The Spanish language was formed on the basis of Latin in medieval Castile. It is believed that this is the closest modern language to Latin, and Italian, Portuguese and other representatives of the Romance group have more differences from their ancestor.
Spanish is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, with over a million people speaking it. This language is used in 57 countries of the world and on almost all continents: in both Americas, in Europe, in Africa and Indonesia. Even in many countries where Spanish is not, it is widely spoken - for example, in Brazil it is spoken by most students and. Spanish is the official language of the UN, EU, African Union.
Judging from this point of view, it is more profitable to study it compared to Italian, which has such a status only in the Latin Union and the EU and is much less common.
In terms of difficulty, Spanish is almost the same as Italian. It is well given to people who already know one of the Romance languages or English, which has many borrowed roots from Latin.
There are several situations in which Spanish is clearly preferred over Italian. Firstly, if the goal of learning a language is to use it while traveling, then you definitely need to choose Spanish (unless you are going to stop only in Italy). Knowing Spanish, tourists can easily navigate in many countries of the world. Secondly, some people study a foreign language in order to understand songs, movies and series. To watch series, especially soap operas, you need Spanish - Latin American series are widespread all over the world.
Italian language
In terms of complexity, the Italian language can be compared with Spanish: they have similar vocabulary, similar grammar, but it is believed that Italian is more difficult, although this is a subjective opinion. But the complex characteristic intonation, the opposition of long and multiple vowels, which is unusual for the Romance group, and other phonetic features make it relatively difficult for Russians to study.
But many people think that Italian sounds more beautiful, more romantic, more fluid, while Spanish is more rough and harsh.
Learning Italian can be advised to lovers of classical music, which is much more closely associated with Italy than with Spain. When choosing to learn a language “for yourself”, it is advisable to focus on your tastes, on proximity to a particular culture: for example, if flamenco, samba and tango dances are close to you, and you like to relax in the Canary Islands, then your choice is Spanish.
So, what language to learn after English? There can be a huge number of options, but it all depends on the goals, objectives, prospects, expected career growth, approach to the language and other things. We'll talk about this.
There are more than 3,000 languages(or 7,000 languages including dialects) of which only 95 are recognized.
Let's start with the classics. It is necessary to learn those languages that belong to one language group. Firstly, you don’t have to spend a lot of time learning grammar: once you understand it, everything will be the same in all languages belonging to the same language group. Secondly, many lexical units will be consonant. This approach to language learning is suitable for those who want to simultaneously master, for example, Italian and Spanish. However, it is not recommended to study two similar languages at the same time in order to avoid confusion.
Languages of the Romano-Germanic group were and will be popular. They are similar because they have a common basis - Latin. But if you know French, then Spanish will go like clockwork. Please note that after three languages mastered, the fourth, fifth and each subsequent one will be given easily due to the developed system. This is confirmed not only by teachers of foreign languages, but also by polyglots.
A little about language families and groups. There are 9 language families: Indo-European, Sino-Tibetan, Afrasian, Altaic, Niger-Kordofanian, Darvidian, Austronesian, Uralic and Caucasian. Each family is divided into groups, which in turn belong to the peoples of the language group. Indo-European language family remains the largest. It includes the Germanic, Slavic, Romance, Celtic, Baltic, Greek, Albanian, Armenian and Iranian language groups.
By the number of native speakers of course Chinese leader. Today, about 1.5 billion people speak Chinese, which is one-fifth of the total population. In addition, China is literally capturing the world market. Almost all products, with the exception of a few companies, are manufactured in China. However, only 10 million Chinese speak English. The Chinese language is spreading around the world at lightning speed, primarily thanks to businessmen who act pragmatically and thoughtfully. Of course, business people certainly know the world language of politics, culture, cinematography, but the world is changing and becoming more demanding on ongoing processes. And those who speak Chinese will certainly succeed and have a competitive advantage over those who do not speak Chinese.
Note that Chinese is spoken in mainland China, Taiwan and Singapore, and it is also the second dialect in Hong Kong and Macau. In addition, it is one of the six UN languages.
Choose, what language to learn after english, can be based on the principle of job search. If you know that you will have to cooperate with the Germans, then look towards German, and if you know that you will have to work with the Arabs, then you need to learn Arabic. Of course, many may say that knowledge of the English language will be quite enough, but recently more and more scientists are trumpeting that English will soon begin to lose ground. He will be replaced Chinese, Arabic and Spanish. It is interesting that the British themselves claim the same thing, justifying everything to those who the world will be fed up with English by 2050. This is what David Graddol, an expert in the field of language teaching, says. This will happen because too many people will know English, and it will no longer be considered foreign, and then Chinese will take a leading position. But the conclusions, of course, are up to you.
