In this article, we look at the 25 most difficult languages to learn. You can skip our dive into the vast tapestry of human communication in which we focus on some of the hardest languages to master by heading over to the 10 Most Difficult Languages to Learn.
Learning a new language can be an arduous experience, especially with the challenges associated with complex grammatical structures, pronunciations, vocabulary, and the lack of opportunities available to communicate with native speakers of the language. However, the grind of delving into a new language does not go unrewarded and opens new avenues and opportunities for the learner.
Since English is the lingua franca at the global stage, in most cases you would do fine with your ability to communicate in this language, but with rapid pace at which globalization is taking place and more corporations setting up their facilities in foreign markets, mastering a new language can help individuals navigate language barriers and succeed at what they have set out for.
According to projections, 13 of the 20 Largest Economies in the World in 2050 will be Asian and African countries, and in many of these English language is not a strong suit. Already, several large western corporations have begun outsourcing their operations to these countries, especially China and India, in anticipation of the radical shift in the global economic order that awaits us in the next few decades.
Language Learning Industry
The language learning industry had an estimated size of $52 billion in 2022, as noted by Global Market Insights. It is projected to grow at a CAGR of 20% between 2023 and 2032, driven by an increase in demand for multilingualism and a growing trend of e-learning that has been aided by the integration of artificial intelligence with online learning platforms.
While language training academies still remain popular due their feature of personalized face-to-face interaction, a wide range of applications and online course platforms are also available today to facilitate the learning of various languages.
Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL), for instance, offers courses on about 40 languages, ranging from English to Spanish, and Swahili to Zulu. It is one of the world’s largest online language-teaching platforms with over 500 million learners. What makes the company so successful is its ease of use, learning exercises offered, and most importantly the opportunity it provides to users to interact with people from diverse linguistic backgrounds.
Artisan Small Cap Fund made the following comment about Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) in its second quarter 2023 investor letter:
"We initiated new GardenSM positions in Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL), SPX Technologies and Smartsheet. Duolingo is an app-based learning platform that currently derives most of its revenues from subscriptions to its language learning app. However, it has expanded into new education verticals with the launch of Duolingo ABC, an early childhood education app, and elementary math. The company uses an ad supported freemium model, and it is the most downloaded language learning app in most countries outside China. Duolingo has differentiated itself with a unique gamified approach that is at the core of its user engagement strategy while its machine learning algorithms leverage monthly users and daily tracking events to improve the overall learning experience and adapt personalized learning pathways for each user."
Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) became a hit well before it was launched. After the team released a private beta in November 2011, more than 300,000 people signed up within a month to be on the waitlist. Over 10 million people downloaded the Duolingo app in its first 12 months of service. The company’s revenue continues to see exponential growth each year. In 2022, Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) generated $369.7 million in revenue – an increase of 47% compared to the last fiscal year.
Matt Skaruppa, the company’s CFO, made the following remarks in Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL)'s Q2 2023 Earnings Call:
In the second quarter, we outperformed our expectations for user growth with DAU and MAU increasing 62% and 50% year-over-year, respectively. This with DAU to an all-time high of 21.4 million and MAU to an all-time high of 74.1 million, respectively. On our total paid subscribers, we increased them by 59% to 5.2 million. Our strong user and subscriber growth fueled our top line performance with bookings and revenue increasing 41% and 44% year-over-year, respectively, or 42% and 46% on a constant currency basis. We continue to manage the business with cost discipline, and this quarter, we delivered our highest quarterly profit. Our net income totaled $3.7 million compared to a net loss of $15 million in the year ago quarter.
Coursera, Inc. (NYSE:COUR), on the other hand, offers language-learning courses from several of the world’s top universities and industry professionals. The platform allows learners to take the courses at their own pace by watching pre-recorded video lectures. This enables users to strike a balance between their learning and professional and personal commitments.
Coursera, Inc. (NYSE:COUR)’s language courses are tailored to enable learners to speak, listen, and write effectively in the language they wish to learn. Moreover, after completion of a set of lectures and activities, users go through a quiz or exam. Upon passing those, learners receive a certificate confirming the attainment and completion of their language course.
Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) and Coursera, Inc. (NYSE:COUR) are just two examples of companies that have been well-received in the language learning industry for offering online language courses. There are several other notable companies as well that are actively contributing in the digital growth of the industry. These include Babbel GmbH, eLanguage LLC, and Rosetta Stone LLC.
Methodology
We have ranked the 25 most difficult languages to learn after conducting through research on five sources: US Foreign Service Institute’s categorizations of difficulty levels for various languages, results of our recent Yahoo and Insider Monkey article 16 Hardest Languages To Learn For English Speakers, Cudoo’s list of the hardest languages to learn for non-English speakers, as well as Mango Languages and Tomedes’ analysis on the world’s most difficult languages to master.
The list compiled in our article is based on a structured scoring system, in which we assigned aggregated scores to each language based on its ranking on any or each of these five sources we studied. The most difficult languages to learn are listed in ascending order of these aggregated scores. In the case where two or more languages had the same score, we outranked one over the other by seeing which language appeared more frequently in the sources we considered for this article.
25 Most Difficult Languages to Learn
Eiko Tsuchiya/Shutterstock.com
Let’s now head over to the list of the most difficult languages to learn.
