Learning a new language is often touted as a journey of self-enrichment, opening doors to new cultures, career paths, and perspectives. While some languages may feel like a gentle stroll, others present a steep uphill climb. You might be curious about which languages pose the greatest challenge for native English speakers. We’ve previously explored some of the easiest languages for English speakers, but now we turn our attention to the other end of the spectrum: What Are The Hardest Languages To Learn?
Generally, languages that diverge significantly from English in terms of linguistic structure and cultural context are considered more difficult to master. But why would anyone willingly embark on the arduous path of learning one of the hardest languages?
One compelling reason is that some of these notoriously difficult languages are also among the most widely spoken. Mandarin Chinese, for instance, boasts over a billion speakers, making it an incredibly valuable language in a globalized world.
Furthermore, tackling a challenging language offers remarkable cognitive benefits. Research consistently demonstrates that learning a difficult language is good for your brain, enhancing memory, boosting focus, and even improving problem-solving skills.
If you’re seeking a rewarding challenge that sharpens your mind while equipping you with a unique and valuable skill, exploring the hardest languages might be the perfect endeavor. Drawing upon insights from the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), which categorizes language difficulty for English speakers, we present a detailed list of 17 of the hardest languages to learn, progressing from considerably difficult to exceptionally challenging.
1. Hungarian
Hungarian stands out as one of the hardest languages for English speakers primarily because it belongs to the Uralic language family, a stark contrast to the Indo-European roots of English and most other European languages. Spoken by approximately 13 million native speakers, mainly in Hungary, it presents unique hurdles in grammar and pronunciation.
The Hungarian language features a rich vowel system with 14 vowels, many exhibiting subtle phonetic distinctions not found in English. Pronunciation complexities extend to consonant clusters, where sounds can deviate significantly from English expectations. For example, “sz” is pronounced as a simple “s,” while “s” takes on the “sh” sound.
Despite these challenges, Hungarian is celebrated for its expressive nature and poetic qualities. It boasts unique words that encapsulate complex emotions absent in English vocabulary. “Hiányérzet,” for example, describes a vague feeling of something missing, while “Káröröm” captures the sentiment of taking pleasure in another’s misfortune. Adding to its intrigue, Hungarian is also a gender-neutral language.
2. Bulgarian
Bulgarian, a Slavic language with around eight million native speakers predominantly in Bulgaria, offers a journey into a rich cultural and historical landscape. However, for English speakers, it presents a significant learning curve.
One of the initial hurdles is the Cyrillic alphabet, which can appear daunting to those accustomed to the Latin script. Beyond the alphabet, Bulgarian vocabulary and grammar pose further challenges. The language incorporates fewer English loanwords compared to some other European languages, and its verb conjugations are known for their complexity.
Nevertheless, the path to mastering Bulgarian is well-supported. Numerous online resources and structured Bulgarian courses available online can provide guidance and structure. By dedicating time to familiarizing yourself with Bulgarian phonetics, particularly the consonant and vowel sounds, and diligently building vocabulary, learners can make substantial progress.
3. Serbian
Serbian, another Slavic language, is spoken by approximately 12 million people, primarily in Serbia and neighboring regions like Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Kosovo. Its presence as a recognized minority language in countries like Croatia, Romania, and Hungary highlights its relevance for those interested in Eastern Europe. However, Serbian is considered one of the harder languages to learn.
The difficulty stems from several linguistic features. Serbian employs two writing systems, Cyrillic and Latin, demanding familiarity with both. Its grammatical structure includes seven tenses, adding complexity to verb usage. Furthermore, Serbian phonetics can be challenging, featuring a consonant “R” that can function as a vowel in certain contexts. Adding another layer of distinction, Serbian is a highly gendered language, with grammatical gender impacting nouns and related words, as exemplified by words like “učenik” (male student). On a positive note, Serbian is a phonetic language, meaning pronunciation largely aligns with written forms.
4. Albanian
Albanian, the official language of Albania and Kosovo, is spoken by roughly six million people in the Balkan region. While classified as an Indo-European language, its unique linguistic evolution sets it apart, making it one of the more difficult languages to learn for English speakers.
Albanian’s distinctiveness arises from its lack of close relatives and its historical influences. It has absorbed grammatical structures and vocabulary from Greek and Latin, as well as now-extinct languages like Thracian, Illyrian, and Dacian.
