Top 10 Easiest Languages for English Speakers to Learn

Whether you are planning to study abroad, volunteer, or take a gap year, spending time overseas presents an excellent opportunity to learn a new language. While learning a foreign language requires patience, persistence, and practice, there are some languages that English speakers can find relatively easier to learn. 

If you want to expand your ability to communicate and have a more immersive experience while traveling, we compiled a list of the languages you should consider.

• Approximate time to learn: 24 weeks (600 hours)
• Number of speakers: 6 million
• Countries to visit: South Africa 

✅ Pros:

• 90% of Afrikaans words are of Dutch origin, making it a Germanic language, the same as English! You'll find similarities in vocabulary and pronunciation. Example: color is kleurand door is duer.

❌ Cons:

• Afrikaans has a limited reach compared to other languages; however, if you are traveling to the Netherlands, you may find communication easier due to its Dutch origins.
• The trilled "r." How the letter is pronounced in Afrikaans has proven difficult for English speakers.

Afrikaans is the native language of South Africa and also a West Germanic language similar to others mentioned on the list. It originates primarily from Dutch but has Portuguese, Malay, and French influence. With 6 million speakers, you will find that Afrikaans has been heavily incorporated into the everyday vocabulary of South African English.

• Approximate time to learn: 24 weeks (575-600 hours)
• Number of speakers: 23 million
• Countries to visit: Netherlands, Aruba, Northern Belgium 

✅ Pros:

• Vocabulary will be easier to understand than other languages due to similar spelling to English counterparts.
• Dutch has similar grammar to English and only two past tense conjunctions, making it easier to understand and use.

❌ Cons:

• Pronunciation can be deceiving. Although some words intuitively may look like English, and you'll want to pronounce them as such, there might be an emphasis on a letter you don't stress in English.

Dutch is a Germanic language, with around 23 million people speaking it as their native tongue and another 4 million as their second. Dutch is closely related to English, which is why it is one of the top spots on our list. For example, water is the same in both languages, and other terms such as boek and appel are similar to the English counterparts book and apple. Dutch influence can also be found in Afrikaans, Flemish (Belgium), and Frisian (Friesland). 

Read more: Should You Learn a Language in the Classroom or Through Immersion?

• Approximate time to learn: 23-24 weeks (575-600 hours)
• Number of speakers: 4.4 million
• Countries to visit: Norway, Denmark, Sweden 

✅ Pros:

• Norwegian shares similar vocabulary and sentence structure to English, and has even borrowed words from English.
• Most pronunciation is straightforward.

❌ Cons:

• Special characters and occasional pronunciation difficulties.
• Gendered nouns.

At first glance, you might be thinking, "No way is Norwegian easy to learn!" But it’s actually super similar to English, making Norwegian one of the easiest languages for English speakers to learn. See if you can translate these words without Google—oransje, fantastisk, ankel! 

Although it does not have as broad of a reach as other foreign languages, its has strong connections to Scandinavian countries like Sweden and Denmark, making communication and travel more accessible, since you’ll be able to reasonably understand and communicate with speakers of those countries. 

Read more: The Ultimate Guide to Studying Abroad in Norway

• Approximate time to learn: 24 weeks (600 hours)
• Number of speakers: 595 million total speakers
• Countries to visit: Colombia, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Costa Rica 

✅ Pros:

• Spanish is easier for native English speakers to learn than many other languages, thanks to its Latin origins.
• Spanish is a phonetic language, making the pronunciation of most words direct. Once you understand the different accents, it will help with pronunciation and reading.

❌ Cons:

• Grammar can be challenging for English speakers due to several different verb tenses and the desire to mirror English grammatical structure when speaking.

Spanish is a widely spoken Romance language and the second-most spoken language globally, with over half a billion speaking it natively or as a second language. While many dialects differ by region and country, it has become a popular choice for many native English speakers for its practicality and presence in mainstream media and wide reach. It also has many similar words - such as atención (attention) and camera (camera) - making it easier for English speakers.  

Read more: 10 Best Places to Learn Spanish Abroad

• Approximate time to learn: 23-24 weeks (575-600 hours)
• Number of speakers: 63 million
• Countries to visit: Italy, Switzerland, some parts of Croatia and Slovenia 

✅ Pros:

• Like Spanish and English, Italian has Latin origins. You might be able to figure out words in Italian without studying definitions, like the word generosità.
• Pronunciation and spelling are direct, and there are very few tricks in pronunciation.

❌ Cons:

• Some verb conjugations can be challenging as some endings change completely and follow specific rules. The same goes for plurals; instead of adding an 's,' some endings must be changed entirely.

Italian is one of the most popular romance languages, next to Spanish and French. Although it is not as widely spoken as the others and is mainly concentrated in Europe, it's the 20th most-spoken language, with 63 million Italian native speakers and an additional 3 million speaking it as their second language. Due to food and pop culture influence worldwide, some words or phrases you might already know. Does panini, gelato, or la dolce vita sound familiar? 

