How many people, so many opinions

Not everyone agrees with this grouping foreign languages the easiest and most difficult for a Russian person. Thus, Anna Kravchenko, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Translation at Moscow State Linguistic University, is sure that there is no such thing as consistency and ease in learning foreign languages. According to her, each of us has our own abilities and mentality. However, she believes that after mastering three foreign languages, the fourth and subsequent ones are easier to master, since a person has his own system for studying them.
Head of the Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics of the Institute of Linguistics of the Russian State University for the Humanities Sergei Gindin also notes that general rules in the sequence of mastering foreign languages, they are not accessible to a Russian-speaking person. Only relative ease is possible between two similar languages. For example, someone who has studied French will find it easier to learn Spanish, which also belongs to the Romance group.

Another specialist in foreign languages, simultaneous translator Dmitry Petrov, who has been hosting the popular “Polyglot” program on the Kultura TV channel for several years, believes that a certain complexity of the Russian language gives us, its native speakers, a big advantage when learning foreign languages. Whereas an Englishman has a much more difficult time in this regard.

However, for Russians there are languages ​​with categories that are not found in Russian. For this reason, it is not so easy for Russian-speaking students to master Finno-Ugric and Turkic languages with a different logic. But Dmitry Petrov emphasizes that the difficulty of any foreign language is mainly a myth and, if desired, you can master any. Moreover, it is quite acceptable to study two languages ​​at once. He also calls not to be afraid of an accent, since every person in the world, even in their native language, speaks with some kind of accent. For example, in the same Great Britain there is classic version, the so-called Royal English, in which work time the announcers, some politicians and the queen say. Otherwise, there are dozens of absolutely incredible dialects and accents, including London.

However, many believe that when learning a foreign language you should be guided not by ease, but by its relevance. As you know, currently English is such a language, and a significant part of Russians study it. But the future is not his at all. Thus, Gennady Gladkov, who heads the department of language training and the Bologna process at MGIMO, is confident that in 50 years the most relevant language in the world will be Chinese, which will overtake English due to the growth of the population and economy of the PRC.
It is generally accepted that Chinese is one of the most difficult foreign languages ​​for Russian speakers. However, those who dared to master it claim that this is not so. In particular, it is not at all necessary to know more than 80 thousand characters; most Chinese do not know them. For example, to read, it will be enough to master only one thousand of them.

Today, knowledge of foreign languages ​​is not so much a human advantage as a necessity. Foreign languages ​​will help you not only in school and at work, but also when traveling around the world.

If you are going to study new language, you will have a wide choice. Some languages ​​are good for business communication, others will be useful to you in any part of the world, and others just sound beautiful!

In this article we will talk about the most popular foreign languages, which are really worth devoting time and effort to learning.

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Popular languages

Which languages ​​are especially widely used around the world?

Chinese- 955 million people

Spanish- 405 million people

English- 360 million people

Hindi- 310 million people

Bengal- 300 million people

If, according to statistics, a foreign language is widely used in the world, this does not mean that many people are studying it. It is enough that it is native to the inhabitants of one or more large countries. For example, on Chinese spoken by 37% of the world's population, while the language is considered official in only 3 countries of the world.

However, many people choose a language to learn based on these statistics. A number of experts believe that in the future languages ​​such as Chinese and Hindi will replace the “world” English language. And although this is not expected in the near future (English is much easier to learn!), for many this prospect is a great incentive to learn a new language.

Languages ​​for career development

What languages ​​are useful in the business community?

English, Chinese, Japanese, German, French

The opportunity to use a foreign language at work is one of the main reasons that forces even adults to sit down with textbooks again. Rating " business languages» is determined by the economic and business potential of the countries of the world.

In first place in the ranking is English, which any modern person must know. business man. English competes with Asian languages ​​- Chinese and Japanese, which were included in the ranking due to the rapid development of the economy and industry of these countries.

