Is Norwegian An Easy Language To Learn

So y'all've decided to acquire a language. (Proficient choice! We approve.) Your next task, if you're up for it: Choosing among many options. Should yous go for a more widely spoken language like Spanish or Mandarin, a politically relevant one like Russian, or one you can utilize on your next vacation? These are all valid motivations, but here's another: You're busy. We all are. Why non tackle a language that volition be relatively easy to learn? With the help of Babbel'due south team of language-learning experts, we've determined the easiest language to learn for English speakers. Well, let'southward only say we've narrowed down the list to 9 of them. Hopefully, this will help y'all narrow down your options, so you can start learning right abroad.

And The Easiest Language To Learn Is…

1. Norwegian

This may come as a surprise, but we accept ranked Norwegian as the easiest language to larn for English speakers. Norwegian is a fellow member of the Germanic family of languages — just like English! This means the languages share quite a bit of vocabulary, such as the seasons vinter and sommer (nosotros'll allow you figure out those translations).

Some other selling point for Norwegian: the grammar is pretty straightforward, with merely 1 grade of each verb per tense. And the word order closely mimics English. For instance, "Can you help me?" translates to Kan du hjelpe meg? — the words are in the same order in both languages, and so mastering judgement structure is a breeze!

Finally, you'll have a lot more leeway with pronunciation when learning Norwegian. That's because there are a vast assortment of different accents in Norway and, therefore, more one "correct fashion" to pronounce words. Audio appealing? Lace up your snowfall boots and give Norwegian a try!

2. Swedish

Our second easiest language to learn also comes from Scandinavia and the Germanic family of languages. One reason Swedish is ane of the easiest languages for English language speakers to learn is the large number of cognates the 2 languages share (cognates are words in different languages that stem from the same ancestral language and await and/or audio very similar to ane another). For instance, "grass" is gräs in Swedish — a clear cognate.

Similar Norwegian, Swedish also has relatively uncomplicated grammer rules and similar word order to English. And cheers to IKEA, Swedish has something else working in its favor: exposure. English speakers around the world have been exposed to a number of Swedish words while just shopping for furniture (and chowing down on some meatballs, I assume). The pop, minimalistic Lack tables are named after the Swedish word for "varnish." And the Stockholm rugs, of grade, become their proper noun from Sweden's capital. Business Insider has broken down IKEA's unique naming system in this article. Article of furniture lovers, perhaps Swedish is the language for you.

3. Spanish

This pick should come as no surprise. Castilian has always been a go-to linguistic communication for English speakers to larn due to its practicality and wide reach. Well, it'due south also one of the easiest languages to larn for English speakers.

Spanish is one of the Romance languages, which derive from Latin — equally exercise many English language words, then the name of the game here is cognates, cognates, cognates. Correcto means "right," delicioso is "delicious," and pizza is "pizza," to proper noun a few.

Spanish pronunciation is besides fairly straightforward. It'southward a phonetic language — for the most part, its words are pronounced the way they're spelled. Simply grammar haters beware: Spanish does accept a number of dissimilar verb tenses and exceptions to grammar rules which can go confusing. Even so, the tenses largely align with ones nosotros use in English, so they're not as hard to learn as you may retrieve.

But perhaps the biggest pro to choosing to learn Spanish is its prevalence in our everyday lives. According to recent statistics, Spanish is the 2nd nearly-oral communication in the world, with over 450 million native speakers. You've probably heard Spanish spoken on Boob tube, on the radio, and even by members of your community. Information technology's everywhere, so you already accept a leg up on learning information technology!

4. Dutch

Dutch is another Germanic linguistic communication on our list. Information technology'due south spoken by the majority of citizens of the Netherlands, every bit well as a big portion of Belgium's population. Information technology's the third most-spoken Germanic language, after German and English, which makes sense — due to shared vocabulary, Dutch sounds like a combination of German language and English language.

A really interesting feature of Dutch is that many words are spelled exactly the same as they are in English, more than so than in well-nigh any other linguistic communication. However, use caution, because they're frequently pronounced differently. For example, the word "rat" has the same spelling and meaning in both languages, but in Dutch it'south pronounced like the English give-and-take "rot." Too, keep an heart out for false cognates, like the Dutch word wet, which actually means "law." If you lot stay vigilant, Dutch could still exist the language for you.