25. Spanish
Score: 0.53
While Spanish is considered among the easiest languages to learn for English speakers, it is among the seven most difficult foreign languages to master for non-English speakers. It is the second most spoken native language in the world after Mandarin, and is the official language of 20 countries with an aggregated 475 million speakers.
Spanish language courses have the highest number of learners on Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL), estimated to be 33.4 million, as of February 2023.
24. Dutch
Score: 0.76
It takes an average of 24 weeks to learn Dutch, according to the US Foreign Service Institute. One of the biggest challenges faced by learners learning Dutch is the pronunciation of words, which might require speakers to use different muscles of their mouth as words starting with ‘g’, ‘ui’, or ‘r’ may sound different in Dutch than it does in English. Moreover, one word often has different meanings in Dutch language.
23. Bulgarian
Score: 0.86
The official language of Bulgaria, spoken by an estimated 6 million people, is considered among the most difficult languages to learn, according to the Foreign Service Institute. The language shares similarity with Russian and uses Cyrillic alphabets. It takes an average of about 44 weeks or 1,100 hours of learning to be able to communicate in Bulgarian.
22. Albanian
Score: 0.93
The Albanian language can be a challenge to learn due to its complex grammar. It is spoken in Albania, as well as Kosovo. The language is influenced by Greek, and has about 7.5 million native speakers.
21. Navajo
Score: 1.00
Navajo is a native American language that is spoken in the southwestern region of the United States. According to the US Census Bureau, there were an estimated 170,000 speakers of Navajo in 2019. A number of people in the US take courses to learn the language to be able to communicate better in regions where Navajo is spoken.
Approximately, 275,000 people have taken the Navajo language course on Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL). It is categorized as a hard language to learn by both Mango Languages and Tomedes.
20. Swahili
Score: 1.04
Swahili is the most widely spoken language in Sub-Saharan Africa. Locally, it is called Kiswahili, and is a Bantu language spoken by the Swahili people living in Africa, in particular, Kenya, Mozambique, and Tanzania. Swahili has a number of words that are also common in Arabic, Portuguese, German, and English. It is the 32nd most learned language on Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL) with an estimated 477,000 learners.
19. Vietnamese
Score: 1.05
Vietnamese is part of the Austroasiatic language family and ranks as the 13th most difficult language to learn for English speakers. It is even harder for non-English speakers to master due to its challenging pronunciation and tonal variations. It is spoken by an estimated 76 million people in Vietnam.
18. German
Score: 1.07
German is one of the most spoken languages in Europe, especially in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. It is crucial that you learn German if you are looking to go to Germany for work or education. It is the most common mode of communication in most educational institutions, because of which, a number of foreign students enroll themselves in German language courses prior to applying for admissions. There are 11.9 million learners of German on Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL).
17. Basque
Score: 1.10
Basque is a language spoken in northern Spain and southwestern France by about 750,000 native Basque people. It is one of the most difficult languages to learn due to its complex vocabulary and word structure. Another factor that makes learning Basque complicated is that it is not related to any other language.
16. Hindi
Score: 1.15
Hindi is an Indo-Aryan language that is spoken in India, and is the lingua franca in the country’s northern, eastern and western states. There are an estimated 350 million speakers of Hindi, which makes it the fourth most spoken language in the world.
Hindi courses are the sixth most taken language courses offered by Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL). Apart from offering Hindi language courses, Coursera, Inc. (NYSE:COUR) video lectures on any field and subject also come with the option of Hindi subtitles.
15. Thai
Score: 1.35
Thai is a language belonging to the Kra–Dai family of languages, and is spoken by about 60 million people in Thailand. While most people in Thailand are able to read, write, and converse in English, it is still beneficial if you master the Thai language as that would aid you in your quest for networking in your social or business circles.
14. Polish
Score: 1.60
There are 1.65 million learners of Polish on Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL). The language is listed in category 4 by the US Foreign Service Institute, which states that it is a hard language to learn. You need to spend an average of 44 weeks to learn the basics of Polish language. Poland is a major economy in Europe; learning Polish, which is the lingua franca and national language of the country, can be advantageous for students and working professionals based in Poland.
13. Serbian
Score: 1.98
Serbian is a Slavic language, which is widely spoken in Eastern Europe. Apart from being the national language of Serbia, it is the official language in Montenegro, Kosovo, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has seven tenses and two scripts, which makes it a difficult language to learn for non-native speakers of Serbian.
12. Cantonese
Score: 2.00
Cantonese is one of the hardest languages to learn according to the US Foreign Service Institute, and is listed in Category 5 along with Arabic, Mandarin, Korean and Japanese. It takes an estimated 88 weeks (1.69 years) to learn Cantonese. The language, which originates from Guangzhou in China, has over 80 million native speakers spread across mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Malaysia.
11. Finnish
Score: 2.00
Finnish is one of the official languages in Finland and the European Union. There are about 5.4 million native speakers of the language. More than 700,000 learners are enrolled in Finnish language courses on Duolingo, Inc. (NASDAQ:DUOL). It is considered as one of the hardest languages to learn due to its grammatical complexity where there are not so many prepositions but plenty of noun cases and verb conjugations.
