Is German Easy To Learn For An English Speaker

Language Schools

The Easiest Languages for English Speakers to Learn

If you lot discover studying a second language intimidating, y'all'll be happy to know we've highlighted six of the easiest languages for English speakers to learn. Detect out who speaks them, why they're easy, and where you can program to travel with your new linguistic communication!

Two people sitting on a hill in Florence, Italy.

Whether you want to study away, volunteer, or just have a gap twelvemonth, your time spent overseas is the perfect opportunity to learn a new language -- or outset to. The problem is, if y'all are brusk on fourth dimension or notorious for picking the most hard tasks, yous might exist wary of taking on such an arduous journey.

Luckily, there are a few languages that can be much easier for English-speakers to acquire than most. If y'all want to learn a new tongue as a native English speaker, consider these languages first.

Read more: The 10 Best Languages to Learn in 2021

Castilian

Spanish is a Romance language and the 2d-well-nigh spoken language in the world. While there are many dialects that differ by region and land, it is a mutual top choice for native English-speakers who desire to go bilingual.

How many people speak information technology worldwide? More than half a billion people around the world speak Spanish either natively or equally a second language.
Why is Castilian piece of cake to learn? Spanish is easier for native English language-speakers to learn than many other languages thanks to its vast presence and Latin origins. In one case y'all learn what the accents hateful, it is fairly like shooting fish in a barrel to pronounce or read Spanish words.
Difficulties to watch out for when learning Spanish: English language-speakers ofttimes go stuck when learning Spanish for two common reasons: attempting to mirror English grammatical structure and failing to practise the spoken word. It's all nearly the speed, y'all.
Countries to visit that speak Spanish as a first and second language: In addition to Spain, almost all of South America speaks (or at to the lowest degree understands Spanish). In North America, you'll find Central America and some of the Caribbean Islands likewise speak Spanish as an official language.

Explore Castilian Language Schools Abroad

separator_solid

Portuguese

Also a romance language, Portuguese is widely spoken around the globe and relatively like shooting fish in a barrel for English-speakers to learn.

How many people speak Portuguese worldwide? The 6th top spoken linguistic communication in the world, over 215 million people speak Portuguese natively or as a second language.
Why is Portuguese like shooting fish in a barrel to learn? As a Romance language, Portuguese is like to Castilian and has Latin roots. Many Portuguese words likewise have pronunciation, intonation, and nasal vowels that are like to English language.
Difficulties to watch out for when learning Portuguese: If you are more familiar with Spanish words (even if you don't speak information technology) you might find yourself accidentally pronouncing Portuguese words with a Spanish accent. This is a common mistake for Portuguese beginners.
Countries to visit that speak Portuguese as a first and 2nd language: In addition to small Portuguese communities effectually the globe, Portuguese is officially spoken in Brazil and Portugal, many African countries, Macau (Cathay), and East timor (Southeast Asia).

separator_solid

French

Surprisingly, French isn't even ranked in the meridian ten of the world's nigh spoken languages. Still, it is widespread and in popular tourist destinations.

How many people speak French worldwide? Over 75 million people speak French.
Why is French easy to learn? Again, as a Romance language with Latin roots, French shares like vocabulary with English. In fact, French is said to share the most vocabulary words with the English language.
Difficulties to watch out for when learning French: Sure vowel pronunciations, gender usage, and verb forms tin be difficult for beginners.
Countries to visit that speak French as a commencement and 2nd language: There are more 35 countries and dependent entities where French is an official language, nigh of which are on the continent of Africa and Europe, including France, Kingdom of belgium, Luxembourg, Ivory Declension, and Senegal. In Northward America, Canada and Haiti too as French territories in the Caribbean also speak French as an official linguistic communication.

Explore French Language Schools Abroad

separator_solid

Italian

On a Romance language streak, Italian is another language that native English-speakers will observe easier to learn. It is also extremely benign to learn if you lot are interested in European studies or the arts, as in that location is much inquiry associated with information technology. Despite not registering amid the height spoken native languages in the world, it is the third near oral communication in Europe.

How many people speak Italian worldwide? More than 59 million people speak Italian around the earth.
Why is Italian easy to larn? Italian happens to take fewer verbs than some of the other Romance languages, making the learning journey a flake easier. It also shares Latin roots with English, allowing for a shine transition (and great guessing odds).
Difficulties to picket out for when learning Italian: Plurals! Instead of simply calculation an "s" at the end of a noun, you might need to change the ending birthday, depending on the word. Pronunciation, like many other languages, is as well a learning curve — mispronunciation or failure to enunciate can be a common difficulty.
Countries to visit that speak Italian equally a first and second language: Italy, Switzerland, and San Marino are some of the countries that speak Italian as a outset or 2nd language. You can as well find large Italian-speaking populations in Romania, France, Slovenia, Croatia, Australia, and Brazil.

Explore Italian Linguistic communication Schools Abroad

separator_solid

Dutch

Dutch is a Germanic linguistic communication closely related to English language and High german. Its dialects, Afrikaans (South Africa), Flemish (Belgium), and Western frisian (Friesland) are mutually intelligible amongst speakers, widening the reach of where you can use it.

How many people speak Dutch worldwide? There are around 23 million native Dutch speakers globally with effectually 5 million in the EU who speak it as a 2d or boosted linguistic communication.
Why is Dutch easy to learn? If verb conjugations are the bane of your linguistic communication learning existence, Dutch volition make you happy. For case, there are just 2 conjugations for by tense verbs. Spanish has up to six (if yous include vosotros)!
Difficulties to watch out for when learning Dutch: Dutch uses ii articles, het and de, and then learners volition demand to memorize when to utilize them. The rules aren't always cut and dried.
Countries to visit that speak Dutch every bit a outset and second linguistic communication: Dutch is spoken in the Netherlands, Suriname, the Flanders region of Kingdom of belgium (where it's chosen Flemish), and is an official linguistic communication of Aruba, Sint Maarten, and Curaçao. Dutch can as well be understood by Afrikaans speakers in Southward Africa.

Explore Dutch Linguistic communication Schools Abroad

separator_solid

Norwegian

Norwegian sounds complicated only it's really ane of the easiest languages for English speakers. Many English language words come from Old Norse and quite a few modern Norwegian words are similar or the aforementioned in English language.

If Norwegian seems like a linguistic communication that wouldn't be very useful outside of Kingdom of norway, you may be surprised to learn it's considered the link between Swedish and Danish. Norwegians speakers can better understand those ii languages making travel easier across the Scandinavian countries.

How many people speak Norwegian worldwide? There are 5.3 million native Norwegians speakers in the earth.
Why is Norwegian easy to learn? Norwegian shares a like vocabulary to English language. Probably virtually appealing though is the verb conjugations -- there's a single conjugation for all the pronouns! And y'all thought English was like shooting fish in a barrel!
Difficulties to sentry out for when learning Norwegian: Special characters and occasionally tricky pronunciation can throw English speakers a curveball while learning Norwegian.
Countries to visit that speak Norwegian every bit a commencement and second language: It's no surprise that Norwegian is spoken in Norway. Simply did yous know that Norwegian is the language link to understanding Swedish and Danish? This means you'll understand and be able to reasonably communicate with native speakers in those countries.

Explore Norwegian Language Schools Away

separator_solid

Start Your Language Learning Journey With Ease

These are all just a few languages you can get started on as you determine on where to travel to adjacent. Remember, learning Germanic and Romance languages are just the beginning, with Scandinavian languages besides offering an easier learning process for native English-speakers.

This post was originally published in October 2017, and was updated in August 2021.