What languages ​​are the hardest to learn for Russian & nbsp. What language to learn after English

Today, knowledge of foreign languages ​​is not so much a person's advantage as a necessity. Foreign languages ​​will help you not only in your studies and at work, but also in your travels around the world.

If you are going to study new language, you will have a wide choice. Some languages ​​are good for business communication, others will be useful to you in any part of the world, and others just sound beautiful!

In this article, we will tell you about the most popular foreign languages, which are really worth taking the time and effort to learn.

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Popular languages

What languages ​​are most widely used in the world?

Chinese- 955 million people

Spanish- 405 million people

English- 360 million people

Hindi- 310 million people

Bengal- 300 million people

If, according to statistics, a foreign language is widely used in the world, this does not mean that many people study it. It is enough that it is native to residents of one or more major countries... For example, on Chinese speaks 37% of the world population, while the language is considered official only in 3 countries of the world.

However, many people choose a language to study based on these statistics. A number of experts believe that in the future, languages ​​such as Chinese and Hindi will replace the "world" English. And while this is not foreseen in the near future (English is much easier to learn!), For many, this prospect is a great incentive to learn a new language.

Career languages

What languages ​​will come in handy in the business community?

English, Chinese, Japanese, German, French

The ability to use a foreign language at work is one of the main reasons forcing even adults to sit down at their textbooks again. Rating " business languages»Is determined by the economic and business potential of the countries of the world.

In the first place in the rating is English, which any modern business person must know. The Asian languages ​​compete with English - Chinese and Japanese, which got into the rating thanks to rapid development economies and industries of these countries.

German and French can also be useful for business communication. There are many branches of large corporations in Germany, France and the United Kingdom around the world, so the languages ​​of these countries can help in building a career at an international level.

Languages ​​that are easy to learn

Which world languages ​​are the easiest to learn?

Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Romanian, Dutch, Swedish, Afrikaans, Norwegian

It is believed that each next foreign language is easier to learn than the previous one. After learning 2-3 languages, a person develops his own strategy for memorizing vocabulary and language rules, which speeds up the process of further learning. In addition, many languages ​​are similar to each other.

So, the above languages, according to experts, are quite easy to learn if you already know English. If you want to become a real polyglot, start learning languages ​​belonging to the same group, or simply similar to each other.

The most beautiful languages

What languages ​​sound more beautiful and more romantic than others?

French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian

Of course, there are as many tastes as there are people. Nevertheless, some languages ​​are generally considered the most beautiful and "musical" - these are, in particular, the mentioned languages ​​of the Romance group.

People in the very different ages begin to learn French and Italian just for themselves, because of the beauty and melody of these languages. Indeed, what could be more beautiful than confessing love to a dear person for French?

In addition, Romance languages ​​are a real treasure for connoisseurs of music, literature and culture in general. Knowledge of Spanish, French and other languages ​​will give you the opportunity to read the classics in the original and learn wonderful foreign songs!

How many people, so many opinions

Not everyone agrees with such a calculation for the groups of foreign languages ​​that are easiest and most difficult for a Russian person. Thus, Anna Kravchenko, deputy dean of the Faculty of Translation, Moscow State Linguistic University, is sure that there is no such sequence and ease in learning foreign languages. According to her, each of us has our own abilities and mentality. However, she believes that after mastering three foreign languages, the fourth and subsequent ones are easier to master, since a person has own system by studying them.
Head of the Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics of the Institute of Linguistics of the Russian State Humanitarian University Sergey Gindin also notes that general rules in the sequence of mastering foreign languages, their accessibility for a Russian-speaking person is not. There is only relative ease between two similar languages. For example, a student of French will find it easier to learn Spanish, which also belongs to the Romance group.

Another specialist in foreign languages, simultaneous translator Dmitry Petrov, who has been broadcasting the popular Polyglot program on the Kultura TV channel for several years, believes that the certain complexity of the Russian language gives us, its native speakers, a big plus when learning foreign languages. Whereas the Englishman has a much harder time in this regard.

However, for Russians, there are languages ​​with categories that are absent in Russian. For this reason, it is not so easy for Russian-speaking students to master Finno-Ugric and Turkic languages with a different logic. But Dmitry Petrov emphasizes that the difficulty of any foreign language is predominantly a myth and, if you wish, you can master any. Moreover, it is quite permissible to study two languages ​​in parallel at once. He also urges not to be afraid of an accent, since every person in the world, even in their native language, speaks with some kind of accent. For example, in the same UK there is classic version, the so-called royal English, in which in work time the speakers, some politicians and the queen speak. Otherwise, there are dozens of absolutely incredible dialects and accents, including London.

