The 3 Easiest Languages to Learn for An English Speaker
The Easiest Languages to Learn
You’re a native English speaker looking to add another feather to your cap of languages, right? If so, you’re probably thinking about French or maybe German, because you kinda remember a few sentences from when you took them at school. While French and German are great and useful languages in this day and age, in this Idyoma blog I’ll be enlightening you with the easiest languages to learn (that aren’t French and German!).
The 3 Easiest Languages To Learn
Norwegian
Swedish
Spanish
The Easiest Languages To Learn: Norwegian
It may come as a bit of a surprise, but Norwegian is actually one of the easiest languages to learn as a native English speaker. This is partly because a lot of words sound very similar in both languages; for example, the seasons ‘winter’ and ‘summer’ translate into Norwegian as ‘vinter’ and ‘sommer’.
The most convenient aspect of learning Norwegian, though, is that the sentence structure is exactly the same as in English. So, if I were to ask you in English - “Can you help me?” - in Norwegian, this would translate to “Kan du hjelpe meg?”. The words appear in the same order as in English and this continues through the entire language, which makes learning Norwegian a great place to start on your language learning journey!
Source: Pixabay
The Easiest Languages To Learn: Swedish
Second on my list of the easiest languages to learn is Swedish. Swedish comes from the same family of languages as Norwegian and is known as a Germanic language.
The primary reason that Swedish is a great language to start with as a native English speaker is that it shares a large number of cognates with English. What are cognates, you ask? Well, cognates are simply words that come from the same origin, and have been masked by translation into different languages in a similar spelling/sound. For example, “grass” in English translates to “gräs” in Swedish - a very clear and simple cognate.
Swedish also has another factor working in its favour over here in the UK; exposure. Most adult English speakers have been exposed to some form of Swedish phrasing and language, due to the huge success of the IKEA furniture franchise. So, when learning Swedish, you may find you have some hidden knowledge of the language, and that’s likely down to a trip to IKEA in the distant past.
Source: Pixabay
The Easiest Languages To Learn: Spanish
This probably will come as no surprise, but third and finally on my list of the easiest languages to learn is Spanish. Learning Spanish has always been a go-to for English speakers due to its practicality and wide reach, but it’s a little-known fact that Spanish is actually quite simple to learn for English speakers.
The main reason for this is, you guessed it, cognates. For example, correcto means “correct,” delicioso is “delicious,” and pizza is “pizza”. Pretty self-explanatory really. Spanish does have a number of different verb tenses and exceptions to grammar rules, though, which can become a little confusing, but don’t fret, as the tenses mostly align with ones we use in English, so they’re not as difficult to learn as you may think to begin with.
So, what did you think of these easiest languages to learn as an English speaker?
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