Read more: What to Know Before Learning Italian in Italy

• Approximate time to learn: 23-24 weeks (575-600 hours)
• Number of speakers: 260 million
• Countries to visit: Portugal, Brazil, Cape Verde, Macau, Mozambique 

✅ Pros:

• As a Latin language, it shares the same alphabet as English.
• There are also some similarities in intonation and pronunciation.

❌ Cons:

• There are some notable differences between European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese including accent and vocabulary.
• Some vocabulary words will be very similar to Spanish, and you'll desire to pronounce them as such; however, they have their own pronunciation and slightly different meanings.

Portuguese is the official language in Brazil and Portugal, but the language reaches beyond that of countries in Africa. It is the world's third most spoken romance language, with just over 250 million speakers worldwide. One of the benefits of learning a romance language is that it helps create a solid foundation to understand others, like Spanish or French. 

Read more: The 6 Best Places to Learn Portuguese Abroad

• Approximate time to learn: 24 weeks (575-600 hours)
• Number of speakers: 320 million total speakers
• Countries to visit: France, Belgium, Switzerland, Ivory Coast, Morocco, and Canada 

✅ Pros:

• Being a language with Latin roots means that many vocabulary words are similar or the same in English.
• Due to its influence in cuisine, culture, and mainstream media, some vocabulary, such as à la carte or c'est la vie, are probably already familiar to you without realizing it.

❌ Cons:

• French pronunciation is tricky compared to other Romance languages, where most words are pronounced as they appear. It will require practice to understand pronunciation rules and use them correctly.

French is the official language of 29 countries across Europe, the Americas, the Caribbean, and Africa, making it one of the most popular languages to learn for its global reach. Ranking as the 5th most spoken language in the world, learning French has many benefits, especially if you are interested in pursuing a career in international affairs or humanitarian work. International organizations such as the United Nations, UNESCO, and The International Red Cross use French as their official or working language. 

• Approximate time to learn: 24 weeks (575-600 hours)
• Number of speakers: 28 million total speakers
• Countries to visit: Romania and Moldova 

✅ Pros:

• Romanian is a phonetic language, the same as Spanish, meaning that the words are spelled out how they are pronounced.
• Latin roots allow for a similar structure, meaning you can intuitively guess many vocabulary words.

❌ Cons:

• Although it's a romance language, Romanian has five cases making it more grammatically similar to Russian and Polish.
• Due to Romania being surrounded by various Slavic-speaking countries some words may be incorporated into local dialects.

Most people don't realize that Romanian is also a romance language that has similar vocabulary to French, Italian, and Spanish. Compared to other Romance languages, especially the ones listed above, it has the smallest reach, with over 15 million native speakers and 28 million total speakers around the world.

• Approximate time to learn: 36 weeks (900 hours)
• Number of speakers: 80 million total speakers
• Countries to visit: Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique 

✅ Pros:

• Pronunciation of words is relatively straightforward as there are no silent letters or accents. Some vocabulary sounds similar to their English equivalent, such as hoteli is hotel.
• Thanks to The Lion King, a childhood favorite of many, you might even know some words already! Simba means lion, Rafiki means friend, Pumbaa means silly or careless person, and the famous phrase Hakuna Matata means without trouble.

❌ Cons:

• Sentence structure and the use of participles at the beginning of words may be challenging for some language learners.

Swahili is the official language of four countries, including Kenya and Tanzania, and it is widely spoken in other countries in East Africa, making up 80 million speakers. The Swahili language has influences from Arabic, German, French, and English. 

• Approximate time to learn: 44 weeks (1100 hours)
• Number of speakers: 45 million
• Countries to visit: Philippines

✅ Pros:

• Pronunciation is fairly straight-forward and vocabulary has similarities to English, Spanish, and Malay.
• There are many words borrowed from English with slightly different spelling. For example, doctor is doktor and computer is kompyuter in Tagalog.

❌ Cons:

• The main difficulty and the reason it is the hardest one on this list is that the sentence structure and verb conjugation are different to English, and some words do not directly translate to English.

Closing out our list of the easiest languages for English speakers to learn is Tagalog, a language part of the Austronesian group, along with other languages such as Malay and Sudanese. It is one of the Philippines' official languages, with 28% of the population speaking it as a first language. However, a very widespread language of the Philippines (although not officially recognized) is Taglish, a mixture of Tagalog and English.

Read more: The 10 Best Languages to Learn (and where to learn them)

Remember, practicing a foreign language frequently and consistently is the best way to learn, so don't be afraid of making mistakes! Practicing frequently and immersing yourself in the language, you'll develop your skills and become more confident in your speaking abilities.

Read more about foreign language learning abroad:

• Why You Should Learn a Second Language
• The Pros and Cons of Learning a Language Abroad
• 5 Tips to Overcome Language Barriers