Studying a new language can be exciting as it provides you with an opportunity to connect with people from across the world， share dialogue， and conduct trade. How difficult you find it to learn a new language depends on your native language， among other factors. If you’re a native English speaker， here are the 20 easiest and hardest languages to learn for you.

学习新语言令人兴奋，因为它提供了机会，可与全球人士交流对话，从事商贸活动。学新语言会有多难？除了别的因素之外，答案还取决于你的母语。假如你的母语是英语，那么以下就是最易学和最难学的20种语言。

Why some languages are easier/harder to learn？

为什么有些语言比较易学/难学？

If you’re a native English speaker， you won’t have a hard time learning French. This is because both languages come from the same Indo-European language family and use similar characters and rules of grammar.

假如你的母语是英语，你会觉得学法语并不那么困难。这是因为两种语言同属印欧语系，使用相似的字母和语法规则。

However， languages like Arabic， Chinese， and Hindi have completely separate cultural origins and language ancestry from English. They use completely different characters， have different writing styles， pronunciations， and rules of grammar.

然而，诸如阿拉伯语、汉语和印地语这样的语言却有着和英语完全不一样的文化源头和语言谱系。它们使用完全不同的文字，书写体系、发音和语法规则也大不相同。

So， whether or not a new language will be easy for you to learn depends on the language family it falls into.

所以，一种新语言是否易学，取决于它所隶属的语系。

10 easiest languages to learn

十种最易学的语言

Spanish

西班牙语

For a native English speaker， Spanish is one of the easiest languages to learn. It uses the same writing system， isn’t culturally distanced， and shares a similar ancestry with English. It is one of the Romance languages （along with Italian， French， Portuguese， etc.） and thus shares many similar characteristics with them. Some of the tones and sounds might be new for you， but most people learn how to overcome them within weeks.

对于英语母语者而言，西班牙语是最易学的语言之一。它使用了和英语同样的书写体系，文化上颇为相近，并与英语源头相近。它属于罗曼语族（同样隶属该语族的还有意大利语、法语、葡萄牙语等），因而与它们拥有很多相似的特点。个别语调和语音或许是不熟悉的，但大多数人能够在几星期内掌握。

Italian

意大利语

Italian， like Spanish， is a Romance language with a few different tones and sounds， but the same writing system. The English language derives many words from Italian， so the transition will feel seamless when you try to speak Italian.

意大利语和西班牙语一样，也是罗曼语族的一种，语音语调上存在少数差异，但是书写体系是一样的。英语中有许多词汇直接来源于意大利语，所以你要是想学意大利语，可以实现两种语言的无缝转换。

French

法语

French is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. Of all the Romance languages， French has arguably had one of the strongest influences on the English language.

法语是世界上使用最广泛的语言之一。罗曼语族的所有语言里，法语大概是对英语产生最强影响的一种语言。

They use the same writing system and a virtually identical set of grammar rules， so you will be able to start reading and writing in French in a matter of weeks. The pronunciations， however， can take time to get used to.

它们使用同样的书写体系，语法规则也几乎完全一样，所以你能够在数周内就学会用法语阅读和写作。不过，法语的发音需要一些时间才能适应。

Portuguese

葡萄牙语

Portuguese is often argued to be the most beautiful language in the world. It’s a Romance language that uses the same writing system as English， but the grammatical concepts are slightly different.

葡萄牙语常被称为世界上最优美的语言。