English is a global language, and many English speakers all over the world are bilingual. If you are an English speaker and want to learn a language, you may want to think twice about the following languages. Here are the four most difficult languages to learn for English Speakers.
1. Hindi
Hindi is most commonly spoken in India. The hardest thing to learn about Hindi is its script. The script is known as Abugida, and every individual character comes from a combination of a consonant and a vowel. English speakers are not too familiar with the concept and find it difficult to speak and write. Moreover, the language has no phonetic markings that could help readers pronounce different words.
2. Mandarin
Despite being one of the most spoken languages, Mandarin is complicated for English speakers to learn. It is a tonal language, and all of its variations have characters written differently and have different pronunciations. This makes the language more difficult for English speakers, who are more familiar with the Latin alphabet.
Even in a single dialect, Mandarin has four tones, meaning a single word can be pronounced and mean four different things. There is, however, a bright side to learning this language. Grammar is usually considered easy to learn since there is no variation to words depending on conjugation as in English. There are also no singular or plural forms.
3. Arabic
Similar to Mandarin, Arabic has wide varieties. Each of these varieties is different according to its region. Arabic is difficult for English speakers for many reasons. First, this is one of the languages that is written from right to left which is already a challenge for anyone who is not used to this type of language. Also, the language excludes many vowels in their words. Not only does this make it extremely hard to read, but it also makes the language hard to learn. Moreover, many sounds you may not find in any other languages. Even the grammar is challenging.
4. Japanese
You can find three Japanese scripts: Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. To learn Japanese, you will have to go back and forth with the scripts. There are lots and lots of characters for learners to memorize, but many loan words are taken from different languages such as English, Roman, and even Chinese.
5. Russian
The Russian language uses the Cyrillic alphabet. This language can be confusing for English speakers as the letters may seem familiar but have a completely different sound. It is also tough grammatically. There are six cases, and they can be hard to master. Other than that, there is also a lack of vowels, and all the consonants are thrown together to make sense. It can be hard to spell and pronounce Russian words.
These languages may be complex, but if you work hard and are dedicated to learning, whether you are an English speaker or speak some other language, it will be easier for you to learn them. Be sure to stay motivated and use the right tools to help you understand the basics of the language. Moreover, do not try to overreach and learn everything at once. Take things slowly, and you will be able to learn the language in no time.
Green Translations has professional native linguists in all of the languages above and more. Click here to access the full list of languages. Reach out to us anytime and get a free quote within the hour!
References
https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/6-hardest-languages-for-english-speakers-to-learn