What is the easiest foreign language to master? Which language should you study first? If you are seeking a good language to start with, I would suggest the following:
Begin with a foreign language that is similar to your own.
The easiest foreign language to learn will probably be similar to one that you already know. Most languages are part of a family tree. A good place to start is to study a language similar to your own, or similar to another language that you have already studied. For example, French and Spanish are close cousins of English. You will probably find it easy to deduce the meanings of many words on your own. If you have studied a little French or Spanish, then you should not have any trouble transitioning to Italian. If you study one, then switch to any of the others, you will find remarkable similarities.
Even if the words are all different, many times the grammar patterns will be the same. At some level, you will have an intuitive sense of how things go together. This makes it much easier to learn a closely related language rather than one from a unrelated lineage such as Arabic or Chinese.
Are Their Lots of Available Resources?
Are their lots of available resources in your chosen language? This is a critical factor for success in choosing a language. The easiest language to learn also has a lot of resources available. If you if you look around in a bookstore, can you find textbooks, dictionaries, and phrase books in your target language? If you look on-line, can you find websites, podcasts, and other material in the language? If you search around, can you find movies dubbed in the language? Finally, is there anyone around to practice speaking to? There are all key factors to consider. The easiest foreign language to learn will be one where you can easily find native speakers and a good selection of resources.
Are You Motivated To Learn The Language?
Finally, are you interested in learning the language? For instance, why would you want to devote a lot of time to learning Turkish if you have no interest in that part of the world, or it's people? But if you are enchanted by the sound of Italian, love eating Italian food, hope to one day explore Tuscany, and find Italians incredibly sexy, then choosing Italian is probably a no-brainer. The easiest foreign language is one that you really want to learn.
Having strong reasons on many different levels to learn a language is essential to your success. It will keep you motivated, keep things fun, and keep you going through the ups and downs. Learning a language is like any other discipline. You have to work at it. Like anything else, you have to develop strength in it. Learning one language will in turn make it easier to learn the next language. Start with an easy language and build up from there.
If you really want a head start, if you want to learn how to learn ANY language, not just the easy ones, check out the techniques at languagelearnersecrets. But it not just a strategy guide. It also includes a detailed analysis of many different languages and will help you decide what is the easiest foreign language to learn.
Click the XML Icon Above to Receive Language Articles Via RSS!
