It's hard to speak Korean due to its different Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) word order, complex grammar with extensive verb endings and particles, pervasive honorifics (politeness levels), and vocabulary that's mostly unfamiliar to English speakers. Pronunciation also presents challenges with sounds like ㄹ (similar to 'r'/'l') and context-dependent consonant changes, plus understanding fast, contracted spoken Korean requires deep knowledge of rules, notes Reddit users and Quora users, respectively.
Learning Korean can be a bit tricky for English speakers because of its grammar, pronunciation, and writing system. But if you stick with it and find fun ways to study, you'll see how rewarding it can be!
Let's explore the 10 hardest languages for English speakers to learn, and the challenges they deliver:
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.
The most common Korean slang for "WTF" includes 헐 (Heol) for shock/disbelief, 뭐야? (Mwoya?) meaning "What is this?", and for stronger vulgarity, the abbreviation ㅅㅂ (S-B) for 씨발 (Ssi-bal), similar to the English f-word.
The number eighteen is pronounced Ship-pal. While a Korean could probably pronounce it correctly, our poor Anglo vocal cords are wired a little differently. Unfortunately, if you say this number with even the slightest error in pronunciation, it sounds an awful lot like the F word in Korean (shi-bal / 씨발).
It can be either, depending on the language and context: "Gaja" (가자) is the common Korean informal word for "Let's go," though pronounced closer to "Kaja" by many, while "Kaja" is used in some Slavic languages (like Slovenian) as a name or for "effort/work," and the Italian wine brand Gaja is pronounced "Gah-yah," not "Gaja," notes a YouTube video.
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.
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.
Learn one of these 5 languages to stand out
They concluded that the ability to learn a new language, at least grammatically, is strongest until the age of 18 after which there is a precipitous decline. To become completely fluent, however, learning should start before the age of 10.
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.
100 Most Common Korean Phrases and Words to Learn
Korean offers unique advantages that make it both practical and enriching as a language choice. From career opportunities to cultural connections, these benefits make Korean worth the investment of your time and effort.
Korean, like many East Asian languages, is an agglutinative language. This means that words are often formed by stringing together smaller units of meaning, called morphemes, to create longer words.
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.
Here are some pretty similar pairs:
Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon) is an early form of the English language which was spoken in England around the year 1000. It is a West Germanic language, and is therefore similar to Frisian and Old Saxon. It is also quite similar to Old Norse (and, by extension, to modern Icelandic).
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.
According to a UNESCO survey, Bengali has been classified as the sweetest language in the world. As a language, Bengali is widely spoken all over India, including Assam and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. One of the world's sweetest languages is also recognized in the Constitution of India.
Nineteen-year-old Mahmood Akram from India has amazed the world by mastering 400 languages while simultaneously pursuing multiple university degrees. His linguistic journey began early under the guidance of his father, a linguistics expert, and by the age of six, he had already surpassed his mentor's knowledge.
Korean terms for a lover vary from cute nicknames like 자기야 (jagiya - honey/babe) and 애기야 (aegiya - baby) to respectful terms like 여보 (yeobo - darling, for married couples), while general terms include 애인 (aein - sweetheart) and 내 사랑 (nae sarang - my love), with unique options like 공주님 (gongjunim - princess) or 왕자님 (wangjanim - prince) also used.
"Aja aja" (아자아자) in Korean is a powerful cheer or interjection used for encouragement, similar to saying "Let's go!", "Do your best!", "Keep it up!", or "Cheer up!" in English, often repeated and frequently paired with "Hwaiting!" (파이팅) for extra motivation, especially before sports, exams, or challenges.
Depending on its position, it makes a 'd' or a 't' sound. In an initial or final position in a word, the pronunciation is usually [t], while after a vowel it is pronounced [d], for example in the word deudieo (드디어, "finally"), the initial ㄷ is [t], while the second ㄷ is [d].