Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Multilingual People Explain Which Foreign Language Was The Easiest To Learn

Multilingual People Explain Which Foreign Language Was The Easiest To Learn

People become polyglots for a variety of reasons.

Some people grow up bilingual, with one language being spoken at home and another being spoken out in the world.


Others take it upon themselves to learn more languages. And every language has its own various challenges.

u/hunchbackweeb asked:

Polyglots of reddit: What was the easiest language for you to learn and why?

Here were some of those answers.

Bibbidi Bobbidi

Giphy

Italian.

Just get an Italian girlfriend and download Italian language versions of RPGs you've already beaten. Congratulations, you're now qualified to eat pasta.

LonelyPauper

Slang Game

I literally learned English by watching cartoons since a really young age. I spoke a lot of Russian and learning another language at the time. Then developed my vocabulary through literature. The hardest part was getting used to the slang. I couldn't understand a word my first year in England.

Sayor1

Cut From The Same Cloth

Giphy

Hindi - I grew up in a household speaking Punjabi, but learned Hindi from watching Bollywood movies. The languages share some roots, so it was like learning Italian when you speak Spanish.

GidhaRani

Idioma facíl

Spanish. I'm a French speaker. Spanish is simplified French with lots of "o"s and "a"s Oh, and intonations too.

moon-angel

Formulas

I like Spanish, as it is not so difficult knowing if a noun is masculine or feminine.

In German or French, you need to learn the gender of each noun, word by word. Sometimes you have a clue, but it's far more difficult than in Spanish.

ballena8892

Even The Language Is Imperialist

Giphy

English because it was omnipresent, and I feel like I just learned it by hearing it on TV all day and reading Harry Potter books because I didn't want to wait for the translation. I never felt like I put any real effort into learning it, it just sort of happened.

Of the language I actively learned I think Spanish was the easiest (relatively simple grammar, not many crazy exceptions to the rules), but it certainly helped that I spoke French already

Inevitable-Aardvark

Groupings

It depends on your native language and /or on what foreign language you already know.

Romance languages are close enough to allow you to pick another one up relatively easily. I've never studied Spanish, yet I can understand it well and can stumble my way through a basic conversation, based on my knowledge of Italian.

Ditto for Scandinavian languages. I'd probably become fluent in Swedish within a few months of practice and even the trickier Danish is much less nonsensical when you approach it as a Norwegian speaker.

English is odd... Easy to butcher, tough to master.

German, as all inflected languages, is more intimidating and definitely has a steeper and longer learning curve.

Kalle_79

Roots

Latin. By the time you've picked up one or two of the Romance languages, Latin words are pretty easy to recognize. Sentence structure is a bit less easy, and while pronunciation may look hard at first with some words, every letter is pronounced in Latin so there are no 'tricky' letters or sounds. Of course, it's a dead language, so there's that...

temporalwanderer

Word Order

Giphy

Easiest was Spanish, but most surprisingly easy was Mandarin. I am by no means fluent in Mandarin or close to it, but the sentence structure is surprisingly similar to English (both are SVO) and verbs are never conjugated, so memorizing and learning all the conjugations just isn't a thing. You of course have to learn how to mark time and tenses, but it's not as complex as for languages in which every verb is conjugated for every tense and every person.

Sure there's the tones and the characters and the measure words and all that, but on the whole was surprisingly less difficult than I anticipated.

Robearsn

When Things Mix Inside Your Brains

Well i have two first languages: English and Japanese.

So Italian is easy because it's alphabet is similar to English. Korean is easy because Japanese has the same grammar structure and even some similar words. Totally different alphabet and slightly more confusing honorific system, but nonetheless easy in general.

On the other hand, Spanish can be a huge pain in the butt for me sometimes because it's TOO similar to Italian. I'll mix up the vocabulary far too often lol

kaede1101

More from People

Donald Trump; Screenshot of Andrew Schulz
Joe Raedle/Getty Images; Flagrant Podcast

Trump-Supporting Podcaster Andrew Schulz Turns On Trump In Mind-Numbing Rant

Conservative podcaster Andrew Schulz had social media users rolling their eyes after he criticized President Donald Trump, saying Trump is "doing the exact opposite" of everything he promised during his campaign, like stopping wars and shrinking spending.

Which begs the question: why tf did Schulz believe a word Trump said during his campaign, since he is a well-known serial liar and con man?

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @brigchicago's TikTok video
@brigchicago/TikTok

Plane Passengers Floored Over Flight Attendant's Suggestion While Stuck In 130 Degree Heat

Imagine being on time for your flight, only for takeoff to be delayed while the plane sits on the tarmac, with temperatures inside the plane cabin climbing to 130 degrees Fahrenheit.

Due to sweltering heat and complications, TikToker @brigchicago and her fellow passengers waited for their flight to take off. Whie the flight attendants did what they could to keep everyone calm and patient, some found their comments to be disingenuous.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @bencoffman1's TikTok video
@bencoffman1/TikTok

Pool Expert Reveals Why He'll Never Swim In A Public Pool In Eye-Opening TikTok

Now that summer is here and temperatures are at record-breaking highs, we're all looking for ways to have a good time while also feeling comfortable.

An easy option feels like going to a pool, either a community pool or a pool included in our apartment complex—but one pool expert has come forward to say that the "refreshing" cool of a public pool may not be worth it.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @sundries.snark's TikTok video
@sundries.snark/TikTok

Bride's Outrageous Wedding Party Demands After She Changed Wedding Date Go Viral—And Yikes

It's no secret that wedding planning and fitting into a certain wedding aesthetic bring out the worst in some people.

But with the help of the "Wedding Shaming" subReddit and TikToker @sundries.snark, we may have uncovered one of the most atrocious and entitled wedding arrangements yet.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @trace_myjournee's TikTok video
@trace_myjournee/TikTok

Woman Calls 911 After Hearing Odd Alarm Going Off In Her Home—Only For Cops To Make Embarrassing Discovery

We've all had our embarrassing moments, but most of us can say that our embarrassing moment didn't lead to calling the fire department.

While having a relaxing Saturday night at home with wine and a personal karaoke system, TikToker @trace_myjournee was concerned when a loud and shrill alarm started to come from inside her apartment.

Keep ReadingShow less