What is the hardest language to learn?
Extremely Hard: The hardest language to learn is: Polish-Seven Cases, Seven Genders and very difficult pronunciation. Average English speaker is fluent at about the age 12; the average Polish speaker is fluent in their language not until age 16. .
Very Hard: Finnish, Hungarian, and Estonian-These languages are hard because of the countless noun cases. However, the cases are more like English prepositions added to the end of the root.Pretty Hard: Ukrainian and Russian complex grammar and different alphabet but easier pronunciation. Serbian-Also similar to other Slavic languages with a complex case and gender system, but it also has many tenses. alphabet
Fairly Hard: Chinese and Japanese-No cases, no genders, no tenses, no verb changes, short words, very easy grammar, however, writing is hard. But to speak it is very easy. Also intonations make it harder but certainly not harder than Polish pronunciation. I know a Chinese language teacher that says people pick up Chinese very easy, but he speaks several languages and could not learn Polish. I am learning some Chinese, it is not the hardest language maybe even the easiest language to learn. Not the hardest language by any measure. Try to learn some Chinese and Polish your self and you will see which is the hardest language.
Average: French-lots of tenses but not used and moderate grammar. German-only four cases and like five exceptions, everything is logical, of course.
Easy: Spanish and Italian
Basic to hard: English, no cases or gender, you hear it everywhere, spelling can be hard and British tenses you can use the simple and continues tense instead of the perfect tenses and you will speak American English. English at the basic level is easy but to speak it like a native it’s hard because of the dynamic idiomatic nature.
So what – the hardest language to learn
So what is hard? Hard really means, it’s just a longer learning curve. Look I am in my forties and I learned Polish and I have problems with languages, in addition to having a bleeding in the brain. So if I can do it, the only thing holding you back from learning the language of your dreams is method and patience.
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631 responses to The hardest language to learn
I’m from Tunisia, in the school we learn 3 language Arabic, French( because Tunisia is a francophone country) and English.
even that we speak it daily arabic is the hardest, it is the hardest language ever (I’m arabic saying that so how about other) there is some word, and even sentences that even an arabic teacher can’t explain it the arabic has 28 letter(some letters you don’t find it in other languages) you will face a big difficulty to prononce some worlds correctly, and as my brother from egypt said the grammar is so hard and words has many explanation.
and even if you learnt arabic if you go to an arabic country belive me you won’t understand anything because we don’t use classic arabic.
but it is a very beautiful language, if you learn it you will enjoy reading lot of amazing books and stories.
Sorry if my English was not good that’s because we don’t use it a lot here in Tunisia our basic languages are arabic and French.
You forgot the Armenian language (first Christians in the world), the basque language comes from the Armenian language and its the hardest in the world. Հայոց լէզուն աշխարի ամենա բարդ լէզուն է. Իմ սիրէլի հայրենակիցնէր եկէք սովորենք հայերէն:
It is ridiculous to say Poles are not fluent until age 16! I have never heard such rubbish. And English speakers only fluent at age 12? Give me a break. Unless you define ‘fluent’ as understanding everything, up to and beyond university level. A Polish child of 8 understands all cases/genders by that age, obviously has a perfect accent and can function marvellously in most all situations. The intuitive grasp of as-yet unlearned words is present, since much of language learning is dependent on cultural understanding, which a child of 8 has. I would like to know who set age 16 for Polish fluency? Far-fetched.
Since I lived in Poland and know Polish and my family is Polish, I know what I am talking about. Poland has a complex case based grammar system and to master Polish at a high level, not a street level, you need to study the language. Polish kids as teens start to approach a comfort with the language that is achieved by their American counterparts earlier as English is Idiomatically based while Polish is rule based.
Polish is 100 times harder than English – this is a direct quote from a professor at University of Jagiellon linguistics.
“100 times harder than English”…sounds like true hyperbole if I ever heard it. Do you truly, truly believe Polish is literally one hundred times more difficult than English? Just ridiculous. Who invented that scale by the way?