Germanic languages nab three of the top four spots on this listing, but English's other cousins, German language and Danish, are absent-minded — and for good reason. German didn't make the cut because although it shares thousands of cognates with English, absolutely no one would describe its grammar equally "easy." And while written Danish looks a lot similar Norwegian and Swedish, the pronunciation can be as well intimidating for casual learners. If you're upwardly for the challenge, check out our list of hardest languages for English speakers to learn.

5. Portuguese

The fifth easiest language to acquire on our list is Portuguese, a fellow member of the Romance language family that's spoken in both Portugal and Brazil.

Similar Spanish, this translates to a large number of shared vocabulary words, which always makes picking it up easier. Merely beware of false cognates. Y'all might be really excited nigh getting Portuguese pasta, only to be handed a "folder."

Portuguese (peculiarly Brazilian Portuguese) is another language that gives learners the advantage of exposure. Brazilian nutrient, drinks, music and films accept been making frequent appearances in global pop culture, giving students of Portuguese plenty of opportunities to enhance their learning.

six. Indonesian

This pick may as well come every bit a surprise, but Indonesian has several qualities that brand it a logical pick for English speakers.

For starters, Indonesian — spoken natively by nigh 23 million people — is one of the few Asian languages that uses the Latin alphabet. Many Asian languages are incredibly hard for English speakers to main due to the unfamiliar characters in their writing systems, but non Indonesian.

Information technology's likewise a phonetic language, made upwards of words that are pronounced exactly the manner they're spelled. At present, Indonesian grammatical structures are very dissimilar from those in English language, only don't let that deter you! Its lack of rules make learning grammar a lot easier. At that place are no verb conjugations (you read that correctly!), no plurals (merely repeat the word twice), and no grammatical genders. If y'all're non a fan of grammer rules, Indonesian could be a friction match made in heaven!

7. Italian

Side by side upwardly is another Romance language. Though non as widely spoken every bit Castilian or Portuguese, Italian still has more than 63 million native speakers. Its Latin roots permit for a sizable chunk of cognates English language speakers volition recognize, such as futuro ("future") and lotteria ("lottery"), two things we all wish we could controllare ("control").

Perhaps the all-time part of choosing Italian is the possibility to learn with nutrient! Italian cuisine has become a staple of many Western countries, bringing a number of Italian words into our regular vocabularies. Penne all'arrabbiata translates to "angry pasta" (presumably considering it's spicy!), and farfalle (the pasta shaped like bow ties) actually means "butterflies." Doesn't learning Italian sound delizioso?

eight. French

There's 1 more major Romance language on our list, and this i is often a fan favorite. Although it'south not equally like shooting fish in a barrel to learn as some of its language cousins, French (and/or its various dialects and creoles) is spoken by nearly 300 million people in many unlike parts of the world (France, Canada, Belgium and Madagascar — to name but a few).

As with the other Romance languages, the biggest do good to choosing to acquire French is the large amount of shared vocabulary. But this isn't solely due to its linguistic roots. During the lengthy history of wars and conquests betwixt France and England, key language parts were passed from one country to the other. This more often than not came in the form of French vocabulary added to the English language, such as avant-garde and à la carte, although the discussion-sharing went from English to French as well (e.g. calendar week-finish). French pronunciation is a scrap catchy, at beginning, just we often hear French accents in pop civilization, making them easier to replicate than y'all may think.

ix. Swahili

The final language on our list is perhaps the "to the lowest degree easiest language to acquire" of the easiest languages. Swahili is widely used across eastern and southeastern Africa, including in Kenya, Republic of uganda and Tanzania, among other countries, but usually as a lingua franca — a common language adopted among native speakers of different languages.

Swahili words often sound just similar they're spelled, and the pronunciation is relatively easy for English speakers to selection up. It's said to be the easiest African language for English natives to learn, partially because of the surprising amount of loan words taken from English, similar penseli ("pencil") and mashine ("auto").

Finally, Swahili is fairly straightforward in terms of grammar. Verb conjugations utilize prefixes in a logical way, making them less difficult to learn. If you desire to try something different, see if Swahili is the language for you. Withal, if you want to pick upward a new language equally easily as possible, we recommend starting with something from the top of the listing — like Spanish, Swedish or Norwegian.