Which languages are the most difficult to learn?







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54 Responses to Which languages are the most difficult to learn?

  1. Ali says:

    There’s an African language (forget the name) that uses a color alphabet; would be hard for those who cannot see or are colorblind.

  2. marek says:


    I would just like to say that for me as Slovak the easiest language to master was undoubtedly russian. When I speak it, I can think the same way as I do when speaking slovak. That is sth I cannot do when I for example speak english. On the other hand, I have a hard time learning french which I think is the most difficult language.

  3. Pol Mahov says:


  4. Bengt says:

    The most difficult foreign language that you will ever learn is your first one. It’s with that language, whatever it may be, that you have to deal with a different grammar, pronunciation, cultural interface, and lexicon for the first time. No language is inherently easier or more difficult to learn – children learning their first language can attest to that by being pretty much fluent by the time they turn five. That being said, there are always aspects of any language that are easier or more difficult for a second language learner to master. Take English, for example. Many native speakers of English say English is easy to learn, but forget the countless hours spent in school learning how to spell. Different studies say, on average, that it takes a natives speaker about seven years to be able to write error-free in English. Imagine the time it might take for a person learning English as a second language to master the spelling system. English also has a large phonological inventory – there are a lot of sounds in English and some of these sounds, such as the “th” in “this”, occur comparatively rarely in the other languages of the world. However, some aspects of English grammar, namely the English present tense, are quite simple when compared with other languages. Finnish is considered to be a very difficult language to learn (for English speaker). Yet, when Finnish is examined a little more closely, it is revealed that again, like English, there are aspects of Finnish that are difficult to learn and master and aspects of it that are simple to acquire. Finnsh uses its case system in a manner that is very different from Indo-European (and other language families). The form of words can also change quite drastically, depending on what endings are combined with them, and getting a feel for the changes can take a very long time to master. However, the Finnish phonological system is quite simple, when compared to other languages and its written form is very phonological – there are no silent letters or letters that are pronounced many different ways. There is no gender in Finnish, so having to remember whether an noun is masculine, feminine, or even neuter, is not a problem that comes up when learning it. A strategy that can help when learning a foreign language is to point out not what is difficult, but what is easy. It’s very easy to get discouraged by what seems an insurmountable challenge when learning a foreign language. Keeping those challenges in check with those aspects that you’ve determined to be simple in terms of learning that language will help you maintain a realistic perspective. This is slightly off topic, but remember that nobody ever totally, completely masters any language – not even his or her native langauge. We’re always learning new words, new ways to phrase ideas, and new aspects of even our native language. Second languages are no exception. Remember it’s the journey and not the destination and even if you don’t become a native-like speaker of a second language, native speakers do appreciate your effort and are more often than not willing to help you overcome those difficult aspects of their language.