German and German may also be useful for business communication. French languages. There are many branches around the world large corporations Germany, France and the UK, so the languages ​​of these countries can help in building a career internationally.

Languages ​​that are easy to learn

What world languages ​​are the easiest to learn?

Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Romanian, Dutch, Swedish, Afrikaans, Norwegian

It is believed that each subsequent foreign language is easier to learn than the previous one. After learning 2-3 languages, a person develops his own strategy for memorizing vocabulary and language rules, which speeds up the process of further learning. In addition, many languages ​​are similar to each other.

Thus, the above languages, according to experts, are quite easy to learn if you already know English. If you want to become a real polyglot, start learning languages ​​belonging to the same group, or just similar friend on a friend.

The most beautiful languages

Which languages ​​sound more beautiful and romantic than others?

French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian

Of course, as many people as there are, so many tastes. However, some languages ​​are generally considered the most beautiful and “musical” - these are, in particular, the mentioned Romance languages.

People in at different ages they begin to study French and Italian simply for themselves, because of the beauty and melodiousness of these languages. Indeed, what could be more beautiful than admitting dear person in love in French?

In addition, Romance languages ​​are a real treasure for lovers of music, literature and culture in general. Knowledge of Spanish, French and other languages ​​will give you the opportunity to read classics in the original and learn wonderful foreign songs!

Natalya Glukhova

Which foreign languages ​​are easier to learn together?

28/03 2017

Good afternoon dear friends!
Today I will tell you about which foreign language to learn. In the 21st century, knowledge of English will surprise few people, most educated people have at least an average level of knowledge.

Therefore, many employers give preference to candidates with knowledge of two foreign languages. that you will now never find a well-paid job! take up training. Somehow, polyglots mastered several foreign ones.

From this article you will learn:

Family Tree

Once you learn one language, you will master the rest much easier. Moreover, you probably know that many resemble each other in structure and vocabulary. You just need to understand which ones to teach together and where to start. In this article you will receive valuable tips on how to... Let's figure it out.

Many learned linguists will tell you that before learning any language, you can start with Latin, from which many things come. After this, you can easily master any other. But no one speaks Latin for a long time! Why waste time on this? Indeed, Latin is considered dead because it is no longer recognized as official in any country and is used only in sciences such as linguistics, medicine, and law.

You can still make things easier for yourself by learning something close to what you already know. So let's look at which ones are more similar. Most likely, your attention will be drawn to the Indo-European family, which is also the most widespread. It can be found on all continents of the earth.

This includes some of the most popular groups: Romanesque and Germanic groups. The Romanesque group includes Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and French.

Germanic – German, English, Norwegian, Swedish.

If you are thinking about mastering foreign languages ​​to get a good position, then you will be interested in the fact that the most popular Indo-European languages ​​required by employers are English, German, and French. And if you are interested in travel, the most common is Spanish.

Twin brothers

Comparison of vocabulary on the topic “Food”

Also, their word order is approximately the same:

Subject – verb – object.

In both there are Irregular Verbs. English drink drink drank drunk consonant with trinkt, trank, getrunken. In most cases, if a verb is irregular in one way, it is also incorrect in another.

However, there are some differences. IN german words have a gender that is not found in English. For example, table (table) can be replaced by the pronoun it (a pronoun for any inanimate word), but in German it is important that der Tisch is masculine.

Also in German, words change according to cases, there are four of them. In English there are only pronouns. Despite the fact that both have a similar alphabet, the emphasis on words is relatively the same, and the pronunciation is slightly different.

For example, the letter v at the beginning of a word in the first sounds like “v” (English: Van), and in the second – like “f” (German: Vater).

The easiest

And if you already know it and Spanish alone is not enough for you, then the closest one, belonging to the same group, is Italian. So similar that Spaniards and Italians can sometimes understand each other's speech. 80% of the vocabulary in them is consonant.

For example, the word time in Spanish is tiempo, in Italian it is tempo. There are even certain patterns, knowing which you can change a word from one to another. In Italian, the letter f always becomes the letter h in another if it appears at the beginning of a word: humo - fumo.

