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What is the Hardest Language to Learn? It’s a question that has intrigued grammatists, learners, and language lovers for ages. There are more than 7,000 languages spoken around the world, which makes it both interesting and difficult to find the hardest one to learn.

From tonal languages that require a good ear to forms that test your patience, learning a language is a trip into the complexity of people. But is there a clear answer? As we go deeper into the maze of language variety.

Let’s look at the complex web of phonetics, grammar, and cultural differences that makes it so fun to try to figure out the world’s most difficult languages.

What Is the Hardest Language to Learn

Want to know Let’s not round up things and directly come to the main topic, so the hardest language to learn is Mandarin Chinese.

Mandarin Chinese is one of the most spoken languages in the world.

Mandarin Chinese is considered pretty hard to learn; no matter what your mother tongue is. 

The grammar, alphabet, and pronunciation of the words are complicated in this language, because of this it is known as the hardest language to learn in the whole world.

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Top 50 Hardest Languages to Learn

Above in this blog, I have given the direct answer to the question about what is the hardest language to learn. But I do not think it is right. Because this question does not have a direct answer, it totally depends on the personal opinion.

But since I do not want to confuse you and want to solve your query, so I say that Mandarin is the toughest language (Most people say this). Though I want to give all the information to you regarding this question.

So, here I will share around 50 languages that are the hardest to learn.

This list will help you to know what types of complex languages are present in this world. So, here are the Top 50 hardest languages to learn.

HungarianTagalog
KoreanNavajo
MandarinPersian
DutchFinnish
SlovenianAfrikaans
CzechTurkish
UrduDanish
HebrewSanskrit
CroatianSwedish
SpanishItalian
GaelicFrench
HindiJapanese
IcelandicAlbanian
PortuguesePunjabi
GermanRomanian
MarathiThai
VietnameseIndonesian
TeluguMalayalam
ArabicNorwegian
EsperantoChinese
KannadaScottish
SwahiliAustronesian
PolishWelsh
Bengali

So, these were the top 50 hardest languages to learn.

Ok, Ok, Sorry; these are 49; I did not think that someone would count these.

What Is the Hardest Language to Learn for English Speakers

English is one of the most spoken languages around the world. There are a lot of countries where English is spoken as the primary language.

Since English is very famous worldwide, most English speakers do not think about learning any other language. But there are also some English speakers who want to learn other languages.

If you are an English speaker, then I will say that it will be hard for you if you want to learn other languages. I do not want to demotivate you, but after having a long talk with some English speakers who also know some other languages, I came to this conclusion.

But I do not think you will be worried about this because you are also here to find the most complex languages. So, be happy because you will find many languages which will be tough for you.

But as we are talking about the most challenging languages, these are the three languages that are the hardest languages to learn for English Speakers.

What is the Hardest Language to Learn #1:- Arabic

It was tough to select the hardest three languages among so many languages. But, after some research, I finally made this list. The hardest language for an English speaker, in my opinion, is Arabic.

Arabic is the Semitic language of the Arabs; Semitic languages mean that this language is a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. According to a survey that happened in the first half of 2021, there are around 270 million Arabic speakers worldwide.

The Arabic language has very complex grammar, which can be tough for you if you are an English speaker. The grammar of the Arabic language is completely different from the English grammar, which is why it takes very much time to understand the grammar of the Arabic language.

Moreover, you have to write right to left if you are writing in the Arabic language, which is completely different from the English language.

Also, there is another thing, that the shape of letters in Arabic languages changes, based on their placement in the word. That means if you write a letter at the start, in the middle, or at the end, every time, you have to change the shape of that letter according to its position in the particular word.

This is so tough that even I do not understand what I said in this last line. So, these are some reasons why I give Arabic 1st position in the list of hardest languages to learn for the English Speakers list.

What is the Hardest Language to Learn #2:- Turkish

Turkish is the second name in our list of the Hardest Languages to Learn for English Speakers. It is the national language of a very beautiful country, Turkey. This language is also known as Istanbul Turkish or Turkey Turkish; there are around 70 to 80 million Turkish speakers.

Turkish dramas are very famous worldwide; I also have watched some cool Turkish dramas. While watching them, I was very fascinated by their language. This language is very pleasant to the ears, the words are so heartwarming, so I also decided to learn this language.

But when I researched about it, I changed the plan. Turkish is too hard for an English speaker since it’s not close to English for even a small point. The structure of sentences in English and Turkish are completely different; the formation of sentences in Turkish happens in this form :

Subject + Object + Verb

This is different from the English language; in English, we form a sentence like this -:

Subject + Verb + Object

What is the Hardest Language to Learn #3:- Vietnamese

This language is an Austroasiatic language; It originated from Vietnam. It is the national language of Vietnam; there are around 70 million people who natively speak Vietnamese.

Vietnamese is also one of the hardest languages to learn if you are an English speaker. This language has tones of vowels that can be very hard for you if you are not a native Vietnamese Speaker.

The second thing that makes it harder is its vocative nouns; this language has many difficult vocative words that can frustrate you. These are the two main reasons that make me think this language is one of the hardest languages for an English speaker.

But if you have learned these two concepts properly, then I will say it will become very easy for you to learn this language. But the main thing is that these two concepts are enough for someone to get frustrated.

