What are the easiest languages for English speakers to learn? Although the answer depends on multiple variables that can range from the origin of the language to the cultural context or the motivations of each person, in this article we will answer that question based on our experience as linguists.
Through our Foreign Language courses, at Lingua Language Center, we have graduated thousands of English speakers in languages such as Spanish, French, Italian or Portuguese.
Although the development of pedagogy and neuroscience has made available to people the necessary techniques to learn any language, some still instill fear among enthusiasts. That is why we believe in the value of this information for two aspects: to motivate those who already have an idea of the new language they want to acquire, and to help those who are deciding in their choice.
Whatever language you want to include in your life, the benefits will be automatic, both on a brain and cognitive level, as well as in terms of professional development opportunities.
Here are the languages that we consider to be the easiest to learn if your mother tongue is English .
Frisian, the language most similar to English
Although it is only spoken by a maximum of 750,000 people spread between Germany and the Netherlands, if we go straight to the truth, Frisian is the easiest language for English speakers to learn.
That’s because it’s the closest language to English today, both in words and structure.
Both belong to the Angofrisian group, which is located within the Germanic languages.
We mention it at the beginning of this list for the sake of the rigor of the article, but there is not much interest in the world in learning about it.
dutch
Dutch is almost the same as Frisian, only it arouses more interest because it is spoken by approximately 23 million people in the world.
Although it is particularly complex for speakers of Romance languages, for English speakers it is easy because it even has words that do not change at all from one language to another.
Of course: the most complex thing about Dutch for someone who speaks English is pronunciation, something that is solved through a lot of practice.
Norwegian
Those who have seen any of the many series and movies about Vikings that exist can imagine the reasons: Both Norwegian and English are Germanic languages.
But they also share a good part of their vocabulary and grammatical structure.
Spanish
The first reason why Spanish is easy to learn for English speakers is that 65% of the words that make up English today come from Latin, the language that gave rise to Spanish.
The second cause has to do with geographical proximity and the cultural influence of Spanish in the United States.
As of 2015, there are more Spanish speakers in the United States than in Spain. This speaks of the enormous potential that the acquisition of this language will continue to have in the coming years.
Portuguese
Because of its Latin origin, this Romance language is as easy for English speakers to learn as Spanish.
The difference is that there is less direct contact with the language unless the student has some kind of relationship with the cultures of Brazil and Portugal.
Italian
The cultural influence of Italy in the United States makes it easier for the inhabitants of that country to learn this Romance language.
In 1978 alone, there were already 5.3 million Italians living in the United States, almost all of them from families who arrived in the country between 1900 and 1914.
Today Italian culture is present in English-speaking countries in a consolidated way through food, fashion, art and sports. All this, and the Latin origin of the language, greatly facilitate its learning from English.
French
Although its pronunciation may be complex for English speakers, the truth is that the history between the two languages is too close.
It is estimated that approximately 18,000 words in English originate directly from French, which can make understanding and learning the language much easier.
Swedish
Since English and Swedish are Germanic languages, one might assume that there is some facility for speakers of one to learn the other. However, the data shows that the possibilities go much further…
The Swedish and English languages share 1,558 words, although many of them are “false friends” because of the separate evolution of each.
Romanian
It is not a language that is so widely spoken in the world compared to the main ones. But it’s on this list because it’s easy for English speakers to learn.
Many people forget that Romanian is a Romance language just like Spanish or French, and the nickname of “easy language” depends in part on the fact that it is absolutely phonetic, that is, it is pronounced as it is written.
Of course: it is full of letters with diacritics and grammatical structures different from those of English. But that doesn’t make it easy.
German
Native English speakers often have trouble pronouncing long compound words. But both languages share a Germanic origin that, with basic studies, can be used.
The usefulness of German is enormous today, as it is a language that completely opens the doors to all kinds of relationships in Central Europe.
Foreign Language Courses
Lingua Language Center has several of the most attractive foreign language courses in the state of Florida.
It also has an online learning modality that includes all the advantages of doing a face-to-face course.
If you want to learn a new language, contact us to advise you on every detail.
The benefits of learning a language go far beyond the academic and professional. Take advantage today!