The hardest language to learn
Is there one hardest language? Not quite – it depends on the languages you already speak. Here is what ranks as hardest for English speakers, why, and how you can make it easier.
The short answer
For native English speakers, the hardest languages are Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Japanese and Korean. The US Foreign Service Institute estimates about 88 weeks of classes to reach professional working proficiency – more than three times as long as for Spanish or Dutch.
How the US Foreign Service Institute ranks languages
The Foreign Service Institute trains American diplomats and publishes how long native English speakers typically need to reach professional working proficiency. It is the best-known ranking of its kind – and it was made for exactly your starting point.
| Category | Time | Why | Languages on Langula |
|---|---|---|---|
| Category I | about 24–30 weeks | closely related to English | |
| Category II | about 36 weeks | related, but more grammar | |
| Category III | about 44 weeks | very different structure or script | |
| Category IV | about 88 weeks | own script, very different structure |
Source: Foreign Service Institute, U.S. Department of State. Weeks of classes for native English speakers; the table shows the languages you can learn on Langula.
What makes a language hard
A new script
Everyday Chinese needs around 3,000 characters, and Japanese mixes three writing systems. Arabic is written right to left and usually without short vowels.
Tones
In Mandarin, pitch changes meaning: “ma” can mean mother, hemp, horse or to scold, depending on the tone.
Lots of grammatical forms
Finnish has 15 cases, Polish seven and Russian six – nouns, adjectives and numbers change their endings.
Unfamiliar sounds
The throat sounds of Arabic or the three kinds of consonants in Korean take practice.
Little shared vocabulary
In Dutch you recognise many words straight away. In Korean or Finnish you start almost from scratch.
And for English speakers?
The good news: English shares a lot with Dutch and the Scandinavian languages, and – through Latin and French – with Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. That is why they sit in Category I.
German takes a little longer because of its cases, genders and word order, but thousands of shared words give you a head start.
Languages with many cases, such as Polish, Russian or Croatian, are harder for English speakers than for German speakers – English has almost lost its cases.
How far learners get on Langula
Completions of lesson 10 relative to lesson 1, grouped by the categories above. Based on anonymous usage data; we count lessons, not people.
Listen: “hello” in Category III and IV languages
How to make a hard language easier
- Practise ten minutes every day instead of one hour once a week.
- Speak out loud early and compare your pronunciation with recordings.
- Learn the script in small portions – many people learn the Korean alphabet in a weekend.
- Review words with flashcards and a spaced repetition system.
Try the first lesson
Hard or easy: the first lesson of any language takes just a few minutes – free and without an account.