We are taught to categorize everything in life from a young age. It’s either easy or difficult, good or bad, or fun or boring. It’s the same with languages and learning a new one.
While you may believe you either learn an additional language with ease or you don’t, it’s not that simple.
The difficulty level of a particular language actually depends on you, and it’s based on factors like your native language, whether you have a talent for mastering new tongues, your goals and motivations, how much time and effort you put into studying, and the quality of the language course and material.
The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) categorized languages based on how easily US diplomats mastered the new language.
All of the most challenging languages to learn for English natives fall in Category IV and V, requiring a minimum of 44 to 88 weeks to reach speaking and reading proficiency level 3.
I have compiled a list of the languages that are generally considered to require more blood, sweat, and tears to learn, but remember that how challenging a language is to learn is completely relative to you.
The 5 Most Difficult Languages in the World
Based on our experience of language learning, here are the 5 most difficult languages to learn for English speakers or those who natively speak a language in Category 1 (Afrikaans, Danish, Dutch, French, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swedish):
Begin learning a new language with Babbel! 🌟 Unlock up to 55% OFF your Babbel subscription today!
Chinese
# of global speakers: 1.35 billion
Official Chinese-speaking countries: China, Singapore, and Taiwan
Chinese is one of the oldest written languages, with a history that spans 6,000 years. However, Standard Chinese was only officially adopted in the 1930s.
Mandarin Chinese, like its Cantonese counterpart, may be challenging to learn.
Reasons why Mandarin Chinese is challenging to learn:
- The Writing System
Instead of using the Latin Alphabet that English-natives are familiar with, Chinese doesn’t have an alphabet. Instead, the language comprises one-syllable characters or logograms, called hànzì or Han characters, which infers meaning, not sound.
A single character or combinations thereof make a Chinese word. There are over 100,000 characters, and a Chinese language-learner needs to know at least 200 characters to navigate common situations like ordering at a restaurant and 2,000-3,000 characters to read the newspaper.
Of course, you’ll start with pinyin, which uses Latin letters to teach you Mandarin phonetically. And you can choose to learn simplified or traditional Chinese characters.
- A Tonal Language
Learning a tonal language can be intimidating since the pronunciation and inflection of a word significantly influences the meaning. Mandarin has 4 tones: the level tone (píng), rising tone (sháng), departing tone (qù), and final tone (rù). For example, “ma” or mā, mà, mǎ, and má can mean mother, numb (or hemp or fiber), horse, or scold respectively.
To become conversational in Mandarin, you’ll need to fine-tune your hearing and speaking skills to get the tones right.
- Idioms
With centuries in the making, it’s no surprise that the Chinese have cultivated a rich usage of idioms. In fact, there are between 5,000 to 20,000 Chinese idioms you can learn.
Want to learn more? Find out more insights:
Russian
# of global speakers: 260 million
Official Russian-speaking countries: Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan
The Russian language originates from the Proto-Indo-European language, and the East Slavic language is about 4,000-6,000 years old.
Reasons why Russian is challenging to learn:
- The Writing System
Russian uses the Cyrrilic alphabet, and while that’s not as challenging as the Chinese Han characters, it is still different from the Latin alphabet English natives are used to.
There are 33 letters in the Cyrrilic alphabet (6 of these are the same as the Latin alphabet), and each is phonetic. However, at first, the letters can look very similar to each other, but it’ll get easier the more you get used to them.
On the other hand, Russian cursive may make you want to cry.
- Pronunciation
There is no correspondence to the letters and sounds they represent, which makes pronouncing words in Russian challenging. The good news is there are rules, making learning Russian easier.
The language also has “soft” and “hard” pronunciations, determined by the vowel that follows the consonant.
- Complex Grammar
Russian grammar is complex. For example, the language has 6 cases, meaning the words change depending on their role in a sentence, and 3 genders (female, male, and neutral). There are also verbs of motion, animate and inanimate nouns, and no articles (a/an/the).
Finnish
# of global speakers: 5 million
Official Finnish-speaking countries: Finland
Experts think that Sami, which originated in 1,500 BCE, is the origin language of Proto-Finnic, which then later became the Baltic-Finnic languages, from which Finnish came to be. The history of Finnish can be traced back to more than 3,000 years ago.
Reasons why Finnish is challenging to learn:
- Complex Grammar
One of the main aspects that makes Finnish such a hard language to learn for English speakers is the complex grammar that can be quite intimidating. The word order in sentences is confusing, and since many Finns don’t even follow the rules, understanding what’s being said is daunting in the least.
For example, there’s no future tense, and you’ll have to rely on context to discern whether the speaker is talking about the present or future. There are also 15 cases and no articles.
Suffixes change the meaning of the word. “Yhdysvallat” means the United States and “Yhdysvalloista” means “from the United States.” Suffixes can also be used to form a question: “on” means “is” and then “onko” means “is it?”
- Pronunciation
This aspect of the Finnish language may not be tricky, but it can be, depending on how easily you master vowel harmony. Non-compound words in Finnish can only contain ä, ö, or y (front vowels) or a, o, u (back vowels), while the neutral vowels of “e” and “i” can mix with the front and back vowels.