What is the Hardest Language to Learn for Non-English Speakers

Above were the three languages which are the hardest for an English speaker to learn.

But if you are a non-English speaker who speaks any other language other than English, then you can ask what is the hardest language to learn for a non-English speaker. Since I am talking about non-English speakers, that means I am talking about a large number of people.

So, it can be that the list I am sharing about the hardest language can’t be correct for everyone. Because the language in this list may be your native language or it is similar to your native language.

That’s why I am saying this; but according to my research, these are the hardest languages to learn for a non-English speaker.

What is the Hardest Language to Learn #1:- Dutch

The first language in the hardest language to learn for non-English speakers list is Dutch. Dutch is a West Germanic language; West Germanic languages are the group of Germanic languages that are developed in the region of -:

  • North Sea
  • Elbe
  • Rhine-Weser

About 25 million people speak this language as their first language, and about five million people speak this language as their second language. Dutch is the official language of the Netherlands; this is the place where people speak it most.

Many people in Belgium also consider this language as their first language. At some points, the Dutch language seems similar to the English language. Many words of English and Dutch vocabulary are quite the same. 

That’s why if you are a non-English speaker, then learning Dutch can cause you a headache. The other thing that makes Dutch hard to learn is its vowels.  Thanks to its vowels, Dutch words are tough to pronounce for a non-English speaker. These are some reasons why the Dutch get a position on our list what is the hardest languages to learn for non-English speakers.

What is the Hardest Language to Learn #2:- Portuguese

Portuguese is a Romance language; it is known as the Romance language because its cause of existence is Romans. 

This is one of those languages that are derived from Vulgar Latin; this is the official language of Portugal, and Brazil like countries.

Portuguese has about 250 million native speakers and approximately 24 million speakers speak this language as their second language.

As we said, it is a romance language, so like other languages, it also shares some words with the English language, which makes it hard for non-English speakers.

Moreover, in Portuguese, we have to focus a lot on Nasal sounds.

Also, some words in this language are so hard to pronounce that even people who have learned this language, 

sometimes get their tongues twisted while speaking those words.

The other thing that makes Portuguese hard to learn is its grammar rules; its grammar rules are too confusing.

And if you are a non-English speaker, then it will be more complicated for you to learn its grammar.

What is the Hardest Language to Learn #3:- Japanese

Japanese has become quite popular all around the world, thanks to anime (Japanese Animated Shows). You can find anime weebs in every country; these weebs love to watch their favorite anime in the Japanese dub.

The craze of Japanese in these people is so much that even if any anime show is available in their native language, they still watch it in Japanese. Because According to them, Japanese versions sound way cooler than any other language.

Tomorrow, I also saw a similar type of anime weeb while I was in front of the mirror. Japanese is an East Asian language; there are about 128 million people who speak in Japanese. It is the national language of Japan.

The Japanese alphabet has 99 sounds formed with vowels and consonants. This language is considered one of the hardest languages in the world. It does not matter if you are an English speaker or a non-English speaker; you have to face the same difficulties to learn this.

What is the Second Hardest Language to learn

I read many blogs talking about the hardest language to learn, and while reading them, another question hit my mind.

I was thinking, OK! Mandarin is considered the toughest language in the world, then what is the second hardest language to learn in this world?

Yes! I know what a stupid question; if I continued thinking like this, these questions would never stop.

In this way, after getting an answer to the question, I can think about the third hardest language and the fourth hardest language.

But fortunately, it does not happen.

So, now let’s come back to the question; based on my research Arabic is the second hardest language to learn in this world.

Top 10 Hardest Language to Learn

So, now you have the knowledge of the top 50 hardest languages, let’s shorten this list and let’s see the top 10 hardest languages worldwide that people think are hard to learn.

So, these are the top 10 hardest languages to learn based on my research -:

LanguageTotal Number of Speakers
Mandarin1,310,000,000
Cantonese73,400,000
Arabic371,400,000
Japanese125,600,000
Korean79,300,000
Vietnamese86,500,000
Russian156,000,000
Polish38,700,000
Turkish77,800,000
Thai39,800,000
Hungarian10,400,000
Finnish5,400,000

So, these are the languages that I think are the hardest to learn; all these names listed in this list are based on my opinion and research.

If you have any other opinions about this, let me know in the comment section, I would love to know about your opinion.

Conclusion – What Is The Hardest Language To Learn

So this was the blog about “what is the hardest language to learn”. In this blog, I have shared languages that are the hardest to learn in this world. I have told you that Mandarin Chinese is the hardest language, it is based on my research.

But, in my opinion, Japanese is the hardest language to learn; this language has around 100 sounds, making it the hardest language to learn. I hope you liked this blog about the hardest language; stay connected to the website for more such content.

If you are looking for tips and tricks on how to become fluent in any of the above-mentioned hard-to-learn languages, I suggest you check the language-learning lessons provided by ling-app.com

FAQs

What is the hardest language in the world to learn?

Japanese is the hardest language in the world to learn; This language has three different scripts, Kanji, Katakana, and Hiragana.

Is Spanish hard to learn?

It totally depends on the person; Many people say that this language is pretty hard to learn.

What is the most beautiful language?

Japanese is one of the most beautiful languages; in my opinion, the words of this language like “Sensei”, and “Senpai”, are pretty sweet to hear.