What is the Easiest Language to Learn?

Learning any language to a level that allows fluent communication with native speakers takes a lot of time, effort and desire. That is why people often ask the question, which language is the easiest to learn. Instead of struggling for years, people understandably prefer easier language to learn to achieve their goals as soon as possible.

Let's take a look at the top 5 easiest languages for people with English as a native language.

1. Dutch. Most people who speak Dutch live in the Netherlands and Belgium. When listening to spoken Dutch, it’s impossible to not notice the numerous phonological differences that separate it from English, such as the absence of phonological aspiration of consonants and final-obstruent devoicing. English speakers shouldn't have troubles learning Dutch.

2. Norwegian. Many words are exactly the same in English and Norwegian, even if they are pronounced slightly differently. The two languages are also very close grammatically, relying on the same sentence structure and possessive apostrophe. Norwegian is hardly used outside Norway.

3. Afrikaans. Afrikaans is actually a descendant of Cape Dutch dialects of Southern Africa, which explains why it’s fairly easy for English speakers to learn. Experts estimate that as much as 95% of the vocabulary of Afrikaans is of Dutch origin.

4. Spanish. Spanish is a great low-hanging fruit for all native speakers of English because it’s the world’s fourth-most spoken language and the third most used one on the internet. It’s also fairly easy to learn because it belongs to the Indo-European language family.

5. Italian. Italian is also a member of the Indo-European family and thus easy to learn for English speakers. It’s an official language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, and Vatican City.