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 widely believed to be one of the most difficult languages to learn. This is mostly true, if you have no knowledge of other Slavic languages (e.g. Bulgarian or Czech). The grammar rules in Russian are very complex and have numerous exceptions.
The Japanese language is considered one of the most difficult to learn by many English speakers. With three separate writing systems, an opposite sentence structure to English, and a complicated hierarchy of politeness, it's decidedly complex.
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.
But does that make it difficult? A lot of people want to know, “Is Russian hard to learn?” Well, you can find the answer to this question in the top 10 differences between Russian and English. Of all the European languages a native English speaker can learn, Russian is among the most difficult.
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.
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.
Korean has far more difficult points. There is very little common vocabulary. I have had to learn a whole new set of rules for word formation. Word order is a struggle, as is the use of particles. I am slowly acquiring fluency, though not as quickly as I did with Russian.
The Russian language is easier when you look at their writing style. On the basis of Sounds: There are more sounds in the Korean language as compared to the Russian language.
Unlike other East-Asian languages, Korean isn't a tonal language. This means, that the meaning of the word doesn't change, regardless of what your accent is like. This makes learning Korean much easier than Japanese.
FLUENT (C2)
Once you have reached this level, you are free to go in any direction: read Russian news, articles and books, listen to podcasts, watch Russian television and communicate with native speakers comfortably. It is the level of Native, or Bilingual proficiency.
Russian is allegedly one of the most complex languages to learn; its Cyrillic alphabet is enough to scare you away. In fact, the Foreign Service Institute classifies it as a category-four language.
Russian and German Language Prevalence
This is likely because German is a difficult language to learn, and many people are not willing to put in the effort. Russian, on the other hand, is a relatively easy language to learn, which has contributed to its popularity.
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.
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.
Russian may be known by some as a very difficult language to learn. For some reason, it seems more difficult for native-English speakers to learn. However, Russian is still an easier language to learn than Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic.
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.
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.
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.
What is the first language? Sumerian can be considered the first language in the world, according to Mondly. The oldest proof of written Sumerian was found on the Kish tablet in today's Iraq, dating back to approximately 3500 BC.