Polish might be difficult for English speakers to pick up, but it’s certainly not “the” hardest. Especially if you already speak another Slavic language. Case in Point: My father speaks Polish (his relatives immigrated to the US in 1906) rather well due to his childhood family life with 1st and 2nd generation Polish speakers in the US, and he can fairly easily communicate with Russians and other Slavs. All of which is to say that he could pick up Russian or Czech very quickly. And likely vice versa.
So this whole notion of ‘most difficult language’ to learn is purely subjective. Since YOU know Polish/lived in Poland that’s your reference point. Ergo you’re convinced it’s gotta be Polish that’s the hardest.
I lived in Iceland for 10 years and picked up the language very quickly. Nevertheless, I’ve seen television programmes claiming Icelandic is the hardest language to learn. Usually the claim is made by Icelanders! Talk about insularity in thinking!
I’ve been a professional Icelandic translator since 1986. I didn’t find Icelandic’s many declensions troublesome since I already spoke German and English and could find many similarities from the two latter tongues to help me understand. If you can pick up patterns well you can learn languages well, regardless of which one it is.
So you see, my frame of reference – my own stew of native/second languages – prompt me to draw conclusions about what is difficult or not. BTW, Icelandic is considered the tenth most difficult language to learn by the State Department, with Polish only coming in at number 9.
Here’s a quote from them about the most difficult languages to learn:
FSI website believes something different.
So we should put this to rest, the most difficult language is likely simply the one whose pronunciation/cultural norms is/are the most alien to what you already speak.
In any case it’s certainly not Polish, or Icelandic. It’s like Einstein said, it’s relative (to where you’re at linguistically).
Shalom
The hardest language to learn
Too much book knowedge of languages not enough using foreign languages
I guess my question is how many languages have you personally learned to the fluency level? You go off website’s (sorry I edited your comment to exclude quotes).
I mean the government believes in Keynesian economics but that does not mean it is right.
The State department is often the place where people in school who do not know how to make it in the real world hide out and collect money after they study something lame in college. I remember when I had an issue and they really did not help me until I wrote the higher ups.
So My point is get away from your book knowledge experience and start to learn languages and make your own determination. When you are fluent in Polish let me know and what you think.
If you think FSI is so great they have plenty of free downloads for language learning, try to learn from those lame things. They are pitiful. The people in the embassies do not use anything on those websites, they get private teachers and different material and the guys I know at the US embassy in Poland have not learned Polish.
Anyone can look something up on the web and be an expert but to have first hand experience over a lifetime is different.
Norman Davies who is an expert in Polish and Poland and married to a Polish wife, still says French is easier for him as Polish is such a crazy language. This is Norman Davies.
Since this is all subjective we can debate this until we are blue in the face but I tend you take other people’s book or website as gospel instead of learning languages yourself. I have taught at a University level and yet I am not an expert, I just think you need to master Polish and then you will see. I mean try to speak a few sentence in Polish and see if anyone will understand you.
English in contrast is universally understood even if pronunciation is way off as people’s brains are more ready for a wider variance in sounds. I can speak Chinese to people and they understand it but for Polish you have to be exact. So my challenge to you is learn some Polish and try to speak it and see if people have any idea what you are talking about. Then learn some Icelandic or whatever and do the same and you will see what I mean.
The hardest language to learn
More Nonsense About Polish Being "The Hardest"
Your criticim: “I can speak Chinese to people and they understand it but for Polish you have to be exact.”
Chinese is notoriously difficult for Westerners to speak because of the slight tonal nuances. Claiming that your Chinese is understandable while Polish is *really* difficult…well, that’s just further nonsense from your side. If any language needs to be *exactly* pronounced it’s Chinese over Polish!
Your criticism: “….you take other people’s book or website as gospel instead of learning languages yourself. Then learn some Icelandic or whatever and do the same and you will see what I mean.”
Wow, talk about a bad listener. You’ve taught at university but you can’t substantively follow and respond to the points in a clear post.
I stated in my original post that I’ve been a professional translator for Icelandic since 1986, to which you reply that perhaps I should learn Icelandic (and other languages, even though I clearly stated in my original post that I also speak German) so I can see things for myself. BTW, I also speak Portuguese, as I live in Brazil (I translate German/Icelandic/Portuguese for a living).
You know, you’d be saying the same nonsense about Malay or Tagalog being the ‘most difficult’ if you’d learned those languages and lived in those countries.
