Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, Japanese, and Korean are generally considered the hardest languages for English speakers to "crack" or learn, often requiring over 2,200 hours of study to achieve proficiency. Mandarin is challenging due to its logographic writing system and tonal nature, while Arabic and Japanese are difficult due to complex grammar, multiple dialects, and unique scripts.
There's no single "hardest" language, but Mandarin Chinese is consistently ranked #1 for English speakers due to its tonal nature (four tones change word meanings) and complex logographic writing system requiring thousands of characters. Other top contenders often cited include Arabic (right-to-left script, complex sounds, grammar) and Japanese (multiple writing systems like Kanji, Hiragana, Katakana, plus honorifics). The difficulty depends heavily on your native language, with languages like Tibetan, Estonian, and Polish also challenging learners with unique grammar or cases.
There's no single "number one" easiest language, as it depends on your native tongue, but for English speakers, Norwegian, Dutch, Afrikaans, Spanish, and Italian are consistently ranked as very easy due to similar Germanic roots (Norwegian, Dutch, Afrikaans) or shared Latin vocabulary (Spanish, Italian) with English, plus simple grammar and pronunciation. The truly easiest language is the one you're most motivated to learn and find engaging content in, as personal interest drives acquisition.
English is the number one international language (lingua franca), boasting around 1.5 billion total speakers, making it dominant in global business, technology, and tourism, even though Mandarin Chinese has more native speakers. While Mandarin is the largest by native speakers, English's vast number of second-language users cements its role as the primary global communication tool, followed by Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, and Spanish in overall speaker numbers.
Perhaps the best general reference point is the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), which divides proficiency into six levels: A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2. In my view, B2 is the benchmark level for fluency. At a B2 level, you can understand and express yourself in a wide variety of contexts and subjects.
Duolingo ownership is primarily held by its shareholders since its IPO. Co-founders Luis von Ahn and Severin Hacker are the largest individual shareholders. As of February 29, 2024, Luis von Ahn held 3.63 million shares. Severin Hacker held 3.61 million shares as of February 29, 2024.
Powell Alexander Janulus (born 1939) is a Canadian polyglot who lives in White Rock, British Columbia, and entered the Guinness World Records in 1985 for fluency in 42 languages.
The top 3 languages to speak, based on the total number of speakers (native and non-native), are consistently English, Mandarin Chinese, and Hindi, followed closely by Spanish, making them essential for global communication, business, and culture, though their ranking can shift slightly by source.
Most speakers are based in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Brazil, the United States, Poland, Italy, Germany, France and the USA. However, there are also many Esperanto speakers in China and Japan. Dr. Zamenhof created this language to fight nationalism and to promote internationalism and mutual understanding.
Consequently, the impact of various languages has transformed English into a distinctive blend of Germanic and Romance tongues. Dutch, Frisian, and German stand as the nearest kin to English, with Frisian holding the strongest resemblance.
Toki Pona is an isolating language with only 14 phonemes and an underlying feature of minimalism.
Norwegian. Norwegian, a North Germanic language, stands out for its simplicity in grammar and syntax, especially for English speakers. The language has a lot of vocabulary that closely resembles English, making it relatively easy to acquire new words.
Generally speaking, Japanese is more difficult than Chinese when it comes to grammar. Mandarin Chinese is an analytical language, like English, and each word has only one form, no matter how it's being used in a sentence. It's also a subject-verb-object language, like English.
The top 5 languages in the world by total speakers (native + non-native) are generally English, Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Spanish, and French, though rankings vary slightly by source and year, with Arabic also consistently near the top. English leads significantly due to its global use, followed by massive native speakers in Mandarin, but Hindi, Spanish, and French round out the top tier with hundreds of millions of speakers each.
The hardest languages for English speakers often include Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, Japanese, Korean, and complex European languages like Hungarian, Finnish, Icelandic, and Slavic tongues such as Polish, Czech, and Russian, due to vastly different writing systems (like characters or right-to-left scripts) and intricate grammar, tones, or case systems that demand significant time (around 44 weeks/1100+ hours) for professional fluency, according to Foreign Service Institute (FSI) rankings and Mango Languages.
And the most beautiful languages in the world are…
Historians and linguists generally agree that Sumerian, Akkadian and Egyptian are the oldest languages with a clear written record. All three are extinct, meaning they are no longer used and do not have any living descendants that can carry the language to the next generation.
The CIA needs pretty much every major language that you can think of. Their biggest concerns recently have been Middle Eastern languages, but they had a director (Leon Panetta) that basically said everyone who works at the CIA had to learn another language.
She's said in interviews that she's tried to learn Spanish and French a few times but never did. There are videos of her saying a few words in at least Spanish, French , Japanese, German, Welsh, Gaelic, etc. during concerts or interviews but it's just memorized words.
Nineteen-year-old Mahmood Akram from India has stunned the world by mastering 400 languages while pursuing multiple university degrees. His language journey began early, guided by his father, a linguistics expert, and by age six, he had already outpaced his mentor's knowledge.
Papua New Guinea has the most languages in the world – over 800. Indonesia isn't far behind with over 700. Languages are spread unequally throughout the world.
Duolingo includes LGBTQ+ content to reflect its diverse, global user base and normalize queer identities as a normal part of life, featuring queer characters like Lin and Bea in stories to promote understanding and inclusivity, though this has led to controversy and censorship in countries like Russia. The company views this representation as aligning with its educational mission to provide relatable content for everyone, treating LGBTQ+ people like any other individuals in everyday situations.
Duolingo's mock test is not 100% accurate, but it has gotten more accurate over time.
Can you put Duolingo on your resume? Yes, but with a caveat. If English is not your native language, you can list your Duolingo English Test (DET) or the Duolingo Language Certification to show that you have proficiency in English.