What Are The Hardest Languages To Learn?

“To have another language is to possess a second soul” is a very old and inspiring Persian saying. But are new languages easy to learn, and what are some of the hardest languages to learn? The phrase ‘It sounds Greek to me’ denotes something difficult to comprehend. So can it be with learning a new language, where the script and grammar will sound Greek to a beginner, literally and figuratively.  

According to the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) of the US State Department, the classification of languages, for the hardest languages to learn, is proportional to the time taken to learn a language or the number of hours required to achieve basic proficiency. The table below elaborates on the definition of the world’s hardest languages to learn, as per FSI.

Top 10 Hardest Languages to Learn as per FSI

Rank	Language	FSI Category	Approx. Hours
1	Mandarin Chinese	Category IV (Super-Hard)	2200
2	Cantonese Chinese	Category IV (Super-Hard)	2200
3	Japanese	Category IV (Super-Hard)	2200
4	Korean	Category IV (Super-Hard)	2200
5	Arabic	Category IV (Super-Hard)	2200
6	Thai	Category III	1100
7	Vietnamese	Category III	1100
8	Russian	Category III	1100
9	Hungarian	Category III	1100
10	Finnish	Category III	1100

List of the Top 10 Hardest Languages to Learn​

A beginner wonders, what is the difficulty of languages to learn that makes these languages the hardest to learn? The answer lies in the script or grammar or both. However, do not lose heart, for what may look difficult is not impossible. Despite being the hardest languages to learn, most are in demand globally. Further, to make things easier for you, we have shared the best resource for learning these hardest languages under one roof.

Let us delve deeper into these 10 languages to understand the key challenges that make them the hardest to learn.

1. Mandarin Chinese: The Meandering Tone

Firstly, in the list of Hardest Languages to Learn comes Mandarin Chinese. The Challenges of Mandarin are threefold.

Logographic Language:

A logographic language uses symbols instead of text. Mandarin does not have letters like other languages. Mandarin has a humongous number of symbols, about 50000. However, with knowledge of about 3500 symbols, an individual can manage.

Tonality:

Mandarin has a complex tonal system. The pitch – rising, falling, medium or flat, a mix of these and neutral. The same word, articulated in a different tone, changes the meaning.    For example, the word ma pronounced differently has different meanings, viz:

• mā – Mother
• mà – to scold or curse
• mǎ – horse
• má – hemp, numb
• ma – neutral tone. Turns a statement into a closed-ended question 

The sentence “mā má mǎ mà ma?” translates to “Does mother scold the horse? Very interestingly, the answer to this is also ma.

Diglossia:

A language is Diglossic when the written and spoken forms are different. In other words, there is no coherence between the spoken and written forms. Mandarin being diglossic poses a challenge for beginners.

If “a picture is worth a thousand words”, how does one go about memorising and understanding thousands of pictures and explaining them correctly?

But there is hope, for getting a good teacher makes things easier – exactly what Henry Harvin provides. Furthermore, Henry Harvin offers a variety of Mandarin Courses, designed especially for novices, to help them overcome their fears.

2. Cantonese Chinese: Mandarin and more

In the territory of the Chinese language, Canton is a few steps ahead of Mandarin in complexity.

In addition to the existing challenges of Mandarin, Cantonese has 6-9 tones more than Mandarin.

Complexity compounded by further complexity makes Cantonese one of the hardest languages to learn.

3. Japanese: The Triumvirate

Although the word Triumvirate dates back to the time of Julius Caesar, it refers to a structure consisting of three members.  Japanese is a language that uses three scripts, which puts it in the World’s Hardest Language to Learn.

Script:

Japanese has three different scripts – Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji – for its written form, each serving a distinct purpose. Imagine a sentence formed using all three scripts. For a novice, this can be a daunting task to decipher the sentence.

Logographic Language:

Japanese is a logographic and syllable-based language, also. This means that a syllable is a unit of sound in Japanese, unlike other languages, where a syllable is a combination of vowels and consonants. To top it all, like Chinese, Japanese also has an innumerable number of characters to master.

Honorifics:

Japanese culture is known for its respect and politeness, and so it is with the language, too. There are too many honorifics for different social statuses, and one must be familiar with them to use them correctly. It is a thin wire for the learner to tread upon, lest a mistake offend the other person.

No wonder Japanese is also amongst the hardest languages to learn. But, if you wish to learn Japanese from the best institute, then Kazumi Japanese and Culture School is the name you must consider. Kazumi Japanese and Culture School is a globally recognised institute dedicated to Japanese Language Courses. You can find a bundle of Japanese language courses at Kazumi Japanese & Culture School.