The grammatical complexity of Albanian is a significant hurdle. Nouns in Albanian are marked by both case and gender, requiring learners to memorize these attributes for each noun. Despite these challenges, Albanian provides access to a distinct culture and history. Engaging with native Albanian speakers offers valuable practice and can accelerate the learning process.
5. Turkish
Turkish, a prominent member of the Turkic language family, boasts over 75 million native speakers across Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and parts of Europe. Its widespread use makes it a valuable language to learn, yet its linguistic features make it one of the harder languages for English speakers.
Turkish utilizes a modified Latin-script alphabet and incorporates loanwords from Persian and Arabic, creating a fascinating linguistic blend. However, mastering Turkish grammar presents significant challenges. The language relies heavily on agglutination, using suffixes to convey grammatical relationships and meanings. The rules governing suffix usage and word order are considerably more complex than in English, demanding substantial memorization and practice. Fortunately, Turkish is a phonetic language, simplifying pronunciation once the sound system is understood.
6. Farsi (Persian)
Farsi, also known as Persian, is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 70 million native speakers, primarily in Iran and Afghanistan, and also in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. While challenging for English speakers, Farsi has surprisingly contributed to the English lexicon. Words like “soup,” “pyjama,” and “checkmate” have Farsi origins.
One of the primary difficulties in learning Farsi is its use of the Arabic script. This script not only looks drastically different from the Latin alphabet but is also written from right to left. Mastering the script is a foundational step that requires dedicated effort. Beyond the script, Farsi grammar and vocabulary present their own complexities. However, Farsi is renowned for its poetic beauty, with many words possessing layers of meaning and symbolism. Learning Farsi opens a window into a rich and culturally diverse world.
7. Greek
Greek holds the distinction of being the oldest living Indo-European language. While modern Greek has evolved from its ancient form, it retains closer ties to its roots compared to the Latin-derived Romance languages like Spanish or French. Spoken by around 13 million native speakers, primarily in Greece and Cyprus, Greek presents a considerable challenge for English speakers.
Learning Greek involves navigating a significant amount of new vocabulary, mastering three grammatical genders for nouns, and grappling with complex grammar rules. Furthermore, reading and writing Greek necessitates learning the Greek alphabet. Despite these hurdles, Greek is deeply rewarding to learn. As a foundational language for many European languages and Western thought, Greek unlocks a wealth of history and culture.
8. Russian
With 154 million native speakers and 104 million non-native speakers, Russian is a globally significant language, offering access to a rich heritage of literature, philosophy, and art. However, its linguistic features pose challenges for English speakers.
As a Slavic language, Russian shares similarities with Ukrainian, Polish, and Serbian. One pronunciation challenge arises from the frequent clustering of consonants in Russian words. Additionally, the Cyrillic alphabet, while sharing some letters with the Latin alphabet, also includes letters that look similar but have different sounds. For example, the Cyrillic “B” sounds like “V,” “H” sounds like “N,” and “P” sounds like “R” in English. These phonetic discrepancies can initially be confusing for learners.
9. Hindi
Hindi, one of the official languages of India, is the native language of 341 million people. It’s also spoken in Nepal and Pakistan, with an additional 274 million non-native speakers. Hindi’s origins trace back to Sanskrit, an ancient South Asian language with links to ancient Greek and Latin.
A major challenge for English speakers learning Hindi is mastering the Devanagari script. This writing system requires significant time and practice to become proficient. While Hindi pronunciation is phonetic, it includes sounds that are unfamiliar to English speakers. Furthermore, subtle phonetic distinctions between words can be difficult for new learners to discern. Despite these obstacles, Hindi is a beautiful and historically rich language, offering vast opportunities for travel, work, and study.
10. Vietnamese
Vietnamese, belonging to the Austroasiatic language family, is the national language of Vietnam and spoken by around 76 million native speakers. Learning Vietnamese can be particularly useful for those planning extended stays in Vietnam, especially when venturing beyond major cities where English proficiency may be limited.
The primary hurdle for English speakers learning Vietnamese is pronunciation. Vietnamese is a tonal language with six tones, distinguished by diacritics. Tone variations alter word meanings, and vowel combinations can create new sounds. Developing accurate pronunciation requires dedicated listening and practice. However, once pronunciation is addressed, Vietnamese grammar is relatively straightforward.
11. Thai
Thai, the national language of Thailand, is spoken by approximately 60 million people, primarily within Thailand. It’s a valuable language for those planning to live, work, study, or travel extensively in Thailand, as English is not widely spoken.
