Hardest Languages for English Speakers to Learn

The hardest languages to master have significant grammatical and cultural differences from English, though they are often the most widely spoken languages.

Learning a second language or even a third language can be exhilarating and demanding. And studying a language is worthwhile since the knowledge can open up new employment prospects, travel chances, and social opportunities.

With that said, here is our list of languages to learn as a challenge to yourself.

Mandarin Chinese

The most spoken language in the world, so it is no surprise that it is the most difficult language to learn.

It has been named the toughest language to learn for various reasons; the first is its intricate tonal system. The mandarin tones, however, sound different depending on the dialect they are spoken in.

There are four unique tones, each with distinct translations and written characters in Mandarin Chinese, the most widely spoken dialect.

The writing system in Mandarin is another factor contributing to its difficulty. Over a thousand unique characters in Mandarin present a substantial challenge for students used to the Latin alphabet.

Russian

Russian uses a lettering system called the Cyrillic lettering system. And although some of the letters of the Cyrillic script are similar to those in the Latin alphabet, most of them are pretty distinct.

Due to this, English speakers are mostly confused when they first encounter the Cyrillic script since they are similar to letters in the Latin alphabet but have different pronunciations.

An example of confusion is with the verb “to be.” This verb does not exist in the present tense in Russian, but it does in English.

Because of this, it is identified as one of the most challenging languages for English speakers to learn how to compose even simple sentences. It is possible to translate phrases like “I am a mechanic” from English into “I mechanic” in Russian.

Korean

This is the East Asian language native to over 80 million southern and northern Koreans, with the world’s most logical writing system.

The Korean language employs Hangul as its writing system. It was developed by scholars on King Sejong the Great’s order in the year 1443. Hangul has 24 symbols, ten vowels, and fourteen consonants.

Hangul is one of the hardest languages to learn for English speakers, although some people think otherwise.

The Korean language’s difficulty stems from its word order, complex grammar rules, pronunciation, and use of double consonants and vowels, which are not found in English.

Arabic

Nothing less is expected of a language that is one of the five most popularly spoken all over the world. The Arabic language employs a script with diverse letters and sounds.

Along with this, Arabic has a layered grammatical structure, as well as words that rarely contain vowels. And when they do, they have to be used in the conversation context.

Unlike English, where the text is read from left to right, Arabic is read from right to left. This takes some time to get used to for any English speaker.

It also begs the question of which language is harder to learn, Mandarin or Arabic.

Polish

Even though Polish uses the Latin writing system like English, their words are filled with consonants.

And because native English language speakers are accustomed to a simpler system, they will find it hard to learn, spell, and even pronounce.

The language is built on seven grammatical cases that must be learned, unlike English’s four. These seven serve as the foundation for sentence formation and speech.

However, aside from Mandarin and Arabic, Polish is not as hard to learn because it uses the same lettering system as English but is much more complex.

Conclusion

Learning a new language is not as complicated as it appears. All you need is consistency and appropriate study materials; your language goals will be met over time. When the language is really hard, the best solution will be to start with a teacher. A private language tutor will guide you through the new language, explain the grammar, the writing system, and help you speak confidently. Go to LiveXP and start learning any language 1-on-1 with a professional tutor.

Choose a language today and embark on an adventure filled with endless possibilities.