7 Easiest Languages To Learn For The Absolute Beginner

It’s a skill to be able to speak different languages. While there is no shortcut to immediate fluency when it comes to a language which is not your mother language, there are more chances of learning a new language quicker if it’s an easy one.

The foundation of the process of learning a new language is patience and persistence. Slowly and step-by-step, one can gain strong command on a new language. Following are 7 easiest languages to learn.

1.Afrikaans

Just like English, Afrikaans is in the West Germanic language family. Almost 9 million people globally speak Afrikaans, majority of them are obviously from African countries. This language is considered one of the easiest languages to learn as it has some Germanic-derived root words with English. This helps with pronunciation. It also has a logical structure which means most of its words do not change according to number, gender, or tense.

Afrikaans has only three tenses. Those include past, present, and future. Learners don’t have to deal with imperfect tense, subjunctive tense, or any other tense for that matter. Afrikaans also doesn’t have a verb conjugation. It’s a great language to learn specially if you are keen on visiting Africa, or consuming African media.

2.French

French language is also called the language of love. French is not only an easy language to learn but it also is one of the most popular. It ranks as the third most spoken language in whole of Europe. It’s spoken by 300 million people across France, Belgium, Canada, and Madagascar. French speakers may speak the same words as those in Quebec. However, words and phrases could have entirely different meanings.

French is not a one-size-fits-all. One-third of the English language has been influenced by French. English has a lot in common with lexically with French. Thus, understanding of French vocabulary will come easier than other languages.

3.Spanish

Spanish is the official language of 18 countries, and has almost 500 native speakers. Spanish is a phonetic language so the words are pronounced as they are written. It has fewer language irregularities.

While it has a lot of similarities with English language, there are still some words that cannot be carried from Spanish to English, therefore careful translation is required.

4.Dutch

Dutch is closely related to Afrikaans, thus, it’s possible for Dutch speakers and Afrikaans speakers to conversate in native language. Dutch is also a member of the West Germanic language family. It also mirrors English language structurally and syntactically. Dutch language sounds like a combination of English and German.

Many words are spelled the same in English and in Dutch. These words might be pronounced differently. Dutch speakers also often use English words, that is why this practice is called Dunglish.

5.Norwegian

Norwegian is part of the North Germanic family. This isn’t as popular as others as it’s only really spoken in Norway. It’s still a relatively easy language to learn. Norwegian has consistent pronunciation and easy grammar. The verbs are straightforward and don’t require any conjugation according to person and number.

6.Portuguese

Portuguese is the official language of 9 countries including Brazil, Mozambique, Portugal, and others. This makes it a popular language. Portuguese speakers in Brazil might use the same words as used in Portugal even if they have different meanings. Portuguese also has many similarities with English language. It is also better than English for expressing matters of heart.

7.Swedish

10 million people in Sweden speak Swedish. It is also used in countries like Finland and Denmark. It is a Germanic language and also has simple grammar rules. Swedish also follows the English subject-verb-object structure.

All of the above languages relate to English in some way, from similar vocabularies to parallel structures. Online resources or at-home courses can be used to learn a new language, and constant practice will make you fluent in any language.