Thai is considered a difficult language for English speakers due to its tonal nature, similar to Vietnamese and Chinese. Thai has five tones, some of which are not present in English. Recognizing and producing these tones accurately is essential for understanding and being understood. Additionally, Thai uses its own script, comprising 44 consonants, 18 vowels, and six diphthongs, all requiring memorization. On the positive side, Thai grammar is not overly complex once these initial hurdles are overcome. Vocabulary includes loanwords from English, French, and Portuguese, though most borrowings are from Chinese, Sanskrit, Khmer, and Pali.
12. Korean
Korean, an East Asian language spoken by 80 million people across North and South Korea, is often overlooked compared to Japanese or Chinese. However, it is a linguistically fascinating language with what is considered the most logically designed writing system in the world.
The Korean alphabet, Hangul, was created by King Sejong the Great in 1443 to simplify literacy for Koreans. Hangul consists of only 24 symbols (10 vowels and 14 consonants), making it relatively easy to learn compared to character-based systems. Despite the straightforward writing system, Korean still presents challenges for English speakers. Differences in word order, along with the presence of double consonants and vowel sounds, contribute to its difficulty.
13. Japanese
Japanese, an East Asian language belonging to the Japonic language family, is spoken by 128 million people, primarily in Japan. Widely recognized as one of the hardest languages for English speakers, Japanese offers compelling reasons for learners, from deeper engagement with Japanese culture and media to expanded career and business prospects.
A major source of difficulty is the Japanese writing system, which incorporates tens of thousands of characters known as “kanji.” While achieving basic literacy requires knowing around 2,000 kanji, memorizing this many characters is a significant undertaking. Another challenging aspect is “keigo,” the system of honorific speech in Japanese. Depending on the social context and the person being addressed, even simple words like “you” can have numerous translations, reflecting varying levels of formality.
14. Mandarin Chinese
Mandarin Chinese frequently tops lists of the hardest languages to learn, and for good reason. Yet, with over a billion speakers, it’s an incredibly impactful language to learn.
Like Thai and Vietnamese, Mandarin is a tonal language. Mandarin has four main tones, and the meaning of a word can change entirely based on the tone used. For example, “mā” can mean “mother” or “horse” depending on the tone. Written Chinese is also exceptionally complex. The Chinese writing system utilizes tens of thousands of unique characters to represent words and concepts, requiring extensive memorization.
15. Arabic
Arabic, a Semitic language, is spoken across 26 countries in the Middle East and North Africa, including Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Egypt. It’s the native language of approximately 245 million people, with an additional 29 million non-native speakers.
Arabic presents almost every conceivable challenge for English speakers. The Arabic script is written from right to left and is entirely different from the Latin alphabet. Arabic grammar is complex and structured differently from English grammar. Arabic pronunciation includes sounds that simply do not exist in English. Despite these difficulties, learning Arabic provides profound insights into Arab culture and opens up numerous career opportunities, alongside the personal reward of mastering a truly challenging language.
16. Georgian
Georgian is notoriously difficult for English speakers to learn because of its unique script, complex sound system, and challenging grammar. The Georgian alphabet, called Mkhedruli, is unique and has no direct counterparts in the Latin script, which means learners must familiarize themselves with entirely new characters. Additionally, Georgian phonetics include a variety of sounds that are uncommon or entirely missing in English, such as ejective consonants, making pronunciation and listening comprehension very challenging.
Georgian is an agglutinative language, meaning it often forms words by stringing together prefixes, suffixes, and infixes, creating long and complex word forms. Verbs in Georgian feature an array of conjugations that depend on tense, aspect, mood, person, and even the subject’s role within the sentence (such as agent or patient).
17. Polish
Polish presents a different set of challenges for English speakers, primarily due to its case system, difficult phonetics, and complex verb conjugations. Nouns, pronouns, and adjectives decline according to seven grammatical cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, instrumental, locative, and vocative. Each case alters the word’s ending based on its role in the sentence, which means learners have to memorize multiple forms for each word.
Phonetically, Polish is known for its consonant clusters and wide range of sounds. Words often contain combinations of consonants that are challenging for English speakers to pronounce. The language also includes nasal vowels, which do not exist in English. Verb conjugations add another layer of complexity, as Polish verbs change form based on tense, aspect, mood, and sometimes gender.
Hardest languages, honorable mentions:
For ambitious language learners seeking their next challenge, these notoriously difficult and fascinating languages are also worth considering:
- Finnish
- Urdu
- Icelandic
- Mongolian
- Czech
- Cantonese Chinese
- Estonian
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