However, many believe that when learning a foreign language, one should be guided not by ease, but by its relevance. As you know, at the present time it is English, it is also studied by a significant part of Russians. But the future is not his at all. So, Gennady Gladkov, head of the department of language training and the Bologna process of MGIMO, is sure that in 50 years the most relevant language in the world will be Chinese, which will bypass English due to the growth of the population and economy of the PRC.
It is generally accepted that Chinese is one of the most difficult foreign languages ​​for Russian speakers. However, those who risked mastering it argue that this is not the case. In particular, it is not at all necessary to know more than 80 thousand hieroglyphs, most of the Chinese do not know them. For example, for reading it will be enough to master only one thousand of them.

When you live in a world in which cultural differences are as great as the differences between people, you need to be flexible enough to be able to adapt to changing conditions and environments. One way to adjust is to learn Most Popular foreign languages (at least one of them). When you start learning a foreign language, you will see that it is not as easy as it might seem at first. Choice most easy tongue for learning depends directly on your native language. In this article, we'll talk about which languages ​​are easiest to learn.

10 easiest languages ​​to learn

Explanation:

* Data was collected from various academic and generally reliable sources (Wikipedia, academic websites, educational communities, etc.)

Number of speakers (in millions): The total number of people in the world who speak this language. Of course, these results can be subjective. This includes both native speakers and those who have learned the language as a foreign language.

Oral speech: this parameter is assessed on a scale of ease with which the learner is able to master the oral language.

Grammar: different languages have a different grammatical structure, due to which, some languages ​​lend themselves to easy learning, while others require time and effort. When evaluating language complexity grammar was chosen as one of the criteria.

Writing: in order to quickly master some languages, first learn speaking, and then writing. In other languages, speech and writing are equally difficult and require intensive study. In this section, languages ​​are ranked according to the difficulty of learning writing. As in speech, the assessment is given as follows: easy, moderately easy, difficult.

Difficulty: from 1 to 5. The level of difficulty that a student faces when learning a particular language. 1 is the easiest, 5 is the most difficult. As a rule, those who study a foreign language that is close to their native language (related) learn it more easily than when the language is completely different from their native language.

Before moving on to detailed learning a foreign language, read some important points to remember and keep in mind:

Avoid using idioms as they can have different meanings depending on the knowledge of the speaker. To facilitate the learning process, avoid complex sentences especially at the initial stage.

Literal translation often does not work in many languages, since there are languages ​​where one word can mean a whole thought expressed in several words, or even sentences in another language.

Mastering the skills of speaking is the shortest way to learn a foreign language. As you study each day, repeat the names of the main objects and things. If possible, keep in touch with people who are proficient in the foreign language you are learning. If you can't find someone to talk to, talk to yourself, build monologues.

If possible, read articles (whatever you can find) in a foreign language to fully immerse yourself in it.

It will take a lot of time and effort to learn a foreign language. Most abandon their studies, fearing difficult pronunciation, etc. Yes, indeed, you can get upset because in the case of a foreign language there is no such ease that we observe in our native language. However, if you want to know a foreign language well, the most quick way to do this is to learn to speak through mistakes. No matter what degree of difficulty has a tongue. The practice of speaking helps to master the language better.

A beginner to learn a language will inevitably encounter mistakes, and these mistakes can only be corrected through practice (if possible). That is, the factor that determines how quickly you can master a foreign language is your native language. In the case of Russian, it will be relatively easy to learn any of the Indo-European / Slavic languages. Also try to keep the boundaries of your mind open. Be patient and let your curiosity run wild.

Do not "get addicted" to any one teaching method, try different ways learning a language — choosing the best one. It does not matter how easy or difficult it is to learn a particular language, in search of best method you will retain interest and persistence in your studies. Listening to spoken foreign speech helps a lot, thus practicing this important skill and getting used to the foreign speech of native speakers is trained. There are many different training CDs, reference books, and audio and video files to help you.

However, speaking will surely help you reach your goal in the fastest and most the best way... Reading aloud in a foreign language and writing exercises is another useful method to help you master a language (although for many it seems boring). This helps to achieve fluency in the language. It is also of considerable benefit to be aware of the need to learn a particular language. Are you learning a language for business, travel, work or everyday communication? Awareness of the cause creates an additional factor of motivation, which leads to the correct setting of the goal and the corresponding result.

When you are faced with the task of learning a language, you often ask yourself which of the languages ​​is still the easiest? TravelAsk decided to make a small selection.

How the lightest languages ​​were determined

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs classifies as simple languages ​​those that require approximately 600 hours of study. Of course, it comes about quality ownership.