You are obviously blinded by your influence from Poland, which I tried to get across in my original post. Polish is EASY for a speaker of another closely related Slavic language. It’s no more difficult than a Spanish speaker learning Portuguese or Italian or vice versa.
A Russian speaker commented to this effect on this very board. I see it first-hand between Slavs.
It’s time to stop rooting blindly for your own pet language.
And the comment about trying to learn a few sentences in Polish and see if anyone will understand me?
What a joke, I could easily learn 5 sentences a day in Polish and repeat them to a native Pole and he or she would understand me. What’s so hard about repeating what you hear? It’s called practice.
I am simply amazed that you think Polish borders on the impossible to learn. Truly, truly this is a case of everything being a nail to a hammer.
All foreign languages are difficult to the degree that they alien to one’s own native language.
Germans learn Dutch easily since the two languages are highly related.
Slavs learn Polish EASILY for the same reason.
Polish is not rocket science. I learned Icelandic extremely fluently in 4-5 years, I could do the same for Polish if I lived there and was in constant contact with Poles 24 x 7.
I’ve done it in 3 languages outside my native language, so what’s so special about Polish?
Feel free to test my knowledge of the languages I claim I speak.
The hardest language to learn
Svo þú talar íslensku?
Ég fór á veraldarvefinn og fann hvergi manneskju sem héti Frank W. og þú skulir kalla þig atvinnumann í þýðingu það stór efa ég, ei skaltu halda því fram að þú haldir að íslenska sé létt tungumál.
atvinnumadur i thydingum
“Ég fór á veraldarvefinn og fann hvergi manneskju sem héti Frank Wellbinder og þú skulir kalla þig atvinnumann í þýðingu það stór efa ég, ei skaltu halda því fram að þú haldir að íslenska sé létt tungumál.”
Ja, forstu a veraldarvefinn og fannst ekki nafnid mitt? Gaeti thad e.t.v. verid ad eg noti nafn sem eg bara bjo til upp ur thurru? eda hugsadir thu aldrei ut i thad, ad folk vilji vera i ro og naedi og thessvegna notar ekki faedingarnafnid a netinu?
en thvi til sonnunnar ad eg se thydandi, hvernig vaeri ad thu sendir mer eitthvert ‘erfitt’ efni a islensku og tha sendi eg thjer thydinguna aftur i snarhasti?
Sko eg bjo a Froni i ein tiu ar og gifti mig inn i samfelagid tharna an thess ad tala neitt i islensku, en laerdi undirstoduna a 6 manudum og var altalandi eftir 2-3 ar. Sjalfsagt ad thyskukunnatta min hjalpadi tharna ad…
Er til taks ef ad thu tharft ad thyda eitthvad ur islensku/thysku/portugolsku yfir a ensku.
Atvinnumadur i thydingum
ps gaman ad hitta islendinginn, thid erud vodalega faair og sjaldgaefir, eg hef ekki komist til landsins i meira en 10 ar, er ad drepast ur heimthra.
Do you really think Polish is the most difficult language? I am learning it now, I have only been studying it for 6 weeks but it doesn’t seem to be all that bad. Pronunciation is extremely logical once you figure out all the sounds, unlike English. The 7 cases are somewhat hard to identify but i think that will just come naturally after speaking it for a while. I speak it to my wife and she understands everything I say even though i mess up the endings. I just try to remember after z instrumental after w locative, for me dla mnie for you dla ciebie. I just try to remember which words come after which depending on how I am using it. I can’t imagine it being even close to as hard as Chinese Arabic or even Russian. Russian has the same grammar but a completely different alphabet
Subjectiity which is the hardest language
I am an American citizen. I was born and raised in the Cleveland Public school system. So I pretty much speak the American English. I’m in my mid 30s and over the years I’ve learned and understand several languages. Spanish, Russian, and Croatian. Those 3 languages were pretty easy to get a grip on. Russian can be considered difficult, but once I found the fundamentals of the language, it became most understandable to me.
I read that Polish is the hardest,that’s a personal opinion. It is difficult for me to try and learn it, but over time, I believe I could understand it. Same goes for Chinese and Arabic.
