The Three Easiest Languages for English Speakers to Learn

And now, with no further ado, the three most spoken, easiest languages for English speakers to learn:

Number 1: Spanish

Why should I learn it?

With over an estimated 422 million native speakers worldwide , Spanish is the fourth most spoken language in the world (behind Chinese, Hindi, and English). It's an official, national, or widely spoken language in 44 countries, including the United States. Believe it or not, the United States has recently been cited as the second largest Spanish-speaking country in the world... it's time for Americans to learn some more Español to speak with their amigos and vecinos...

What makes Spanish easier?

Spanish only differs from English in morphology (word formation) and phonology (pronunciation). English speakers learning Spanish have the luxury of using the same alphabet (apart from a few letters) and the straightforward Spanish pronunciation system: words are pronounced exactly as they are written. Grammatically speaking, Spanish actually has less irregularities than other Latin-based languages. In addition, English speakers have more and more opportunities to be exposed to Spanish on a daily basis, even in their native countries (especially for us Americans).

Don't let the relative similarity between English and Spanish give you a false sense of security, though. There are many Spanish dialects which feature strong differences in pronunciation, vocabulary, and minor grammatical differences, which is something to keep in mind when starting to tackle Español.

How much time is needed for proficiency?

According to the FSI study, a native English speaker requires an average of 23-24 weeks and between 575 and 600 classroom hours to become proficient in Spanish.
 

• Test your Spanish accent/pronunciation (for true voice recognition you will need to use the Chrome browser)...

• Or, for more, take the free trial of Rocket Spanish here and try a few sample lessons from the full Rocket Spanish course.

Number 2: Portuguese

Why should I learn it?

There are over 176 million Portuguese speakers in the world, and these speakers are not just from Portugal and it's gigantic former colony, Brazil. Portuguese is the official language in 9 countries, including Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, and East Timor. It's also spoken in over 34 countries worldwide. In addition, Brazil's economy is currently ranked 6th in the world, making it an increasingly valuable language for professionals.

What makes Portuguese easier?

Much like Spanish, Portuguese only varies from English in morphology and phonology. One attractive feature of Portuguese is its interrogative form, which does not require reconstruction and can be expressed just by changing your intonation. "We're dancing tonight," for example, can become a question simply by raising your voice at the end. Even though the nasal vowel sounds of Portuguese are difficult for English speakers to pronounce at first, the rhythm of Portuguese is easy for English ears to follow.

How much time is needed for proficiency?

On average, a native English speaker needs between 23 and 24 weeks and 575-600 class hours to achieve language proficiency in French, according to the FSI study findings.
 

• Test your Portuguese accent/pronunciation (for true voice recognition you will need to use the Chrome browser)...

• Or, for more! Take the free trial of Rocket Portuguese here and try a few sample lessons from the full Rocket Portuguese course.

Number 3: French

Why should I learn it?

There are over 75 million native French speakers in the world today (and 190 million who have it as a secondary language), from the streets of Paris to Africa and the Canadian province of Quebec to the Caribbean islands. While German does have a few million more speakers, French is more geographically distributed. It is an official language in 40 countries and is spoken in 54 countries worldwide.

What makes French easier?

Say what you will about French's gendered nouns, verbal forms, pronunciation, and all of those tricky silent letters, French is still one of the easiest Latin-derived languages for English speakers to learn. We have history to thank for this: for almost a century, the 11th-century Norman invasion of England and the new French-speaking government had a tremendous influence on the English language. Au fait, linguists estimate that up to one-third of modern English has been influenced by French, from our potatoes au gratin to our film noir and entrepreneurs. Thanks to the fact that English has more in common lexically with French than any other Latin-based language, English speakers who take on French as a foreign language will experience a familiar lexical déjà vu.  

How much time is needed for proficiency?

According to the FSI study, a native English speaker needs between 23 and 24 weeks and 575-600 class hours on average to achieve language proficiency in French.
 

• Test your French accent/pronunciation (for true voice recognition you will need to use the Chrome browser)...

• Allez ! Take the free trial of Rocket French here and try a few sample lessons from the full Rocket French course.

Language Learning: An Important Note

By now, all of you native English speaking language learners and aspiring language learners have got to be wondering: How is Spanish one of the easiest language if I still can't figure out when to use "por" and when to use "para"?

It's very important to note that these findings are just based on one study with relatively experienced language learners studying very intensively, and that most of us don't have that kind of time on our hands. In addition, every learner is very different. What's easy for one learner might be very difficult for another, no matter how similar or different the language is to English. With some time, adequate resources, and, most importantly, motivation, any language is within your reach.

If you're looking to get started and see how possible language learning really is for you, a great place to start is the award-winning language software offered by Rocket Languages.

Enjoy a free trial of the Spanish, Portuguese, French, or one of a dozen other languages  and learn how fun and easy it can be to learn a language.

Buena suerte, boa sorte, bon chance!