4. Korean: Complexity Thy name is Korean

If one asks, “What is the hardest language to learn?” Korean may well be a top contender. The challenges with Korean are the complexities within the complexity.

Complex grammar:

This is a juxtaposed situation. The Korean script, Hangul, is very easy to learn, while learning the language and its grammar is just the opposite. With only 24 symbols – 10 vowels, and the rest consonants – the variations in the word order, double consonants and vowel sounds make it tricky to master the language. The verb endings are also complex.

Script:

The Korean language borrows about 70% of its script from Chinese. Memorising these characters is an uphill task for the beginner.

Honorifics:

Honorifics have a great weight in the Korean language. It has an extensive honorific system that depends on age, social hierarchy and closeness, requiring speakers to choose appropriately from being formal, polite or casual, as per the requirement.

Complexities make Korean one of the hardest language to learn.

The best institute for learning the language is undoubtedly Henry Harvin. Henry Harvin offers various levels of courses in the Korean language. Furthermore, Forbes rates Henry Harvin at 4.8/5 and by about 1600 learners at 4.9/5

5. Arabic: Too much on the Plate and Palette

What makes Arabic one of the hardest languages to learn? While the answer is common as with other languages, viz. grammar, script, and correct pronunciation, Arabic has an additional challenge. That of the correct stress on certain letters, which can be stressful for a neophyte.

Script:

Arabic has a different direction of writing when compared to most languages. The Arabic script runs from right to left. A novel challenge for the learner. Then other language challenges pose to the learner.  The same letter changes its form depending on its conjunction with the preceding or succeeding letter. In Arabic grammar, a few letters cannot be joined with any other. Thus, they are to be written independently. The beginners must be mindful of this.

Grammar:

Arabic has a complex noun and verb form system. It groups Verbs into two forms. The second form adds letters to the root to change the tense.

Sounds:

Some letters have guttural sounds like غ (ghain), خ (khey). The pronunciation of the letter Qaaf (ق) is with stress on the base or root of the tongue. An incorrect pronunciation changes the meaning of the word, sentence, and subject. Arabic has allophones – letters that are the same in pronunciation but orthographically different. One must be adept at knowing which letter to use when.

Diglossia:

Arabic is another diglossic language, where the written and spoken forms have little or no correspondence.

Dialects:

Arabic has a superfluity of dialects, besides the formal Arabic, spoken in the Middle East and many parts of Africa.

No wonder Arabic is one of the hardest languages to learn.

6. Thai: A Potpourri Vocabulary

The challenge with Thai is that one word says it all, making it one of the most hardest language to learn.

Additionally, Thai vocabulary borrows from English, Sanskrit, Pali and Khmer, adding to the language’s existing challenges.

Tonality:

Thai has high tonality with 5 tones, which change the word’s meaning with a change in tone.

Script:

Thai has a knotty script with 44 consonants and 15 vowel symbols. When these are combined, the vowel symbols double to 30.

Grammar:

A unique challenge faced by the Thai language is that there is no spacing between words, only between sentences. Further, there are no articles, nor is there a need to indicate the plural form of words.

Deciphering a sentence is a complex affair in the initial stages of learning, making the Thai language one of the hardest languages to learn.

7. Vietnamese: Why is the Vietnamese language one of the most difficult languages to learn?

Tonality:

Vietnamese is another highly tonal language with 6 tones. This requires the speaker to be adept at knowing the subtle differences.

Grammar:

In Vietnamese grammar, grammatical relationships are conveyed through word order rather than changing forms. In addition, there are no plural forms, no conjugations, nor verb tenses, all of which can confuse the speaker of English.

Vowel System:

There are 12 vowels in Vietnamese. Their permutation and combinations make many diphthongs and triphthongs, which can be an ordeal for the beginner.

Dialects:

There are three dialects within the Vietnamese language, namely Northern, Central, and Southern, eponymous to the region in the country and each differing in its tonality and vocabulary.

8. Russian: Mind your V’s and R’s

Russian is amongst the hardest languages to learn because of its script and grammar.

Script:

The Russian alphabet uses the Cyrillic script, which shares a few letters with the English alphabet. Interestingly, the letters are common only figuratively, for they represent different letters in Cyrillic. For example, the letter B in English is V in Cyrillic. Likewise, P is R. This can be confusing for the novice.

Grammar:

Russian grammar has six grammatical cases, which change the ending of nouns depending on the subject, object, location, direction, etc. To this add its complex verb system, verb aspects, verb conjugations, and motion verbs, all of which depend on various other factors and their permutations and combinations, which is a mind-boggling scenario.

Like the idiom ‘mind your p’s and q’s’, for Russian, ‘mind your V’s and R’s.’

