At present, few people can be surprised by an excellent knowledge of one foreign language. Another thing is when a person speaks two or more languages, because such a specialist becomes more attractive in the labor market. In addition, we all remember the good old proverb “How many languages do you know, so many times you are human”.
Let’s say you already speak English at an acceptable level. In order to determine which language is easier for you to learn as a second foreign language, it is important to answer the following questions: How similar is it to the language that I have already learned? What will help learning and what will hinder? Does this language have sounds that are radically different from the language already learned?
Consider a list of the most accessible languages for learning, ranging from simple to more complex.
The pronunciation of Spanish sounds is generally very clear to those who have studied English. A big plus of Spanish: words are spelled the way they are pronounced. This means that mastering Spanish writing and reading is a relatively trivial task. Spanish has only 10 vowels and two-vowels (whereas English has 20), and there are no unfamiliar phonemes, except for the funny pronunciation of the letter ñ. A significant number of employers around the world indicate knowledge of Spanish as a requirement for employment.
Italian is the most romantic of the Romance languages. Its lexicon originates in Latin, which has many similarities with English. For example, . Like Spanish, many words in Italian are spelled as they sound. The sentence structure is very rhythmic, most words end in vowels. This gives the colloquial speech musicality, which allows it to be more understandable.
Welcome to the International Language of Love. Despite how diverse French may seem at first glance, linguists appreciate the significant influence of this language on English. This explains the large number of loanwords such as . Compared to English, French has more verb forms – 17, while English has 12 – as well as gender nouns (). Pronunciation in the “language of love” is specific and difficult, with sounds unfamiliar to English learners and unpronounceable letters.
Given that the Brazilian economy ranks 6th in the world, the Portuguese language is a promising tool. The positive moment of this language: interrogative questions are built elementarily, expressing the question with intonation – (while in English auxiliary verbs and reverse word order are used). The main difficulty of the language is the pronunciation of nasal vowels, which require some practice.
For many English speakers, German is a difficult language to learn. Long words, 4 types of declension of nouns, rough pronunciation… German is considered a descriptive language. A good example of this is the formation of a noun from an object and an action. – television, consists of “fern”, which in English means far and “andsehen” – watching. Literally it turns out “far-watching”. The grammar of the German language is considered quite logical, with a large number of words intersecting with English. It is important not to forget about the exceptions to the rules!