You should know that as an English speaker, you’re already ahead of the game. Not only do you effortlessly speak the most commonly spoken language of the world, but your native tongue is also far from the easiest language known to man. I mean, if “womb” is pronounced “woom” and “tomb” is pronounced “toom”, shouldn’t “bomb” be pronounced “boom”? Let’s face it.
While learning a new language is always going to be difficult at first, already being fluent in the English language is a great place to start. What we can help you to do is decide which languages are the easiest to learn if you’re already a native English speaker so that you can start learning a new language right away!
Spanish is an Easy Language to Learn!
Spanish tops the list of easiest languages to learn because of how closely its words are associated with their English equivalent, both in sound and spelling. The spelling for words largely matches the pronunciation. Here are a few examples:
- correcto, correct
- revision, revision
- atención, attention.
Consonants and vowels in Spanish are pronounced just as you think they would be. While there are exceptions to the rule, the structure is very similar. The simplest place to start is the derivation of the language. Spanish has its roots in Latin, which is exactly where many English words are taken from. Once you know how to pronounce the letters in a Spanish sentence, you will know how to read Spanish. And if you’re a Caribbean national you may have very well been exposed to Spanish through the formal school curriculum, that may be because of how simple it is. Easy, right?
Precisely Learn Portuguese
Portuguese is next on our list. Both English and Portuguese have Latin roots and as such, share many words. They’re so similar that native Portuguese speakers can often understand Spanish speakers without having learned Spanish at all. While the sentence structures and grammar may be different from English, it’s a much simpler language. Not only is Portuguese fairly easy to start speaking but having a comprehension of the language gives you a huge head-start to understanding other languages.
French is Fantastic to Learn!
Have you ever used the phrase, ‘I love avant-garde pieces’ or ‘That’s so cliché’ or even ‘I just experienced a déjà vu’?
You’ve been using French phrases in English sentences all this time! English speakers commonly use French in everyday language without even noticing. Let’s backtrack a bit. In prehistoric times, during wars and conquests between England and France, many practices and more noticeably words were exchanged between countrymen. This is how elements of the French vocabulary were adopted into the English language.
That largely shared vocabulary is one of the top reasons French is an easy language to learn for English speakers. It’s just to say that if you speak English, you pretty much have a head-start in learning French pronunciations, spellings and yes…meanings, there’s no starting from scratch here. Café, debut, encore or entrepreneurs, much of modern English has been influenced by French. So, as an English speaker, today may very well be that time to come vis-à-vis with French… it could be a déjà vu of words when you think about it.
Learning Italian is Ideal
For many native English speakers, the Italian language taps into an enticing and familiar experience – food! Whether it’s pizza, mozzarella, lasagna, or bologna to appease our taste buds, or just an espresso or cappuccino to whet our appetite, we get lost in the very distinct flavours and the vocabulary to describe these dishes roll off an English speakers tongue frequently. The language, like English, has its roots in Latin, which means that elements of the vocabulary that characterize Italian are found in English, too. Italian is not as widespread as the other three we’ve recommended, but the language is ingrained in the everyday culture—from music to food to art. Learning Italian can be a very rich experience that will give you a deeper appreciation for the culture.
How soon you have the next conversation in another language is really up to you. Whether you want to say hola, olá, bonjour, ciao or your widely used hello, TruFluency can provide language tutors to guide you on this new journey of learning another language as a native English speaker!