Searching for the best place to learn Russian can be like playing Russian Roulette. So why risk it? Play safe and check Henry Harvin, which is rated the best for learning the Russian Language.

9. Hungarian: Building Blocks like Lego Set Pieces

The challenges with Hungarian are triadic in nature.  There’s a fluid word order, building blocks of suffixes, and tongue-twisting words, which place it in the Top 10 Hardest languages to learn.

Grammar:

The Hungarian grammar is agglutinative. This means that prefixes and suffixes are used to describe the meaning of the word as a whole, and words can be unnecessarily long and confusing for the beginner. Thus, one sentence is capable of being described in one word, including the noun, case, possession, and plural. For example, ‘for their indistinguishability’, in Hungarian is “megkülönböztethetetlenségükért”.

Cases:

18 grammatical cases in the language can be overwhelming for beginners.

Digraphs:

Digraphs are two consonants combined for word beginnings, like sz, ty, ny or gy. These dyads are called digraphs. A very uncommon feature amongst languages.

Vowel Harmony:

Hungarian has 14 vowels, including the uncommon “ö” and “ü” vowels. These are trifurcated into: Back, Front rounded, Front unrounded. Suffix vowels change depending on the vowels in the root word.

Here’s a little fun word for you – ‘megszentségteleníthetetlenségeskedéseitekért’.

Any doubts why Hungarian is amongst the hardest languages to learn?

10. Finnish: Where Endings matter more than Beginnings

The challenge with Finnish is that the sentence meaning is conveyed by the suffix, rather than the position of the words in a sentence. Other challenges are:

Grammar: There are 15 cases in Finnish. A system where cases replace prepositions, and one must memorise the system to get things right. Furthermore, there are no gendered nouns, only one pronoun.

Agglutinative: Finnish is also an Agglutinative language. One must be familiar with grammar to add the right prefix and suffix to root words to convey the message correctly.

Consonant Gradation: Although logical, this is a slippery slope. This happens when a consonant changes depending on the form of the word, like ” car ” to Cars will be Auto to Auton.

Double Consonants & Vowels: These words are extended in their pronunciations, like ‘ Tapan’ means Kill while ‘Tapaan’ means meet. ‘Tuli’ is Fire, while ‘Tuuli’ is Wind.

The reasons given above make Finnish one of the hardest languages to learn.                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Henry Harvin- Best Institute For Hardest Languages To Learn

If one is keen to learn a foreign language from experts, especially one among the hardest languages to learn, and is looking for a good, reliable place to learn, then Henry Harvin is the best and most affordable option. As they say, ‘Think Upskilling. Think Henry Harvin. 

With over 13 years in education and training, Henry Harvin is a one-stop shop for over 15 international languages. Commendably, they offer half of the above hardest languages, viz:

1. Korean Language Course
2. Mandarin Language Training Course
3. Japanese Language Course by Kazumi Japanese & Culture School by Henry Harvin
4. Arabic Language Course
5. Russian Language Course

Why Choose Henry Harvin?

Henry Harvin Education is one of the most sought-after for learning the most difficult languages. The reasons for choosing Henry Harvin Education for learning difficult languages are as follows:

1. First and foremost, Henry Harvin Education offers a well-structured course with the Agota Framework. The institute divides difficult languages such as Japanese, Mandarin, and Arabic into easy modules. This makes it easy for learners to grasp difficult grammar, writing, and speaking.
2. Trainers play a significant role in teaching difficult languages. Henry Harvin Education offers learners exposure to experienced trainers. The trainers at Henry Harvin focus on interactive learning, and interactive learning is more efficient for improving speaking and hearing skills.
3. Another significant factor is that Henry Harvin Education offers learners hands-on experience. The learners will be able to learn difficult languages practically, not theoretically.
4. It also offers globally recognised certifications. These certifications will add value to your resume and will help you get more career opportunities in translation, international business, and tourism.
5. Flexibility makes learning easy. Henry Harvin offers both live online classes and self-paced learning. This means that learners can learn at their own convenience and at the same time, be consistent.
6. It is worth noting that the institute is not just for learning a new language. The institute offers career growth as well. This is achieved by offering internships and job support.

Each of these languages has various proficiency levels. For more details, speak with a Henry Harvin CS Executive on 011 98995 77620 or use their WhatsApp option.

Conclusion:

Why are half of the above 10 languages the most sought-after in the world? Hardest is a degree of comparison. The superlative is only relative. If a person has the penchant, coupled with good and professional teachers, the finishing line is in sight at the starting line. This should be a good motivation to consider Henry Harvin as the one-stop shop for learning some of the hardest languages.

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