Simultaneously or with a slight difference in time, you can learn opposite languages e.g. English-Turkish, English-Arabic, English-Chinese.
The demand for foreign languages also depends on real estate. People with financial capabilities and a broad heart who want to buy property abroad, of course, know not only the country and its many regions, but also partly the language, culture and traditions. So, the most popular countries are Bulgaria, Turkey and Spain. In the last two countries there is no sharp change in climate, it is always warm and cozy. The advantages of Bulgaria are obvious due to the minimal language barrier. Having bought a property, it is possible to obtain a residence permit.
After English is logical learn spanish. Why? Because it is the most widely spoken language after Chinese and English. In addition, having mastered Spanish, you can easily understand Italians and vice versa. However, I can argue with those who say that Spanish is the easiest language. It is a little more complicated than Italian, in which everything is transparent and understandable. Just a dozen rules, and you can read and write. Grammar is also easy, especially considering that there is no Progressive tense as such in Italian. Therefore, as it claims, for happiness you need Present, Past and Future. Well, about 500 more words to start and about 50-70 common phrases.
But back to Spanish. This language is popular in North America, it is studied in schools and many people speak it at home. For those who decide to do business in Latin America, Spanish is the salvation of a drowning man. The world is developing, nothing stands still, and many South American countries are already actively demonstrating economic growth and an emerging market. Going to Paraguay and Ecuador, you can become the owner of cheap land and acquire subsistence farming.
Spanish is spoken in Spain, as well as in Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Guatemala, Bolivia, Honduras, Paraguay, El Salvador, Panama, Equatorial Guinea, Puerto Rico, Cuba and Costa Rica.
During the time when English language is a solid logic and classics, learning spanish language due to the demographic crisis in Europe. Italian for work, they learn much less often, it is rather a language of feelings, but this does not interfere with its assimilation. Despite all the complexity, interest in Chinese language is constantly growing, and recently it is more of a macroeconomic trend. Scientists note that literally in 50 years the situation may change radically, and Chinese will become one of the main languages. You and I will just have time to master it well.
Let's turn our attention to, which is spoken by residents of more than 30 countries. Arabic is the native language of 240 million people, while another 50 million people speak it as a second language.
So, summing up, we note that after English it is easier to assimilate Dutch, after German - Scandinavian languages, after French and Latin - Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Romanian, after Czech - Polish and Slovak, after Slavic languages and Hebrew - Yiddish, after Arabic - Hebrew and Persian, after Chinese - Korean and Japanese.
11 Feb 2019 4490 (0)
TOP 10 DIFFICULTIES IN SPANISH YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT IN ADVANCE
Spanish is definitely not the most difficult language to learn. Many polyglots and teachers think so. From my own experience, I can say that this language was the easiest and most successful language I have ever learned. But in Spanish there are all sorts of difficulties for which you need to be prepared, preferably as early as possible. This will help you soberly assess your strengths and correctly place emphasis in training.
In the process of studying, a number of difficulties will lie in wait for you. First organizational and motivational:
1 It is difficult to find an interlocutor and / or a good tutor in Russia, the choice of teaching materials is not so wide. This is related to the issue of the prevalence of the language among learners. It is not difficult to find an interlocutor for communication in English, a conversation club and a tutor in this language - the choice is huge. What can I say, even among your acquaintances, it is much easier to find a person who studies English to discuss some issues or show off achievements in learning than to study Spanish. So good. But recently, there has been an increase in the popularity of Spanish, I hope that soon this item can be safely crossed out.
2 Sometimes it is difficult to find the right information about the language. Due to the not yet the greatest popularity of the language, it is sometimes difficult to find the necessary and reliable information, a clear explanation of the topic, etc. Especially if you need more complex grammar. Therefore, I prefer to look for materials on Spanish-language sites.
3 Less choice of motivations. Today, a huge number of resumes require an English level of intermediate and above, and, for example, there are much fewer vacancies requiring Spanish. And as I said in part above, it's easier to find some movement in English, so Spanish is often taught just for fun.
Sometimes the motivation is a friendship or romantic relationship with a native Spanish speaker who doesn't know other languages - this is an effective motivation. I know many examples where learners pick up a language quickly through constant practice backed up by a lot of positive emotions.