Personally, my friend introduced me to Icelandic. That language is a whole different level. And is in my opinion the most difficult.
Second langages are the measure of difficulty
Every once in a while you run across something truly ridiculous on the internet. There is no such thing as a more or less difficult language for a native speaker. Children learn every single language in the world at the same pace. Children begin speaking at the same time in every language. The only thing that “more difficult to learn” and “less difficult to learn” have to do with languages involves second languages. Then the only important factor is what the first language a person knows. If your native language is Russian, Polish is quite easy. If your native language is English, Spanish is quite easy. Furthermore, there is not even any way Polish could be the hardest language to learn for someone whose first language is English (much less, the ridiculous idea the Polish children learn Polish slower than children of other languages). Polish is an Indo-European language with no more cases than several other Indo-European languages. Finnish, Hungarian, and Estonian are Finno-Urgric languages, completely unrelated to Indo-European and they generally have far more complex grammar than Polish. Japanese, Arabic, Korean, the Finno-Urgic Languages: these are among the hardest languages to learn for a native English speaker (though obviously a child raised in each culture learns the languages at the same speed).
Your full of theory no practical observation. I have a daughter and all my Polish and American and UK friends, their children make faster progress in English than in Polish. Even Polish kids have trouble with grammar and pronunciation as their language is like a series of tongue twisters and grammatical exceptions.
No, it is you who are wrong. 24 x 7 immersion in a language from birth clears up any ‘complex’ grammar issues immediately through constant exposure. Saying that Polish kids have trouble with pronunciation is just ridiculous. You clearly have a soft spot for Polish since that’s your second language, ergo it just must be the most difficult. Hogwash.
English spelling has tons and tons of exceptions in its spelling, yet virtually everyone catches on well enough. Just a matter of constant exposure.
Time to put this silly notion of the hardest language to rest. Polish it sure as heck ain’t. It’s only valid in the context of a second language.
Time to give up personal preferences and see things as they are.
And Polish is easy for speakers of other Slavic languages. Period.
I have taught kids in Poland have you? I know for a fact many Polish kids have pronunciation and grammar problems more than English speaking kids. It is a more complex language. Immersion from birth is the best, but it takes kids 5 years before simple sentences are formed, while adults can make faster progress. It does help but adults have the advantage of abstraction and understanding. Polish is eons harder than English and this is from every bilingual instructor I know.
Okay this has become a dull exercise in futility. YOU have taught kids in Poland, YOU have lived in Poland. Yep, I think we all get it now. Pure objective assessment. Regardless of all the great counterpoint brought up here. I wonder how many countries you have lived in and learned the language in order to make this grand pronouncement? I have lived in 4, and still don’t know (second) language is the hardest, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t – for English speakers – Arabic or Chinese or Korean due to the alien factor and the tones/cultural component. Polish isn’t even close.
No way Finnish, Basque, Twi with its glottal clicks, Icelandic, Estonian can be nearly as hard as the fabulously difficult Polish either, which Russians, Czechs and other Slavs can understand to a large degree without ever having studied it.
I wonder how they do that, since Polish is impossible to learn? And Polish has seven cases. Wow. In Icelandic there are 17 ways to say the numbers 1 through 4 and three different ways to say some first and last names. And Finnish has a purported 16 cases. How’s the old Polish stacking up now? Seven cases doesn’t seem too bad.
The final word, to repeat this ad nauseum, is that No (second) language is ‘the hardest’ per se, it all depends on what your first language is. You really need to stop defending your ego turf with Polish.
No more from me on this, it’s gotten too ridiculous.
And to answer your question on whether I’ve taught kids in Poland, no I haven’t, but I have taught in Iceland, the US, Germany and Brazil, and don’t claim to know it all.
Peace peaceniks
I delete your caps as it is not good form. We can agree to disagree, I would argue this all day, and no Asian languages are not that hard, the grammar is simple and tones are less complex. Writing is the only barrier but that is not speaking. OK So what makes you such an expert? How many language have you learned or have you taught at any University like I have? How many languages can you claim fluency in?
I do appreciate your comments even if I disagree with them. Languages are largely subjective in terms of what experience you are coming from.
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