Which 10 languages in Europe would you rate as the most difficult and why?
I've looked into it and I think that these are the 10 most difficult for me, either because of the isolated language, the many cases, difficult grammar/pronunciation and the agglutinative languages.
1) Basque
2) Hungarian
3) Finnish
4) Estonian
5) Polish
6) Irish Gaelic
7) Lithuanian
8) Georgian (I count it as part of Europe)
9) Icelandic
10) Russian
I know everyone sees it differently, but for me personally I find the ones listed to be the most difficult.
How are things going for you?
(7 votes)
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This can be largely done. I can’t judge it myself, but I have to go after what you read. For me personally, the debate is the biggest problem. There you can compare two of the languages mentioned, as closely related well with each other: Polish and Russian. And with these, Polish is much more difficult. Of your 10 languages I can only (not too good) Russian and it is not easy. But if I wanted to learn Polish, I would have given up. That’s why I would take Russian out of the list and replace it with Danish. Although closely related to German and very simple grammar, the extremely difficult debate (appears to me even more difficult than Polish) makes learning from Danish to absolute torment. In contrast, Turkish would also be a children’s play without a relationship with German.
Excuse me for the late reply 🙄
In what way is the Danish debate difficult?
Is that like French, English, Irish Gaelic, where only half of the words are pronounced or how exactly?
But very interesting in any case to read what you write 😉
In French and English the difference between pronunciation and spelling is great. The same letter sequences can be expressed differently and you have to learn a lot by heart. But if someone pronounces it, you can easily pronounce it. But I can’t really follow Danish. And even if one knows the connection between pronunciation and spelling for individual words or sentences, or if a spoken video is subtitled, one can only misunderstand it.
You can see it on this video. Commentary on “The Danes have a frankly hilarious idea of what constitutes “super easy” :)”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byhb87mzFIY
Your listing is quite identical to common lists. But don’t forget that the “skill” is very subjective and encompasses the closeness of languages to each other. It is also crucial how much standardized learning material is available. Languages with few speakers usually have more flexion. So Russian would have to be downstairs.
Without knowing it more closely – Icelandic seems to me simpler for Germans, both quite conservative Germanic languages. A Estonian learns Finnish quickly. A Han Chinese cantonese or Hakka, both more complex than Mandarin.
Basque I’ve been trying to learn recently. It is so difficult by the Elativ-stead battery system, 16 cases and the impossible forms. Georgian makes it so similar: “I give it to her” in a verb.
Generally, non-indo-European and phonetically distant languages are harder. Finnish has little sounds and many vocals, Basque is loudly strongly influenced by Spanish, making it easier.
Lithuanian and Polish have kept the indo-European fall, aspect and participation system well.
Celtic languages are not my specialty, I think Gälisch is absolutely strange.
Georgian makes absolutely impossible consonant clusters. In general, the Caucasus is a hort of languages because the mountain valleys isolated for thousands of years.
Hungarian came from the Ural, the Magna Hungaria; 1000 years ago only!
That’s my order.
1) Georgian
2) Basque
3) in Hungarian
4) Estonian
5) Finnish
6) Lithuanian
7) Polish
8) Gaelic
9) Icelandic
10) Russian
There are other candidates – Andamanic, Khoisan or Aboriginal languages that have been almost completely isolated for at least tens of thousands of years! Also languages from Siberia, Kamschatka, the high north and America are often impossible to learn for non-native speakers. It is true that even non-related languages have a loud and eloquent influence.
Thank you for your detailed answer!
Now you write that you learn Basque – is the language really very difficult to learn?
And how do you learn this language?
My listing on my question was not meant by the fact that, for example, Basque is the hardest and most lightest. I had only written down as it happened to the hardest languages.
Hungarian has a heavier flexion – I believe up to 29 cases, only 8 local cases.
Basque – especially old and high-basque – have an incredibly complex verbal system that Finnish and Hungarian do not have to the extent. This is the uninhabited alternative.
Hungarian offers much more derivation suffixes and times/modes, vocal harmony. Both take little.
I do not believe in an absolute system easy – heavy and partly convinced by the sapphire-whorf assumption (language forms thinking).
Linguistics is a special interest of me. Through semi-seiden reading, I have a lot of knowledge about grammar, indogermanistics and exotic languages. I rule German, English, French and bad Greek. Latin, ancient Greek and ancient Hebrew only passive. I’ve been learning Mandarin for a year.
Basque is my latest project. It is his special status as the only surviving pre-Indo-European language in Europe and his strangeness that attracts me.
Duolingo is still well suited for Romanesque and Germanic languages. I learned French about Duolingo and television. Chinese demands quite different methods. Sign – Tone – Pinyin – meaning – use. DIe homophones, tone change and afflictions make it difficult.
For the Basque, I try it in a different way: for the first time I learn only short fleases and important words by heart. No grammar. The debate is very simple.
I can’t afford an absolute verdict about the difficulty. Probably similar to Hungarian.
I think you’ve already found the hardest. Especially in Basque and Finnish, I would definitely go along. I had read somewhere that, however, German and Greek are also very difficult, but this is especially about learning, I believe:)
Exactly, it’s the learning experience and the distance.
English is just as strange for East Asians as for us Mandarin, Thai or Japanese.
I always say that for Cantonese spokesman Mandarin is probably just as much as for us Dutch or Swedish.
Look at this: a Western German language with Roman, Celtic, Norman, French and colonial influences. Absolutely impossible pronunciation, no loudness and a collected vocabulary of several language branches of the Indo-European.
The flexion, ablaut, umlaut, pre- and suffixes are also added to the German. Extremely heavy sentence and hard debate.