Knowing where to begin when you consider learning a new language could be challenging. Do you want to learn a widely spoken language like Spanish, a business-relevant language like Chinese, or a vocabulary that interests you because of your unique heritage or ancestry? If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the vast number of options (approximately 6,500 languages are spoken today! ), the relative ease of learning may be an excellent factor to consider.
Here Are 5 Simple Languages to Learn for English Speakers:
1. Norwegian
Norwegian is at the top of the list. It’s a Germanic language, like English, that’s not common. Norwegian is densely packed with cognates, and its word order is strikingly similar to English. Verb conjugations are simple, and pronunciation is more straightforward than in many European languages. “Can you help me?” becomes “Kan du hjelpe meg?” in the same order.
2. Spanish
As a widely taught and spoken tongue in the United States, Spanish scores high in terms of exposure and resources; although there are many Spanish-English cognates, Spanish has more verb grammar rules, which can be confusing. It’s also a very phonetic language, which means that once you’ve figured out the rules, reading is simply because words are authored since they are pronounced.
3. French
There are a lot of similar languages. Almost one-third of all English words are of French origin. Another 30% are of Latin origin, but here’s the catch: Because French is a beautiful language, many Latin words most likely came to English via French.
4. Indonesian
It may surprise you, but Indonesian has several benefits if you want to learn an Asian language, making it a good choice for English speakers. To begin with, it is one of the few Asian languages that utilizes the Latin alphabet. And, like Spanish, it’s phonetic, meaning each letter is typically pronounced only once. Indonesian grammar structures differ significantly from English ones but are also quite simple.
5. Afrikaans
For an English speaker, Afrikaans is probably the most accessible vocabulary on our list. Afrikaans, like English, is a Germanic language, and its language is strikingly similar. In Afrikaans, as in Indonesian, there are no verb conjugated verbs (i.e., throw, threw, thrown) or grammatical genders. If you don’t know how to say something, point and ask, “Wat is dit in Afrikaans?”