Which language has most complex grammar?
There are four tones of Mandarin that further complicate things for students. It is also rich in hom*ophones and considered quite difficult for a native English speaker to master. Other grammatically complex languages are Hungarian, Korean, Japanese, Basque, Navajo, Polish, and Icelandic.
Arabic – Arabic has an incredibly complex grammar system, with many rules that must be followed for sentences to make sense. It also has three different forms of verb conjugation, which can be pretty tricky to master. Japanese – Japanese is known for its intricate writing system and complex grammar structure.
Mandarin Chinese
Interestingly, the hardest language to learn is also the most widely spoken native language in the world. Mandarin Chinese is challenging for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the writing system is extremely difficult for English speakers (and anyone else) accustomed to the Latin alphabet.
1. Mandarin. As mentioned before, Mandarin is unanimously considered the most difficult language to master in the world! Spoken by over a billion people in the world, the language can be extremely difficult for people whose native languages use the Latin writing system.
- Mandarin.
- Arabic.
- Finnish.
- Japanese.
- Hungarian.
- Vietnamese.
Generally, if you're an English speaker with no exposure to other languages, here are some of the most challenging: Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, Vietnamese, Finnish, Japanese, and Korean. Here's the good news; when you're excited to learn a new language, even the hardest ones can simply seem fun.
The 3 hardest languages to learn include Mandarin, Arabic, and Russian. However, with the right strategies, overcoming these obstacles and succeeding in international markets is possible. One critical method is to invest in language training for yourself and your team.
- English. It's the most widely spoken language in the world, making practice possible. ...
- French. French has over 100 million native speakers and is – as the official language in 28 countries – spoken on almost every continent. ...
- Spanish. ...
- Italian. ...
- Swahili.
Italian language, or Italiano—as it is commonly known, is a Romance language and one of the languages most people would readily agree on as one of the softest and sweetest languages in existence. The language of revolutionists like Dante da Vinci, and Pavarotti, Italian is spoken by 66 million people globally.
One reason Mandarin is seen as the most challenging to learn is because its writing system uses characters that might be difficult to grasp for those accustomed to writing with the Latin alphabet, according to the language learning platform Babbel.
What is the #1 universal language?
According to Ethnologue, English is the most-spoken language in the world including native and non-native speakers. Like Latin or Greek at the time, English has become the world's common language. It is the default language in international business, tourism, technology, and much more.
- Mandarin. Mandarin is spoken by 70% of the Chinese population, and is the most spoken language in the world. ...
- Arabic. ...
- Japanese. ...
- Hungarian. ...
- Korean. ...
- Finnish. ...
- Basque. ...
- Navajo.
Dutch, Frisian, and German stand as the nearest kin to English, with Frisian holding the strongest resemblance. The syntax, lexicon, and phonetics of both Frisian and English demonstrate their shared lineage.
Languages like Spanish and French, which share many similarities with English in terms of vocabulary and grammar, are the easiest second languages to learn if you speak English. Another critical factor is immersion.
The least similar language to English is also the least similar to every other language. Basque language has about a half dozen dialects and is a language isolate. It belongs to no language family. The English language is part of the Germanic language branch of the Indo-European languages.
Like Polish and Turkish, Russian uses very different sounds from English, which can be tricky to decipher and pronounce. And, in Russian, inflection matters significantly to make your meaning understood.
In addition to Mandarin Chinese, which has already been discussed as the one with a challenging writing system, several other languages may prove difficult for English speakers. Here are some of the hardest languages to write. Arabic is a complex language with an intricate writing system that reads from right to left.
Language | Words in the Dictionary |
---|---|
English | 171,476 |
Russian | 150,000 |
Spanish | 93,000 |
Chinese | 85,568 |
Japanese. Japanese falls into the list of difficult languages to learn, regardless of being an English speaker or not. The language of Japanese is appreciated as being very tricky and time consuming to learn due to its three separate writing systems, politeness hierarchy and opposite sentence structure to English.
Romanian
While Romanian has much in common with other Romance languages, it features several grammatical quirks that separate it from the rest. As a result, many people consider it the hardest language to learn in this language family.
What is the hardest European language to learn?
Finnish is the dark horse of languages found in Europe and one of the hardest worldwide. Though within Europe, Finnish isn't part of the Indo-European languages. You won't find shared roots or cognates here, which means Finnish is a bit of a blank slate. Then there's the grammar.
- Spanish. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language after Mandarin, and not a surprise at the top of languages to learn. ...
- German. ...
- Arabic. ...
- Mandarin. ...
- Portuguese. ...
- Russian. ...
- French.
Languages that are related to English and easy to learn include most Germanic languages (Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, and German) and Romance languages (Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, and Romanian).
Meet Toki Pona, a language with the fewest words in the world. It is known for its small vocabulary, simplicity, and ease of acquisition. So, how many words does Toki Pona have? A total of 120!
ARABIC – MOST BEAUTIFUL WRITTEN LANGUAGE
To the eyes of a reader accustomed to the classical Latin or Roman alphabet, the Arabic script with its artful and cursive calligraphy is akin to an elaborate ornament rather than writing.