russians omit the verb “to be” in the present tense, which can throw beginners for a loop when they try to form basic sentences.
While there are similarities in the grammar, Ukrainian tends to closer to that of Russian than Polish.
Key to these peoples and cultures are the Slavic languages: Russian, Ukrainian, and Belorussian to the east; Polish, Czech, and Slovak to the west; and Slovenian, Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, Macedonian, and Bulgarian to the south.
The East Slavic Languages
Of these, Russian is by far the most widely used. It is the native language of Russia and the first language for more than 160 million speakers. It was widely used throughout the Soviet Union and is still spoken in several Eastern European countries.
Many historic documents prove that the Ukrainian language, and Ukrainian state, appeared earlier than the Russian ones. Russian comes from the Old Slavonic language, which was introduced by Kyivan colonizers to Muscovites, who were essentially Finno-Ugric.
The closest language to English is one called Frisian, which is a Germanic language spoken by a small population of about 480,000 people. There are three separate dialects of the language, and it's only spoken at the southern fringes of the North Sea in the Netherlands and Germany.
Both are hard, Mandarin is probably harder for someone who only knows indo-European languages. Russian has many borrowed words from French, German and English (so considering you know Spanish, German and English, it might help), though in general it's still very different.
How long does it take to learn Russian? The US Department of State says that it will take 1,100 class hours (or 44 weeks) to learn Russian to a proficient level. But these numbers vary depending on your natural ability to acquire language, or if you already speak a language that is similar to Russian.