The Chinese language has a unique structure and pronunciation system that is vastly different from English. Chinese is made up of tens of thousands of characters, each with its own meaning, and often multiple pronunciations. This makes the language extremely difficult to learn, especially for non-native speakers.
Reading and writing in Chinese can be majorly intimidating to learners of the language. There are tens of thousands of characters and no alphabet to help you read them. Yes, it's true that there are many 汉字 (hàn zi) — Chinese characters to learn, and they all seem different and complex.
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.
Because Chinese is one of the most difficult languages in the world, it usually takes more time to grasp the fundamentals than it would for other languages. Assuming a student is studying consistently on a daily basis and putting in quality effort, it should take around 30-50 hours to achieve a beginner level.
Speaking Chinese is a great exercise for the brain and thanks to research, we know Chinese requires both left and right temporal lobes of the brain to actively function. This not only improves the efficiency of the brain but also in the human being's ability to multitask.
1. Mandarin Chinese. Interestingly, the hardest language to learn is also the most widely spoken native language in the world. Mandarin Chinese is challenging for a number of reasons.
Relatively, Korean would be an easier language to learn. Thanks to its phonetic alphabet and more simplistic grammar rules, Korean is not the most challenging Asian language to learn. Chinese on the other hand is much more widely spoken. This means that finding study materials and practice partners would be easier.
Although there are intonation differences you have to be aware of, you don't have to tip-toe around sounds to convey the right meaning. This is why Japanese is easier to learn than Chinese. English native speakers can reach fluency faster.
Chinese and Japanese are two of the most popular languages to learn, Japanese is generally seen as being harder than Chinese due to its writing system and complex grammar structures.
Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Turkish use simpler number words and express math concepts more clearly than English, making it easier for small children to learn counting and arithmetic, research shows.
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.
The language almost entirely lacks inflection; words typically have only one grammatical form. Categories such as number (singular or plural) and verb tense are often not expressed by grammatical means, but there are several particles that serve to express verbal aspect and, to some extent, mood.
Mandarin is considered somewhat easier to learn since it has fewer tones, and is also the most widely spoken. But both have their benefits and are widely-spoken global languages.
Cantonese is by far the more challenging of the two languages, particularly for a beginning Chinese language learner. This is because there are more tones used in Cantonese (Cantonese uses up to nine tones, whereas Mandarin only uses four).
Toki pona is probably the simplest language in the world to learn. Its name derives from the English word “talk” and the Esperanto word “bona”, meaning good, so it literally translates to the language of good.
Because Japanese and Korean have Chinese roots, there's a lot of similar vocabulary between these three languages. Linguists believe that around 60% of Korean words and 50% of Japanese words come from Chinese. So if you know one of these languages, it gives you a massive head-start when learning the others.
As we've already mentioned, Japanese is considered the fastest language in the world. It is always mentioned as the first on the list. So, here are 6 of the fastest spoken languages in the world, based on the average number of syllables spoken per second (SPS): Japanese - 7.84 SPS.
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.
Whether you're looking for a new academic pursuit, new career skills or a new perspective on life, learning Mandarin Chinese is one of the absolute best investments you can make with your free time.
Researchers found that learning Chinese exercises your brain more than any other language. Mastering the tones and characters in Chinese requires many parts of the brain to function, thus eating up more brainpower.
Learning Chinese will make it much easier for you to find a job or find a better job. Promotions come much easier as speaking the Chinese language multiplies your value as an employee and can make you a vital part in a new project in China. Just imagine all those business trips.