First of all, they refer to lung languages Germanic and Latin language groups. However, German itself will be more difficult: on average, in order to master it sufficiently, you need to spend about 750 hours studying. The grammar is pretty complicated here.

But do not forget that the degree of difficulty is still individual for everyone and in most cases depends on personal motivation and interest.

English

English is considered one of the simplest ones. Judge for yourself: its grammar is not so complicated, it has no cases and gender, and the words do not need to be coordinated. And the words themselves are rather short and laconic. Add to it all wide use: it is spoken almost everywhere. Well, the carriers of English language who live in different corners planets are quite calm about the mistakes of foreigners.

French

The French speak as if they are singing, don't they? But from the outside it seems that it is impossible to approach him, such a pronunciation ... But, according to experts, it only seems. After all, many words in French are similar to English. In addition, the language is very popular and is used in many places.

Spanish

Perhaps Spanish is one of the easiest languages ​​to learn. It is very similar to English, and his spelling is much simpler: both hear and write. Many native Russian speakers who memorize vocabulary from the first class, they will only envy this rule)

Well, Spanish is quite popular, and its pronunciation is simple. So is grammar.

Italian language

Another language that is included in our rating is Italian. There are no cases, a fairly simple pronunciation, the stress is fixed. Well, the language itself has Latin roots, so it will be familiar to many people. And it is also related to Spanish, therefore, if there is a desire to become a polyglot, then the choice of close languages ​​will help to achieve the goal in a shorter time)

Esperanto

Esperanto is considered the easiest language to learn. It may even surprise someone that this language exists, but yes, it is. And do you know why it is the simplest? Because it was developed specifically as a second language for each person, it was even originally called it - international or a language for humanity. It is spoken, according to various estimates, from one hundred thousand to ten million people.

Esperanto grammar is very simple, there are no exceptions at all. And, of course, its undoubted plus is that it is neutral, since it is not tied to any state. Perhaps its only drawback is that it is not as widespread as English).

Unfortunately, there is no universal answer to the question of which language is the easiest to learn. First, it depends on which language is your native language. Secondly, on whether you already speak any foreign languages. Thirdly, on your motivation: are you enthusiastic enough to start regular classes?

But suppose we are talking about a Russian-speaking person who is determined to learn a foreign language.

The easiest way for a native Russian speaker to learn one of the Slavic languages language group: East (Ukrainian, Belarusian), South (Bulgarian, Serbo-Croatian, Slovenian) or West Slavic (Czech, Polish, Slovak).

Then there are Romance languages: French, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish and others. Even English, many experts recommend learning after French to simplify the learning process. Dutch, for example, is best learned after English, and Yiddish after German.

Due to the complexity of Russian grammar, it is quite easy for native speakers of Russian to learn other languages, however, there are stumbling blocks for us too. So, it is not easy for native speakers of the Russian language to learn Turkic (Turkish, Azerbaijani, Tatar, Uzbek and others) or Finno-Ugric (Hungarian, Finnish, etc.). It is not easy for foreigners (not only Russian speakers) with Chinese. At the same time, apparently, the most difficult thing is not to memorize hieroglyphs or cram grammar - all this is quite comprehensible, - the most difficult thing for foreigners is to cope with colloquial speech. The tonal system of pronunciation and the large number of dialects make it difficult to interact with native Chinese speakers. It takes students several years to simply learn to understand the Chinese language. Many do not reach the level of fluency in the language.

However, in a way, the division of languages ​​into simple and complex is nothing more than a convention. Polyglots say that after mastering three foreign languages, you can say that you will receive all the rest as a gift. At the very least, learning them will be very easy for you. In addition, it makes sense to focus primarily on the demand for languages ​​in general and on the need for these languages ​​just for you. Any language will be easy to learn when you are motivated, and not easy if you yourself do not fully understand why you are learning it.

Also, among scientists there is an opinion that the main thing in learning foreign languages ​​is to master basic knowledge: the most popular grammatical constructions and the minimum lexical set. Everything else, as they say, is a matter of technology, or rather, your perseverance and perseverance.

Teacher's advice:

Learning a foreign language becomes easier when you practice it a little every day. Each language has its own special sound. The more you listen to the language, the easier it becomes. Reading helps strengthen your grammar and your vocabulary so read every day. It doesn't matter if you listen to news or music, read a book, magazine or website, the most important thing is a little every day.

Learning a language becomes easier when you practice a little every day. Every language has a different sound and the more you listen the easier it gets. Reading improves your grammar and vocabulary so read a little every day too. It doesn "t matter if you listen to the news or music, or read a book, magazine or website, the important thing is to a little every day.