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Is English

the easiest

language to

learn?

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So many people know English. So the English language must be

the easiest language to learn, right? Not really. Easiness is

mostly subjective and different influences shape your personal

opinion.

There many articles, blog posts, rankings and so on that deal with this

question. But is there really something like the easiest language on earth? The

English language is certainly an easy language to learn, but is it really the

easiest one? I think the answer is “maybe”. Here are my personal reasons.

The easiest language is subjective.

In my opinion, it is not possible to give an answer to that question which is true

for everybody in the world. Do you want to know why?

1. It depends on what your mother tongue is

Is your first language German? In this case you may think that Dutch or

Swedish is the easiest language to learn. A foreign language that shows many

similarities with your mother tongue is, certainly, easier to learn for you.

Japanese is probably that most difficult language to learn, if your mother

tongue is Italian, however, it might be the easiest one, if your first language is

Chinese. It is often much easier to learn another language of the same

language group than one of different group. Italian, Spanish and French are for

example seen as similar languages. So are the languages of Bosnia, Croatia,

Serbia and Russia.

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2. It depends on what other languages you know

As explained in the previous point, it is essential which language group your

mother tongue accounts to. But also your other language knowledge is of

importance. Languages often have similar structures. If you know Italian, you

might find it very easy to learn Spanish. Sentence structure as well as

pronunciation are very similar. Even if you try to learn a foreign language

from a totally different language group, it is always of advantage to know any

other language.

3. It depends on the culture you were raised in

Did you grow up in Finland? If you were, you are very open to other cultures

and languages. TV series and movies are mostly not translated into Finnish

and that is why most Fins are able to speak almost perfect English. In contrast,

if you were raised in French, you may find it hard to learn any other language,

since many visitors and people around the world know French and most things

are translated into French. French people even create French names for

American actors, for instance.

4. It depends on the geography of your country of

residence

Do you live in a rather small country, which is in additional land locked and

surrounded by many other countries? In this case it is probably of more

economic interest to speak other languages than if you live in a big and

economically important country. Think about America. It is a huge country, it

has economic power and almost everybody can speak at least some English.

People there do not really need to learn another language. But if you are from

Armenia, you have to speak another language, if you want to have

international success or go for a vacation abroad or even want to search for a

specific piece of information on the Internet which is only available in English.

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5. It depends on your surroundings: Family

Are your parents interested in other languages? Do they have some

dictionaries at home or maybe literature in foreign languages? Parents and

other family members have huge influence on children and can influence they

way they think and what they do in the future.

6. It depends on your surroundings: School

Also educational staff has influence. My Italian teacher was mean and her

teaching style was not at all suitable (according to my opinion). I loved to learn

Italian before, but as soon as she was my teacher, I hated Italian and never

really learned it.

7. It depends on your (family´s) financial situation

If your parents have the financial ability to finance a private language teacher

it is probably easier for a child to learn a foreign language than when he or she

has to learn the language by his or her own. Probably your parents could

finance an international high school with different native speakers. In this

case, you get familiar with other languages at an early stage and might find it

easy to learn additional languages at a later stage.

8. It depends on the language learning method you

use

Do you learn a language by pure vocabulary learning or by speaking with

native speakers or by listening to foreign radio and TV shows? It is crucial how

you learn a foreign language. The easiest way to learn a language is often

subjective, but there is a trend that a lot of listening makes a language much

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easier to learn than studying vocabulary lists. One language learning method

that is worth mentioning is the Birkenbihl Approach. This learning approach

focuses on active and passive listening as a means to learn a foreign language

perfectly.

9. It depends on the learning material you use

Thousands of language learning books and programs and software exist.

Many of them are good, but many are also not at all brain-friendly. Be careful

when choosing.

10.It depends on your attitude

Do you really want to learn the foreign language? Or is it simply required by

your parents, your school or work place? Passion for a language makes it far

easier to learn.

As you can see from these points mentioned above, the easiest language to

learn is always subjective. Therefore, English might not always be the easiest

language to learn. Every language can be quite easy, if you assure the right

environment, learning method and surroundings.

What is the easiest language to learn? This

question can only be answered subjectively.

Learning foreign languages can be easy, but also

difficult – depending on different influences.