What Are The Easiest Languages To Learn? Our Lists And Tips!

The older we get, the more we realize how our parents were right all along, in so many ways. It’s hard to admit it, but yes, they were right and you know it. One of the smartest lessons your parents will teach you is to learn foreign languages. If you never really understood the reason, have a look at this article with all the benefits of learning a foreign language. Playing games seemed more fun at the time, but now you regret it and we totally get you. This is why we want to share with you some tips on the easiest languages to learn so that you can make up for the lost times. If you want to read more on how to learn a new language, we have written a special article about it here.

It all comes back to you, the learner

Even though we would all be thrilled if there was some kind of a secret formula or magic trick to learn a language and to be fluent in it, I’m sad to tell you there is not. Like everything in life, it all depends on you, the learner. Don’t think of that as a bad thing though! That is the best thing ever, because it means there are no limits to what you can do or learn if you try and work hard enough. 

According to recent studies, the three below points can help you determine which language is the easiest to learn for YOU.

1. Your interests – the easiest language to learn is the one you love

2. Your native language – which language is related to your own?

3. Your second language – use to your advantage the knowledge you already have

Your interests

Have you ever heard someone say: Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life? Maybe your parents shared this advice too back in the days? Well, picking a language you’ll start learning comes down to this too. If you love it, you will learn it. If it’s interesting for you, if you choose a tutor you like (you can find one today already on Justlearn), if the learning method fits your interests and needs, then you will be a fluent speaker in no time and most importantly, you will never give up and you will always want to learn more. With languages, there is always more to acquire and find out. So many different cultures and traditions that can help you widen your perspective and be a better individual with every new lesson.

Your native language

Apart from your motivation, your native language can also determine which language is the easiest to learn for you. If you are French native speaker, you will learn Spanish faster than a Serbian native. But a Serbian native speaker will definitely find Russian more familiar than you. This goes back to language groups and which one your native language belongs to. If your native language is German, you could focus on other Germanic languages such as Dutch or English. 

Your second language

In case you know another language beside your own native language, I would suggest that you now start learning a language that belongs to the same group. Me and my friends grew up to Mexican telenovelas (very popular in our country) so we got used to Spanish already at the young age, so when we started learning French or Italian, they all sounded very familiar. Sometimes it felt like we are learning the same language but with another pronunciation. It was definitely easier, as you don’t feel lost in it, you already understand some words and you can make some connections. On another hand, sometimes it can happen that you forget a word in Spanish but remember a word in French, so instead of hablar you say parlar – quite funny if you make that mistake in front of Spanish native speakers.

5 easiest languages to learn for English speakers

We can now agree that we are on the same page when it comes to the easiest languages to learn – it depends on so many factors that we have elaborated in the above few paragraphs. Now we have come to the scientific part where we will bring you the 5 easiest languages for English speakers, assuming that you do speak English having successfully come to this part. 

Spanish

Worldwide spoken, Spanish is our number 1 language to start learning. So many people across the world are choosing to learn Spanish. It is one of the Romance languages which all contain a lot of words similar to English, like correcto, imposible or capital. Also, the pronunciation is quite easy and straightforward.

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Dutch

Dutch is a Germanic language, just like English, so naturally one of the easiest languages for English speakers. Many people have described Dutch as a mix of German and English, due to similarities in the vocabulary. However, we haven’t put German on our list as their grammar is tricky and harder than Dutch and English grammar.

Norwegian

Once more, a Germanic language has found its place on our list. It is Norwegian and the shared vocabulary between English and Norwegian can be very helpful. Also, good thing about Norwegian is that there are a lot of different accents in their country, meaning different acceptable ways to pronounce words. For non-native speakers, these are great news as they will have more confidence to speak and practice. 

Swedish

The last Germanic language on our list is Swedish. As previously mentioned and similarly to Dutch and Norwegian, Swedish has a big number of cognates that it shares with English. Attacha means to attach – The similarity to English is uncanny! And who wouldn’t want to know IKEA’s language? 

Italian

One more Romance language on the list. It is not as spoken widely as Spanish, however there are still more than 60 million people using it on daily basis. The pronunciation is not that hard, the sentence structure similar to Spanish and it’s the language of food! Learning Italian is easier for English speakers mainly because of cognate words such as Qualità — Quality or Università — University. For this reason, it is one of our five easiest languages to learn. 

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