The pronunciation is quite similar in both. There are identical sounds that are conveyed differently in writing. The sound is "ni", as in English onion. In Italian it is expressed using the letters ‘gn’ – bagno, in Spanish – the letters ‘ñ’ – baño.

The grammar is also similar. The verb inflections are very similar. Compare.
The first table is Italian:

The second table is Spanish:

Look at the picture and compare for yourself which languages ​​are more similar:

Language comparison

Four types of students or each according to ability

What if I have no abilities at all? Surely many people convince themselves of this. It means you just haven't found your way. Learning is an individual process.

How much time does it take to study?

Of course, as soon as a person sets a goal for himself, the question arises: “how long can it take to learn?” Everything here is still strictly individual, but a lot depends on how regularly you practice. You can’t take a long break between classes, and then sit down and “catch up” with everything you missed.

Try to devote at least 15 minutes a day to this activity. If you decide to learn two at once, confusion may arise at first, but this period must be overcome and in the future you will only be proud of yourself. On average, mastering one level of a language requires 200 hours of work.

The “Polyglot” course, developed by Dmitry Petrov, offers 16 video lessons for each: Italian, English, German. The intensive course will allow you to understand the structure of the foreign language you are studying. The teacher is a linguist, a polyglot who speaks 30 foreign languages.

Install applications on your phone, find friends from other countries. On the couch surfing website you can join groups and always know what is happening in your city and invite guests of the country to spend time with you.

If money is the only obstacle, then you can try to find free courses. For example, in Russia there is a large number of German centers, most of them are free.

Local libraries sometimes teach and conduct courses. You only need to pay money for a subscription (about one hundred rubles per year).

If you do not have the time or desire to travel to school, you can take courses via Skype. There are 16 languages ​​available that you can start learning from scratch. Classes are conducted with native speakers, and all dialogues and texts are also voiced by them. You can download the lessons to your phone.

In conclusion, I would like to advise you to subscribe to my blog, where you will find a lot useful information, both for training and for traveling around Europe.

Who among us has not dreamed of learning at least one foreign language? But some are lucky enough to speak several languages ​​almost from birth, while others cannot learn English, which is spoken on all continents, in their entire life.

There are many reasons why a foreign language is not given: lack of ability, poor memory, laziness, incorrectly composed educational programs, lack of motivation and the difficulty of a specific language for you. The more similar a foreign language is to your native language, the easier it is for you to learn it. If you know Russian, you will quickly master one of the Slavic languages. If you speak Farsi, you can easily master Arabic, one of the most difficult languages ​​in the world.

Of course, it is easier for Europeans to learn languages ​​that are written in Latin or Cyrillic, rather than in hieroglyphs. But everything is relative. The determining factor in any new endeavor, including language learning, is motivation. If you like to learn Japanese or Arabic, you will find this language much easier than, for example, English or German, which you had to cram for 10 years at school.

TOP 5 from American researchers

And yet, the US Foreign Ministry compiled the TOP 5 easiest languages ​​in the world. There was only one criterion - the language was simple, if learning it required no more than 600 hours of intensive study. If more time is needed, the language is complex. It is important that this rating was compiled for those who speak English.

According to this classification, one of the lightest is considered English language. Because it lacks gender and case, the words do not need to be consistent with each other. In Russian, we change the endings of words without thinking, but for foreigners this is more difficult than solving problems in higher mathematics and quantum physics combined.

English words are relatively short compared to, for example, Finnish ones. The grammar is very simple, and in spoken language it is further simplified. Often native speakers themselves deviate from academic rules and deliberately do not use complex speech structures. Confirmation that English is a simple language is obvious - it is spoken by the entire planet. More than 60 countries! Even in India it is the second state one.