Also, our compatriots often buy real estate in Spain, this is also sometimes well motivated, especially if the decision to purchase was related to doing business in this country. However, more than once I met the owners with minimal knowledge of the language at the level of a few colloquial phrases. After all, even immersion in the language environment will not work if you do not make an effort, and solve all important issues with paperwork using the services of an interpreter.
Learning a language for fun is great, but it almost certainly means a relaxed mode and a minimum of responsibility, it will be difficult not to “jump off” this idea. In a good way, in addition to learning the language “because you like it,” you need to have some good reason to learn it.
And then the language subtleties will be added:
4 Some Spanish words change beyond recognition. Irregular verbs mostly. For example, ir is the infinitive of the verb “to walk”, and “voy” is “I am going”, “vamos” is “we are going”, etc. This will also have to be remembered.
5 Articles. For a Russian person, this topic is usually difficult to immediately understand in any language being studied, for the simple reason that there are no articles as such in the Russian language. In addition, definite and indefinite articles change by gender and number.
6 Verbs and 14 tenses. This is probably the most difficult part of the grammar, and here it becomes clear by the number that a lot of effort will have to be made. Of course, at first they do not need to know everything, but you will have to study a large number of tenses.
7 There is no familiar "in" in Spanish. There is "b" and something in between "b" and "c", but closer to "b". And in general, the rules of reading are quite unusual for Russian. You will need to practice speaking well. There are also such features that "h" is never pronounced, and the letter "u" is not pronounced in combinations que, qui, gue, gui.
8 Subhuntivo. In my opinion, this is one of the most difficult topics in Spanish. Subhuntivo shows how the speaker relates to the action. It is used to express everything except confidence and statement: doubt, uncertainty, one's attitude ( it's important, good, bad). This is an objectively complex topic and it will need a lot of training. But it is more relevant for those who already know Spanish at least at B1 level.
And, of course, the difficulties associated with the practical use of knowledge.
In learning any language, there is such a stage when, after communicating with a book, you begin to communicate with native speakers, and at first you fall into a stupor. Familiar? Live Spanish is no exception:
9 Spaniards speak very quickly and, at times, casually. This can be intimidating at first for learners, especially those who usually have a harder time listening than, for example, visually. Even in many textbooks, already from the initial level, listening exercises with a fairly high pronunciation speed and with a variety of accents. This is cool, because, and in the future it will be easier for you. But at the initial stage, you will have to listen carefully and sweat.
10 Spoken Spanish. I can’t say something like “close the textbook, forget what they write there, and go to the streets to learn the language.” But I can say that many colloquial words and constructions will have to be learned from informal conversations with native speakers, they are not in textbooks.
I singled out all these difficulties for you not in order to frighten and discourage desire. Now you know what to prepare for, plunging into the study of this sunny and musical language. Knowing Spanish, you will be able to communicate, work or study in more than 20 countries. Remember this when it seems to you that the granite of science has ceased to succumb to teeth.
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The question of which foreign language to learn can baffle anyone, since there are more than enough opportunities for this now. Many learn or already speak English quite well, but would like to learn another language. For some, a foreign language is a prerequisite for a career and work, for others it is just a hobby.
Spanish language combines everything at once:
the ability to use it at work (especially in the field of tourism and hotel business)
Spanish is really very exciting, many would like to learn this language just because it is native to their favorite singers and actors
Spanish is an excellent choice for people who already know English (you will be able to understand almost all the inhabitants of America - both northern and southern).
If you would like to learn Spanish, but you are not completely sure of your choice, then you may need information about this wonderful language and some experienced tips.
I had a desire to learn Spanish at school, after a trip to the Spanish resort of Costa Brava (a suburb of Barcelona) during the summer holidays. Then, like many of my peers, I studied English at school and in classes with a tutor. A trip to Spain changed a lot. Acquaintance, albeit at first fleeting, with this country, its rich culture, friendly and very sociable inhabitants, instilled in me the desire to learn how to speak Spanish (of course, not forgetting about English :).
This desire came true at the institute, I chose Spanish as my first language (the second was English). I did not regret my choice, the further I studied this language, the more I fell in love with its unique sound and imagery. The Spanish language turned out to be the golden key to the rich history and culture of not only Spain itself, but also numerous Latin American countries in which Spanish is also the official language. In addition, the study of a second language allowed me to compare the ways of thinking of different peoples, which are so clearly manifested precisely through different ways of expressing the same thought.
