Learning a new language opens opportunities for interacting with new cultures, better traveling experience, and good jobs. Research says about 7100 languages are spoken worldwide. But, most of them are spoken by small communities. That’s why people tend to learn two or three widely spoken languages instead of dozens. It is an open secret that learning a new language is difficult. But, it might be easier if your native and the target languages are relatives.
If you are currently learning English as your first foreign language like many others, be sure to check out English Tutors from AmazingTalker. They also have Spanish Tutors if you already know you are going with Spanish.
According to FSI, these eight languages fall under Category 1. It means English speakers can learn them within 23 to 24 weeks because of their close relevance.
Dutch
We begin with Dutch because it is perhaps the easiest language for English speakers. With 23 million speakers, Dutch is the third most spoken West Germanic language. Dutch and English have noticeable resemblances due to the same linguistic family. Words from both languages have similar pronunciations like – appel = apple, peer = pear, tomaat = tomato etc. They also follow the same sentence structure.
Norwegian
Norwegian is a North Germanic language and has a closeness to English. So, English speakers can learn it without much difficulty. Norwegian is the mother tongue of 5.3 million people in the world. It is a tonal language where the pitch tone distinguishes word meanings. Many words from both languages have similar pronunciations such as – book = bok, door = dør, lamp = lampe etc. They also have the same grammatical structure.
Spanish
Most English speakers choose Spanish as their second language because of its worldwide acceptance. Spanish is the world’s second-largest language with 559 million speakers. It is a phonetic language that means you can write words and sentences following the pronunciations. So, English speakers can comfortably read and write it. Unlike English, Spanish is a Romance language. But, both follow the same sentence structure. We even use numerous Spanish words in English.
Portuguese
Portuguese is the official language of nine countries and the world’s sixth most spoken language. It is the mother tongue of about 200 million people. Despite being a Romance language, the lexical similarities between Portuguese and English are surprising. English speakers already use numerous Portuguese words. Besides, both language have words with similar pronunciations such as – história = history, momento = moment, elevador = elevator, problema = problem etc. They also have the exact sentence pattern.
Italian
Italian is an interesting language for English speakers, even the name America has come from Italian! This Romance language has about 62 million speakers worldwide. Italian is similar to English in many aspects. Numerous Italian words like – volcano, espresso, pasta, fascism, bank, lottery, and more are used in English every day. So, learning Italian vocabulary would not be a big challenge for English speakers. Moreover, the sentence structure of Italian is exactly the same as in English.
French
French is often called the language of diplomats because of its worldwide dominance. It is also a Romance language and has about 275 million speakers worldwide. English is massively influenced by the French. We even use numerous French words in daily life such as – elite, homage, irony, metro, navy etc. Both languages have similar sentence structures. So, English speakers take less time in general to learn French.
Swedish
Swedish is a North Germanic language with 9 million speakers. It has a very unique vocabulary. Some Swedish words even can’t be translated into English. Learning Swedish is challenging as well as interesting for English speakers. Some Swedish words are exactly the same as English. But, they have entirely different meanings, for example; bra = good, by = village, threat = hot etc. Swedish is still easier for English speakers due to the same grammatical pattern.
Swahili
Swahili is perhaps the easiest African language for English speakers. More than 100 million people in the world speak Swahili. This mixed language has a combination of local Bantu, Arabic, Persian, German, Portuguese, and English. Swahili is a phonetic language that is very easy to speak, read and write for English speakers. Though there is not much lexical similarity, Swahili follows the same sentence structure as English.
Conclusion
Finally, you have the list of the eight easiest languages for English speakers. If you are an English speaker and want to learn about one of them, AmazingTalker can be the best preference. This online platform has native tutors for each language. So, you will learn a language in a modern way, unlike the traditional method. The platform’s lessons and tutors will let you realize how to communicate in a language like a native