People say these 20 foreign languages are the easiest to learn

Spanish is easy for English speakers to learn for a variety of reasons. The two languages share an alphabet, many words, and similar sentence structures. Lots of people across the globe speak Spanish, too, so it’s a great choice for a foreign language. 

Although English is a Germanic language and Italian a romance language, English pulls many words from Romance languages, so it’s easy to pick up on languages, such as Italian, within that category. Italian words are also fairly easy for English speakers to pronounce upon first look. 

French is a little bit tougher than Spanish and Italian for English speakers to pick up on because of the differences in pronunciation, but the languages share several words. Though it’s not the easiest Romance language to learn, it’s still not difficult. 

Indonesian isn’t a romance or Germanic language, but it has logical pronunciations and easy-to-understand grammatical rules. It might not be the most practical language for English speakers living in the United States to learn (depending on where you live and what you do), but there will still be tons of benefits to learning it. 

Swedish, like English, is a Germanic language, so the two have many similarities. The pronunciations are quite different from language to language, but once you’ve got that part of Swedish down, the rest should come rather naturally. 

German is, you guessed it, a Germanic language. Several major aspects of the language are similar, and many words have similar pronunciations and spellings, so even if you aren’t exactly correct on certain words, you should still be able to communicate. 

Portuguese is a Romance language, and it’s actually pretty similar to Spanish. Of course, they are two different languages, but if you’ve mastered one as a second language, you shouldn’t have too difficult of a time learning the other.

Swahili is neither romantic nor Germanic but rather Bantu. However, it still has many similarities with English, specifically in vocabulary. If you’re new to the language, you’ll pick up on basic words fairly quickly because of the similarities.

Dutch is another language that is similar to English, especially with vocabulary. In fact, some words are the exact same from English to Dutch. Like many languages spoken across Europe, the pronunciation might give you a little trouble at first, but beyond that, it won’t be too troubling to learn. 

Afrikaans is another Germanic language, so many words and much of the pronunciation is the same as English and other Germanic languages. In fact, it’s pretty similar to Dutch, so if you learn that first, Afrikaans should come quickly. 

Norwegian is another Germanic language, making it pretty similar to English. The pronunciation is also pretty easy to grasp. The only drawback is that not many people outside of Norway speak Norwegian, so it might not be the most practical language to learn unless you intend to travel there.

Danish is similar to Norwegian for English speakers. Many words are the same, and the grammatical rules aren’t too tough to understand. However, like Norwegian, Danish isn’t spoken by that many people outside of Denmark, so you might not need to learn it. 

Esperanto isn’t the official language of any country as it was created as an auxiliary language, but that’s what makes it so easy for English speakers to learn. Learning Esperanto will also make it easier to learn other languages. 

Romanian is another romance language, and it’s fairly easy for English speakers to pick up on because it shares so many words with foreign languages that many English speakers often hear, like Spanish, Italian, and French. Many people worldwide speak Romanian, too, so it’s a good language to learn. 

Haitian Creole, one of the languages spoken in Haiti, is spoken by millions of people around the globe, and it can be learned by English speakers in less than a year. It takes vocabulary from a variety of familiar languages, and it features simple grammatical rules. 

If you’re looking for a hobby language, Frisian is the one. It’s not too difficult for English speakers to learn, but fewer than one million people speak it. It’s a pretty regionally specific language, so you likely won’t encounter many others with whom you can converse. 

Malay, on the other hand, is spoken by hundreds of millions worldwide, so there’s lots of reason to learn it. Though a little different, Malay is quite similar to Indonesian. 

Tagalog, or Filipino Tagalog, is the official language of the Philippines. What makes it tough to learn is its sentence structure, but it shares many words with English and other common languages, so it’s not overly difficult. 

Welsh, one of the languages spoken in Wales, has a lot in common with English. Certain aspects of it will be challenging to pick up on, like pronunciation, but spelling and vocabulary should come easily. 

Latin isn’t necessarily easy to learn, especially given its difficult grammatical rules, but it has lots of vocabulary words that English speakers are familiar with. If you know a romance language, Latin is easier to learn, and it’s a very useful language to have at least a basic understanding of.