It was hard at first to get used to the new pronunciation and reading rules, English sounds constantly broke through, especially such as, which in Spanish, unlike English, are pronounced without aspiration. It was also quite difficult to get used to the fact that in Spanish vowels are practically not reduced and with the need to "growl" every time a word begins with [r] or has . Helped daily swotting, reading aloud, listening to cassettes. Gradually my pronunciation began to approach more or less similar to Spanish. After a couple of weeks of hard and painstaking work, I could already read Spanish quite tolerably.
In fact, learning how to read and pronounce Spanish words correctly is not so difficult. In Spanish, unlike English, there are quite clear reading rules, thanks to which, you can correctly read any, even an unfamiliar word, without resorting to a dictionary and transcription. The main thing is to force yourself to devote at least an hour a day to reading, not to be lazy to re-read complex sentences several times. If you have a very tight time, you can record yourself on a tape, and then listen to it - from the side of the error appear more clearly. You can bring the tape to your teacher and ask him to comment on your mistakes and advise on how to correct them.
The next obstacle to learning Spanish is— grammar. For me personally, the most difficult thing to get used to is a huge number of Spanish endings, each of which corresponds to the person in which the corresponding verb is, tense and mood (indicative, subjunctive - the famous Spanish Subjuntivo or imperative). Also frightened by the number of deviant and irregular verbs. It seemed to me that in English everything is arranged much more simply. I learned 3 forms of irregular verbs, remembered that in the third person singular of the present tense, verbs take the ending -s, and no problem. And then ... However, as they say, the eyes are afraid, but the hands are doing. In the end, everything turned out to be not so scary. The main thing at the first stage is not to rush, to scroll through the entire paradigm of the verb in your head in search of the desired form, to clearly imagine in what tense and mood you want to say this or that phrase.
If we talk about progress in learning Spanish, I can say that at the end of the first year I could already conduct small dialogues, read and discuss simple topics, in the second year there was an active replenishment of grammatical and lexical material, the improvement of phonetics and conversational skills. Then we began to take on more complex and serious topics (problems of terrorism, drugs, politics and economics, etc.), studied new and repeated grammar material. The fourth and fifth years were devoted mainly to grammatical subtleties, vocabulary replenishment, active discussions of various topical topics, reading and translating articles (from Spanish into Russian and from Russian into Spanish), lectures on the history of the language and linguistics (in Spanish). With such a flow of new material, simple words and expressions began to be forgotten from the first year. It was very funny when, having discussed all the possible problems of today's youth, we began to think about how to say something like "Pass me a cup of tea" correctly :) Therefore, sometimes it is very useful to go back to the very first lessons and remember the very basics.
In general, my teachers personally helped me a lot, who were always happy to give advice and help to understand the most difficult moments. The most important thing is not to leave anything misunderstood, to understand everything at once. If this is not done, then errors will accumulate like a snowball and then it will be really difficult to fix anything. Some students in our group went through almost the entire paradigm of the verb before they got to the form they needed, but it was enough just to figure out what time is used when and devote more time to homework. This was very disturbing, especially at the stage when it was already necessary to discuss a topic, instead of choosing suitable phrases, we had to return to the material we had already covered, which slowed down the work of the whole group.
Concerning educational material, this is also an important point. As you know, a boring textbook can completely discourage any desire to learn a language. At the institute, we studied textbook edited by A. I. Patrushev and E. I. Rodriguez - Danilevskaya. This is a tutorial in two parts - for beginners and for those who improve. We passed both :). The rules in this manual are explained quite well and completely, so that it was almost not necessary to use additional grammar materials. With themes a little worse, the standard set: mi family, en el restaurante, Madrid etc. Some of the texts used in the textbook are also rather outdated. Nevertheless, the lexical material is chosen, in my opinion, well. The exercises are designed to reinforce what you have learned. For variety, we used printouts from Spanish manuals that teachers took from the Cervantes Institute, short stories, and then books by Spanish and Latin American writers. In the first year, we read and retold fairy tales and small funny stories, read tongue twisters, sang songs - all this contributed to a faster vocabulary replenishment, besides, it was a lot of fun, so the lessons flew by unnoticed.
