The Easiest Languages to Learn for English Speakers
Very often, we hear someone speak in French or German and the sound and vocabulary of these languages sound completely alien until we hear a familiar word such as romance (please read it with a French accent) or Haus (German for ‘house’). As it happens, many of the world’s most widely spoken languages are derived from the same root, sharing a common ancestry.
When it comes to learning a new language, this familial connection can work in your favor, making it easier to grasp a “sister” language if you already know one within the same family. In this article, we’ll explore five ‘easy’ languages to learn for English speakers, and we’ll give you clear examples of how they are connected to our language.
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1. Spanish: The influence of Latin
Spanish, one of the most widely spoken languages globally, is not technically a ‘sister’ language to English. A Romance language, it is more closely related to languages such as Portuguese and Italian than it is to English, a Germanic language. So, what makes Spanish of the easiest languages to learn for English speakers?
Well, the answer lies in its Latin roots. A significant percentage of both Spanish and English vocabulary is derived from Latin, which means English speakers can visit Spain and make themselves understood without having to learn new sounds.
Spanish vs English vocabulary
Cognates are words that have a common origin and similar form in two languages, especially when it comes to Spanish adjectives and nouns.
Take a look at this sentence:
Un elefante enorme entró al hospital y produjo un terrible accidente.
An enormous elephant went into a hospital and caused a terrible accident.
2. French: The Legacy of Norman Times
Looking for an even easier language to learn for English speakers?
The historical connection between French and English dates back to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. After the Normans, who spoke Old French, conquered England, their language merged with Old English, leading to a significant French influence on the English language.
As you can imagine, this relationship provides a head start for English speakers interested in learning French.
The familiar sentence structure of French
When you learn a new language, you have to learn not only new grammar and vocabulary points but also a new way of putting words together. One of the aspects of French that makes it such an easy language to learn for English speakers is that both languages follow a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) sentence structure.
Essentially, this means the basic word order is quite similar.
For instance, the English sentence “I love Paris” has the same structure as in French, “J’aime Paris”.
Just for the sake of comparison, the same phrase in Hindi (Main Paris se pyaar karta) literally translates to “I Paris love”. Isn’t that unusual?
3. German: Embracing the Germanic Heritage
With its long words and assertive sounds, German is often stereotyped as a difficult language to learn, but its grammar and pronunciation aren’t as intimidating as some may think.
In fact, as part of the Germanic language family, English and German share a common ancestor. Naturally, these ties make German a must in any list of languages that are easy to learn for English speakers, both native and non-native.
Let’s see why.
The lexical similarity between English and German
German and English have a significant lexical similarity of around 60%, which means that a substantial portion of their vocabularies overlaps. For instance, words like “Haus” (house), “Wasser” (water), and “Winter” (winter) are nearly identical in both languages, easing the language learning journey.
Not convinced yet? Try to guess the meaning of this sentence:
“Der Computer ist schnell und modern.”
I’m sure only “schnell” is puzzling you – the rest is easy to guess, right?
So I’ll just say this: schnell means fast.
4. Dutch: One of the two Easiest Languages to Learn for English Speakers
Dutch, another member of the West Germanic branch, is closely related to English. Among the West Germanic languages, only Frisian (a lesser-known language spoken in the Netherlands and Northern Germany) exhibits more similarities with English than Dutch.
This makes Dutch an attractive choice for English speakers looking to explore languages that are easy to learn but don’t want to spend too much time studying.
The Pronunciation of Dutch
Dutch shares similar pronunciation patterns with English, which reduces the complexity of learning the language. Unlike some other languages, Dutch words are often pronounced the way they are written, with one possible pronunciation for every letter. As you can imagine, this leads to a smoother learning experience for English speakers.
To show you what we mean, this is how vowels are pronounced in Dutch:
- A: like the “a” in “father.”
- E: like the short “e” in “bed.”
- I: like the “ee” in “see.”
- O: like the “o” in “not”
- U: like the long “u” in “blue.”
5. Norwegian: A Straightforward Grammar
Norwegian, a North Germanic language spoken by around 5 million people in Norway, is often cited as one of the easiest languages to learn for English speakers.
Like Dutch, this language shares many grammatical and pronunciation features with English, but it is Norwegian grammar that makes learners’ life much easier.
The Simple Verb Forms of Norwegian
Unlike some languages with complex verb conjugations, Norwegian keeps things straightforward with only one form for each verb tense.
For example, the verb “to be” is “å være” in Norwegian, and it remains the same for all subjects, such as “Jeg er” (I am), “Du er” (You are), and so on.
Yes, only one verb form for every person. Isn’t that amazing?
With a bit of patience and a few great language learning strategies, you should be able to learn Dutch in no time.
So, there you are. 5 languages that are easy to learn for English speakers!
Exploring new languages opens doors to diverse cultures and enhances our understanding of the world.
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For English speakers, the journey becomes even more accessible when delving into languages with close ties to English. Whether you choose Spanish, French, German, Dutch, or Norwegian, these “sister” languages offer a smooth and rewarding path to linguistic fluency.
So, embrace the linguistic connections and embark on your language-learning journey today!
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