Learning a new language can be so much fun, and beneficial. For one, it makes you marketable in the job market. Speaking one language and being literate is cool, but two or more languages? You'll be able to expand the consumer base and help companies with their selling. Learning a new language also improves your multi-tasking skills since your brain will be busy processing what you're saying in the foreign language and how you should translate it. Your memory will also be improved, which let's be honest, most of us need our memory improved. So, interested in learning a new language? Which one works best for you?
1. French
I took five and a half years of French and found it somewhat easy. Don't get me wrong: it definitely wasn't something that I didn't have to put any work into. I had to study a lot and practice as much as possible. After all those years, my French still isn't polished and perfect, but I could definitely survive on it. I found it somewhat easy, though, because some words or phrases were something that we hear in English all the time. We do borrow quite a few words from the French language. The grammar structure is also similar to that of English, so it wasn't too bad.
2. Spanish
Spanish and French are pretty similar because they're both a part of the "Romance Languages." They're not too difficult to learn. In fact, on the chart below, they only take about half a year to learn, if you want to be proficient.
3. Italian
Italian is another Romance Language. It's beautiful to listen to, so why not try learning it and impress all of your friends?
4. German
All right, now the languages are getting a little difficult. With the Romance Languages, they are somewhat similar to one another. Their words are all pretty close to one another, so it seems like learning one will help you with the other. With German, nothing looks the same as the Romance Languages, which makes sense since, y'know, German is a Germanic Language. If you're planning on studying this one, I wish you all the best. Maybe it's not as difficult or intimidating once you actually learn it.
5. Russian
Again, I wish you luck with this one.
6. Korean
Korean is going to be hard to learn, trust me. Korean doesn't have the alphabet in which English speakers are used to seeing, so if you're planning on learning Korean, you'll have to learn a whole new "alphabet." However, the characters look easier to write and learn than that of Japanese and Chinese.
7. Japanese
I've been trying to learn Japanese for so long now, but it's a language that you're going to have to put a lot of your undivided attention and work into. Just like Korean, you'll have to learn the characters, plus you will have to learn some Chinese characters which were developed into the Japanese writing system.
8. Chinese
Chinese is one of the most difficult ones to learn. The characters are difficult to learn and the structure is not similar to English, so it will probably be a new experience for you. Once again, it'll take a lot of work, but if you're motivated enough, it'll probably be a great experience. I wish you all the best!
Interested in something else? Check out this graphic that shows you other languages and how long it'll take to learn them!