From dictionaries First of all I can advise A large Spanish-Russian dictionary edited by B. P. Narumov and Large Russian-Spanish Dictionary, edited by G. Ya. Turover(if you are really serious). If you need Spanish only for communication, you can buy a small but good enough dictionary edited by K. A. Martsishevskaya(Spanish-Russian and Russian-Spanish). I cannot fail to mention one more vocabulary, which is simply necessary to understand the Spaniards, who, as you know, like to insert very expressive and often far from literary expressions into their speech. This is Colloquial Spanish Dictionary edited by Sllavka Simeónova. On the cover of the dictionary, the notorious Don Quixote and Sancho Panza are depicted exchanging just such phrases: Hola, tronco, ¿que tal? — ¡De puta madre! However, it is worth noting that you can use this dictionary only after accumulating a certain amount of knowledge, since the words and expressions in it are translated not into Russian, but into Spanish, only a literary language.
Of course, all the difficulties in learning Spanish, like any other, cannot be listed. However, these difficulties should not stop a person who decides to learn Spanish. It is a beautiful language, bright and expressive, you will immediately fall in love with it, you can trust me! The main thing is perseverance and self-confidence, and everything will work out! As the Spanish proverb says: "No hay atajo sin trabajo" — "You can't even take a fish out of the pond without effort."
Julia Baltacheva
Perhaps everyone in the modern world will agree that learning a foreign language is a necessary and useful thing. Foreign languages not only expand the horizons, but also change the way of thinking. Only a small percentage of Americans and Britons speak a language other than their mother tongue, and therefore it seems to us that it is not worth trying to learn something new.
However, this is absolutely not the case. Any language, whether it be the most difficult one, such as Japanese or Chinese, can be learned in one intensive summer course. Do you want to touch other cultures? We present you the 10 easiest foreign languages to learn.
Spanish is one of the main languages in the world. If the world's languages were school kids, then Spanish would be the popular kid that other kids want to hang out with. Most of Central and South America speaks Spanish, as well as Equatorial Guinea in Africa and, in fact, Spain. Simply put, by learning Spanish, you discover a lot of the world.
So why is Spanish easy for us? In Spanish, a lot of words are of Latin origin, and the grammar is quite simple. Although there are some differences that may make us dizzy, for example, we would say "car red" instead of "car red". Also, you can easily practice it. People living in the US have access to Spanish-language TV, so it's easier for them to improve their vocabulary.
Portuguese
Compared to other colonial powers, Portugal did not leave much of a legacy (sorry, Macau and Angola). However, its influence extended to one of the largest countries in the Americas. Brazil covers about half of South America in area and has a population of around 200 million.
In a school analogy, Portuguese is the shy but friendly cousin of Spanish. The Portuguese language is closely related to Spanish, with all the advantages that can be. The downside is that knowing Spanish makes it difficult to learn Portuguese. This is because the two languages are crammed with "false friends", words that sound identical but have very different meanings. Thus, in perfect Spanish, you can order in a restaurant, while in Portuguese, you can suggest having a dirty evening with the waiter's wife.
French
We will tell you a secret. If the language belongs to the Romance group, then it will be easy for you to learn. French is the most attractive, most sophisticated girl in school or the cutest guy who knows he's the coolest in class. This language was once perhaps the most important on Earth. Although those days are gone, he still plays a big role. Want to travel to Morocco, Algeria, Congo, Belgium, Switzerland or Haiti? Learn French. Want to impress your girlfriend (your boyfriend)? Learn French. We are not sure how much more clearly this can be expressed. Knowing French is really cool.
French includes many Latin words. It also has a strong connection with the English language. In 1066, William the Conqueror made medieval French the language of the ruling classes of what was then England. In total, over 10,000 words in English are borrowed from French.
Italian language
Italy has never had such a global influence as its cousins. Today, learning Italian pretty much narrows down the geography of your travels. Fortunately, Italy is one of the most historically important and beautiful countries on Earth.
Italy is the reason why you can learn Spanish, Portuguese and French with such ease. It was the Romans who spread Latin to these countries, leaving their mark everywhere from modern Britain, to Libya, to Syria, to Germany. Spanish is essentially a descendant of "Vulgar Latin", the language spoken by the "grouches" and soldiers of the Empire. This means that there are many similarities between these two modern languages, especially if you happen to recognize Argentine Spanish, which is more rhythmically suited to the streets of Naples than the sidewalks of Madrid.
Perhaps the biggest benefit of learning Italian is how amazing the culture you will be exposed to - from Dante's Divine Comedy and Federico Fellini's films to various world masterpieces.