Simple is considered Spanish language. There is no need to learn transcription here: how the word is written is how it is read. It also has simple grammar with almost no exceptions. It is easy to learn for those who know English - these languages ​​are similar in many ways. If you want to learn a foreign language, start with Spanish. Experts say that he learns easier than all Europeans. Today it is spoken by approximately 0.5 billion people, many of whom live in Mexico and Argentina.

Similar to English and Spanish is Italian, which is also called one of the easiest. It, like other Indo-European languages, “grew” from Latin. Therefore, it also lacks cases, declensions, and word agreements. Are being written Italian words just as they are heard. If you want to learn as many languages ​​as possible, after Spanish, start studying its “relative” – Italian.

TO simple languages American researchers include French. But this is a controversial issue, because the grammar in it is more complex than in English. It is also difficult for a foreigner to learn to “burr” and pronounce the grazing “r” correctly. French is easy for those who know English or German. But, if it becomes your first foreign language, you will have to spend a lot of time learning it. By the way, French was once more widespread than English, but then took second place. Today, French is spoken in 14 countries, and in total - 130 million people.

Completing this list is artificial language. Esperanto, invented specifically for international communication. It is based on words that can be understood without translation, and a total of 16 grammatical rules are used. To master it you will need no more than 6 months. It is not official in any state, so it is not very common. No more than 3 million people know Esperanto - almost no one compared to English.

Polish is considered one of the easiest languages ​​for Russian speakers. And Greek will be easier to learn for those who know Slavic languages. But the English will find the language of Hellas more difficult.

The ease of a language also depends on the environment in which you learn it. It’s ideal to go to your “homeland” and study it there. In three months in Germany you can learn German better than in all your years of study at school and university. If there is no opportunity to go to language practice, you can try to artificially immerse yourself in the language environment: watch films and read books without translation, communicate with foreigners online. Today the Internet gives us limitless opportunities to learn any language. The main thing is your desire and motivation. If this is not the case, any foreign language will seem difficult.

It is believed that it is easier to learn any language through play than by cramming and trying to remember new words and grammar. Honestly, I couldn't tear myself away! Try it! I'm sure that one complex language there will be less for you!

I wish you good luck in learning your favorite foreign languages!

Which language is easier to learn?

Many of you would definitely like to learn a new foreign language, especially if you are only fluent in your native language. Knowledge of foreign languages ​​is always a plus. This is not only your advantage when hiring and great psychological comfort while traveling. Knowledge of foreign languages ​​has a positive effect on mental activity, so it’s never too late to learn any language. Perhaps at 50 years old it will be a little more difficult, but you will still be able to learn it. By the way, the world around you will also change, you will understand the origin of many words, know what languages ​​they came from, you will be able to read in the original and understand. Moreover, the more languages ​​you know, the easier each next one will be for you. The combination of French-Spanish-Italian is, one might say, an ideal case: the words are intuitive, the grammar is similar, and after each next one, a new language is learned much faster. Many, by the way, choose a suitable language school for themselves and there they begin to take turns mastering the foreign languages ​​they like. Foreign language courses in St. Petersburg at a language school Communication Club, for such students they can cost much cheaper, because they have discounts for regular students up to 50% (!).

The most frequently asked question: ? There is no single answer to this question as there are various factors that must be considered. One of them is yours native language. The easiest language to learn is considered to be the one that is as close phonetically as possible to your native language. Also, keep in mind that each language has borrowed something from each other at some point. For example, if you are a carrier in English, then the most suitable languages ​​for study will be: German, Spanish, French and Italian, since they are “sisters” to English. For native speakers of Russian (among European languages), it is easiest to understand, especially after English.

Another factor is your personal motivation for studying. specific language, love for the culture of a certain country, the desire to study there or go for permanent residence. All other things being equal, some people have greater ability in some languages ​​and less in others. As an example, the French “r” is obtained without special training :).

- logical, relatively close in pronunciation to Russian, and very interesting language. Most words from English are also found in Italian. Italian language- bright, emotional and beautiful. It can be recommended as a second language especially to those who love classical music and Italian culture itself.