- Vocabulary
Finnish doesn’t share any similarities with English words, so the vocabulary will be new. You can join words (like “siskonis” – sister – and “tytär” – daughter – to make “siskontytär” – niece) and add endings to make new ones.
Learn languages quickly with Mondly Premium. Learn the language you’ve always wanted to learn. It’s fun, fast, and easy!
Arabic
# of global speakers: 372.2 million
Official Arabic-speaking countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the UAE, and Yemen
Arabic, a member of the Semitic language family, originated in the northwest of the Arabian Peninsula. The language dates back to the 8th century BCE.
Reasons why Arabic is challenging to learn:
- The Writing System
Not only does Arabic use a completely different writing system compared to English, but the language is also written and read from right to left.
There are 28 letters in Arabic script, and some can have as many as 4 forms.
- The Absence of Short Vowels
Short vowels are omitted from words, except in children’s books and beginner Arabic language books. However, they are presented as diacritical marks, called Harakat, that are written above or below a letter.
They are critical in Arabic since the diacritics influences how a word is pronounced and understood. Incorrectly identifying the Harakat can completely change the meaning of a word.
Long vowels can have a double function (vowel vs consonant) depending on the letters before them.
- Complex Grammar
Arabic has a complex grammar system. The language has singular, plural, and dual forms, 12 personal pronoun forms, a different sentence structure where the verb comes before the subject, masculine and feminine nouns, and conjugations so the verb matches the subject plurality and gender.
Icelandic
# of global speakers: 366,000
Official Icelandic-speaking countries: Iceland
The origins of Icelandic can be traced back to Old Norse, which was spoken in the 9th century. The Icelandic Sagas, some of the oldest preserved texts, were written in the 13th and 14th centuries.
Reasons why Icelandic is challenging to learn:
- Spelling
Icelandic uses a writing system that’s similar to the Latin alphabet. The language has 32 letters, so some are completely new to an English native. For example, the “ð” and “þ” are similar to the English unvoiced and voiced “th” sounds in “father” and “thick,” respectively.
You must also learn the pronunciation rules, and how the letter is pronounced depends on its location in a word.
- Very Few Loanwords
While many languages across the world love to borrow words from other tongues, Icelanders are very proud of their language and try their utmost to avoid including loanwords in Icelandic. For example, “jeans” are simply “jeans” in many non-English languages, but in Icelandic, “jeans” are “gallabuxur.”
Use Mondly to Learn the Hardest Languages
Mondly, a language-learning solution, was created more than a decade ago. Its headquarters are in Romania, and the mission statement of the company is to make learning a language enjoyable while leveraging the best of technology.
You can use Mondly to learn 4 of the most difficult languages: Mandarin Chinese, Finnish, Russian, and Arabic.
If you have your heart set on learning Icelandic, check out Memrise.
Top Features of Mondly
- Use Mondly on a PC or a smart device
- Learn 40+ languages
- Interactive lessons with real and simulated conversations, and more
- Use the main Mondly app, Mondly Kids, Mondly AR, or Mondly VR to learn
Mondly Subscriptions
Mondly has a freemium version, in which you can complete 6 lessons in the Hello category, the daily lessons, and a chatbot lesson.
With Mondly Premium, however, you can access loads more, including 250+ lessons, 36 vocab builders, specialized lessons, and the Mondly Kids and Mondly AR apps.
Here’s a breakdown of the cost of Mondly Premium:
US$9.99 for monthly plan, with access to learn one language
US$47.99 for a yearly plan, also with access to one language
US$1,999.99 for lifetime access, with access to all the 40+ languages Mondly offers
Interested in language learning apps? Explore my reviews below:
Pros of Using Mondly
- 7-day free trial to check out Mondly Premium
- Various options for learning, from interactive lessons and chats with AI to engaging with augmented and virtual reality for more immersive learning experiences
- 30+ source language options, so you don’t have to be proficient in only English and a handful of native tongues to learn a new language
- Review feature at the end of each lesson category
- Good grammar instructions and help
Cons of Using Mondly
- Subscriptions can be pricey if you want to learn more than one language simultaneously
- If the target language has a different writing system, you need to use other resources to teach you
- No logical order to the language lessons on Mondly
- Only ideal for beginner and intermediate learners who want to review their language skills
Begin learning a new language with Babbel! 🌟 Unlock up to 55% OFF your Babbel subscription today!
Final Thoughts About the Hardest Languages to Learn
It can be intimidating if you have to learn one of these difficult languages. Of course, you may want to challenge yourself and see how far you can push your brain to learn Chinese, Arabic, Russian, Finnish, or Icelandic.
But whether you need or want to learn because of travel, work, or friends, remember that anything is possible – as long as you set your mind to it.
Make language learning fun and easy by implementing daily routines, immersing yourself in authentic materials, and signing up to Mondly.
At the end of the day, learning any language is as difficult as you think it will be. Keep chipping at the language mountain one piece at a time or take baby steps … but keep going. You’ve got this!
If you enjoyed my article, please feel free to share it. Have any questions? Don't hesitate to email me!
Disclaimer: I select and review independently. If you buy through affiliate links, I may earn commissions that help support my testing at no extra cost to you. Please read my full disclosure for more information.
Join Our Newsletter
Sign up now to get the freshest updates on language learning and exclusive app deals delivered straight to your inbox!
