Why Makes a Language is Easy or Difficult?

Not all languages are created equal. Some are just easy and difficult languages to learn from others. What makes one harder or easier? Let’s explore the answers!

Let’s be honest: learning a language is difficult. However, there are ways to make it easier.

The three D’s—determination, Dedication, and Discipline—are essential components for a successful foreign language learning journey.

But what are the easiest and difficult tongues to learn for Indians or English speakers?

It’s a question many people ask me, especially people just starting as language learners. So, what’s the answer?

Before we get there, let’s probe more!

We are all familiar with the countless perks of learning a new language.

Everyone has a different goal when learning a foreign language. There is no one-size-fits-all language. Broadly speaking, it can be classified into two groups.

The first group primarily consists of learners with a particular language in mind.

For example, if you consider higher studies in Germany or exploring job opportunities in French companies.

Maybe you’re dealing with clients in Latin America, or perhaps you’re intrigued by aspects of Korean culture.

To sum up, you have already decided which language you should learn.

Then there is a second group of people with no specific purpose. The “career involving languages” and “jobs that require languages” are pretty broad and vague, and do not have clearly defined objectives.

Do you wish to study a language and broaden your communication skills and career horizons?

Then you might be considering the simplest to learn in the shortest amount of time.

According to FSI research at the U.S. State Department, the “easiest” and “difficult” languages for English speakers typically require 600 and 2200 hours of classwork, respectively, to achieve minimal proficiency.

Furthermore, they suggest an approximate 1:1 ratio between classroom time and self-study, i.e., 1200 hours of classroom time and 4400 hours of self-study to achieve conversational proficiency.

The words “easiest” and “difficult” are relative since most language learners find all languages challenging to master.

It is often debated amongst linguists and language enthusiasts. It’s a critical question.

But it’s also a very tricky one to answer.

Why Are Some Languages Harder or Easier to Learn than Others?

We will discuss five criteria below.

These are some of the factors to be considered. Here they are:

1. Related Languages

Most languages in the world belong to a particular language family. All languages within the same family are descended from a common parent language.

The ease/difficulty of studying a new language depends on the language’s family.

Languages that are part of the same family share many similarities, such as roots, usage, vocabulary, pronunciation, grammatical structures, and syntax.

In Ethnologue, you can find a list of 136 language families.

For example, English is part of the Germanic family, so it has similarities with German, Dutch, and Scandinavian languages like Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian. All of which have a common ancestry or parental tongue.

Therefore, it’s relatively more comfortable for a native English speaker to learn German or Dutch than non-Germanic languages like Arabic, Persian, or Turkish.

2. Native Language

Another factor to consider is your native tongue. Learning languages that have little in common with your native language will be much harder.

So, the ease depends on what you learned first or what is your mother tongue.

Suppose you wish to learn a new language that shares your mother tongue in grammatical structures, cognates, syntax, or vocabulary. In that case, you naturally have a head start when you begin acquiring your target language.

For instance, what might be reasonably easy for a native English speaker might be far more challenging for someone who speaks Mandarin as a native language.

A native Korean speaker probably has nearly as hard a time learning Italian as a native Italian speaker has learning Korean.

3. The Language Complexity

The third point is the language’s general complexity.

Some languages use complex or different writing systems or scripts, which can significantly affect whether a language is challenging to learn.

For example, Japanese, Mandarin, and Korean have complex and unusual writing systems and many levels of formality.

That is why mastering one of these East Asian languages is a tall order for an Indian or English speaker.

Above all, all three scripts used for these three different languages are quite distinct.

Additionally, many languages have several dialects and variations, such as Arabic and Chinese.

This means that the Arabic and Chinese spoken in Egypt or Hong Kong differ from those spoken in Saudi Arabia and North China.

Languages such as Finnish, Polish, Hungarian, and Russian are complex due to their complex grammatical structures and numerous case systems.

A few languages, such as Vietnamese, Mongolian, and Cantonese, are hard to learn. This is because of the complexity of the sound system, i.e., tricky pronunciation and unusual tones.

On the other hand, several languages are well-structured to make them easier language to understand.

The simple grammar rules, fewer language irregularities, and phonetic sounds aren’t frequently broken.

Italian, Portuguese, Norwegian, Swedish, and Romanian are some languages that are easy to learn.

That is why these are classified into various easy categories of language learning.

4. Passion and Reasons for learning a new language

While your goals to learn a new language may differ from mine, both still need an essential hallmark to succeed in our language learning quest — passion.

The most straightforward language for you is the one that appeals to you in so many ways. If you enjoy studying a particular tongue, it could look manageable or at least fun to learn.

Suppose you pick a tongue of interest, regardless of the benefits it offers.

Then you are more likely to excel in your language goals, and this allows for immediate improvement.

The truth is language learning takes time.

And the reason most people struggle to learn a language is that they have a low level of passion for it.

That is why a significant majority don’t go beyond an elementary level.

Most people don’t realize that if they lack motivation and aren’t interested in learning a language, it can seem difficult even when it isn’t.

If you’re highly passionate about any specific one, you’ll persevere and overcome its hurdles.

To sum up, you are most likely to achieve the objective irrespective of language difficulty if you develop a passion for learning a language.

5. Resources Available to learn a new language

With the right language learning strategy and helpful study material, you can quickly progress and, therefore, achieve fast results.

You can find zillions of websites, apps, study material, and resources for popular languages like French, German, or Spanish.

You will never be concerned about not being able to find resources, but about which one to use.

However, if you are keen to learn one of the not-so-popular languages, you have limited options for audio lessons, books, practice with natives, teachers, and so on.

It can quickly become very frustrating when you feel your progress is stagnating due to a shortage of resources.

In the past few years, I have received several queries about learning Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch, and other less commonly taught languages.

Unfortunately, to my knowledge, no learning center in India offers any courses in these languages.

In addition, there is a scarcity of study materials or websites that can help. Although these languages are easy to learn, they are too difficult to master.

The Final Words

Don’t learn a new language just because it is easy or difficult. Think about your subjective and objective goals and interests.

To make your enthralling journey to multilingualism, consider these five criteria that might make languages easy or difficult for you.

If you have any questions, feel free to share your views in the comments.