Swedish language
Let's move away from the sunny climates of southern Europe. Sweden is the exact opposite of the southern countries. A cold, snow-covered country in the dark corners of Northern Europe, it is as far removed from our previous languages as icy slopes and hot beaches are. However, there are still similarities. If you look closely, English has not only Latin roots, but also Germanic ones. The Swedish language, in turn, is a vivid example of the Germanic group.
German and Swedish have similar grammar, which means that learning Swedish is essentially about memorizing a lot of vocabulary. As a bonus, the verbs hardly change. Thus, while an Englishman will say "I speak English, he speaks English", a Swede will say "I speak Swedish, he speaks Swedish".
So what are the benefits of learning Swedish? Not much if you're hoping to travel the world. Swedish is spoken by only 10 million people, and almost all of them live in Sweden.
Norwegian
Norwegian is the closest language to what we call the "Viking language". This in itself should be reason enough to study it. But if manly beards or intimidating horned helmets put you off, there is at least one extenuating circumstance. Norwegian is easy to learn for native English speakers.
Norwegian, another Germanic language, has absorbed all the advantages of Swedish, being much simpler. The grammar is close to English, while the verbs are easy to learn (there are slight changes depending on the context). Again, there are many closely related words and the rhythm and accent are quite similar. In a broad survey conducted at the turn of the 21st century, the Federal Government declared Norwegian one of the easiest languages for Americans to learn.
There is a downside to all this. The population of Norway is 6 million people, approximately 95% of them speak perfect English. The language is taught at all levels of school education. The chances of meeting a Norwegian who doesn't speak English are about the same as meeting an American who speaks Norwegian fluently.
Esperanto
Esperanto is the most widely spoken artificial language in the world. Yes, even Klingon and Elvish are less popular. It was invented in 1887 by L. Zamenhof, with the aim of making the language so simple that it would seem "just a game" to learn it.
To do this, he took various pieces from many European languages, mixed them all together, simplified them, and called it all a language. The result is a language that sounds oddly familiar, like you've come across it before. Watch the video to see how Esperanto is spoken. Most likely, you will be able to recognize its constituent parts.
Esperanto is spoken by about 2 million people, and, according to experts, up to 1,000 families consider it "native". For comparison, this number is much larger than the speakers of the current Cornish language.
Afrikaans
Spoken by the descendants of Dutch farmers in South Africa and Namibia, Afrikaans has a long and turbulent history. For some Boers, it is an integral part of their identity and culture, which has changed a lot over the past 20 years. This African language is closest to English.
Afrikaans exists somewhere between Dutch and English, but at the same time it is simpler. The grammar is logical and consistent, there are no exceptions like in English.
Unfortunately, Afrikaans does not provide you with much choice for travel. You are pretty much limited to just two countries in southern Africa. On the other hand, if you've ever wanted to understand Boer culture or spend a lot of time in South Africa, you'd have to be crazy not to learn Afrikaans.
Frisian
Raise your hands if you have ever heard of the Frisian language. According to our estimates, approximately 90 percent of you just sat there, shook your heads and muttered something like “Freak what language?” Do not worry, this is normal, because before you is a rather rare language. As simple as possible: Frisian is the native language of Friesland, part of the Netherlands. It is spoken by half a million people and is probably the closest language to English in the world.
Seriously, Frisian and English were the same language until relatively recently. Both languages began to develop independently of each other 1200 years ago, which is a long time according to historians, but nothing from the point of view of linguists.
If you are a native (or good "owner") of English, learning Frisian will be a walk in the park for you. The written form of speech is similar to Dutch, the oral form is almost identical to English - vocabulary, sentence structure and pronunciation. Without any lessons, you probably already speak it fluently.
And the easiest...Dutch
Linguists consider Dutch the easiest language to learn for an audience that knows English (Frisian is easier, but not as common). It is spoken in the Netherlands, Belgium, Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles, with about 23 million speakers worldwide. It has so many similarities with English that you can learn it with almost no free time.
This is the result of a happy historical accident. While most English-related languages have either Latin or Germanic roots, Dutch has both. This means that most Dutch words are very similar to English, with the added bonus that the structure is also similar. The grammar is consistent and logical, the pronunciation is quite intuitive, there are strange, at first glance, vowel sounds.
The only downside to Dutch is that almost everyone in the Netherlands and Belgium is fluent in English, which means your chances of showing off your knowledge of the local language are slim to none.
We told you about the easiest languages to learn. So, if you want to make your brains move and get closer to the status of a polyglot, we advise you to immediately sign up for courses in one of the above languages, which should not cause any particular difficulties in mastering.
