The simplest language in the world

[gastd]

The world is so big and more different than ever. But have you ever wondered which language is the easiest and fastest to learn?

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

Probably English: "the slut of languages".

It's considered the world's lingua franca for a reason, and many others either share some baseline with it or have borrowed words and concepts from it over time... Hell, you basically learn it by osmosis these days.

 

[Sheepy765]

I’d argue Russian, almost every word is sounded phonetically unlike english where lead has two different pronunciations.

 

[shaggi]

Probably English: "the slut of languages".

It's considered the world's lingua franca for a reason, and many others either share some baseline with it or have borrowed words and concepts from it over time... Hell, you basically learn it by osmosis these days.

I agree. English is most used language for now. Wherever you go, you can find someone who speaks english.

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

I agree. English is most used language for now. Wherever you go, you can find someone who speaks english.

My very first Polish lesson was actually how to ask a native if they spoke English ^^U!

 

[ArchienineArchienine's icon]

English? You miss like 90% of the things if you don't know it.

 

[Moreno909]

If artificial languages count, then Esperanto

 

[shaggi]

My very first Polish lesson was actually how to ask a native if they spoke English ^^U!

What's point of it? You can ask in english. If they understand, you're at home. If they don't understand, it isn't make any difference.

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

What's point of it? You can ask in english. If they understand, you're at home. If they don't understand, it isn't make any difference.

It's apparently a matter of respect for the other person.

Every single Polish person I have ever met has been as sweet as they come and have encouraged me to take "shortcuts" when speaking their language, but were adamant about me asking everything in Polish.

 

[shaggi]

It's apparently a matter of respect for the other person.

Every single Polish person I have ever met has been as sweet as they come and have encouraged me to take "shortcuts" when speaking their language, but were adamant about me asking everything in Polish.

You probably get me wrong. I think learning how to ask for change of language was of little sense. This is last resort. If you learning language, you're going to talk in that language. There is no better way to practice it. I agree about speaking in other people native language as a matter of respect. I hope that all i meaned is clear now.

 

[prostheticleg]

I’d argue Russian, almost every word is sounded phonetically unlike english where lead has two different pronunciations.

as a russian speaker i disagree. youd be shocked if you knew how many different pronunciations certain words can have and how you can say a single sentence in 5+ ways by just slightly changing the sentence structure.

 

[-------]

I would say English is the easiest to learn. But you have to be careful because there are differences in vocabulary between US English and UK English.

 

[Julian_L]

"Simple" doesn't necessarily mean "easy". The simplest language out there is the artificial one called Toki Pona: it only contains between 120 to 130 words and lacks most grammar features other languages have. So there you have it: the simplest language ever you can learn in only one week, but the fact you can't say almost anything with it or that you have to decipher what other people try to say makes it a too hard language to use. It wasn't created for actual communication, after all.
The easiest language to learn is either Esperanto, Indonesian or Tok Pisin.

 

[NeonKnights]

It's certainly not Japanese with the three different scripts (Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji characters) and several different meanings and multiple readings (Kunyomi and Onyomi) for each Kanji. And that is not to mention memorizing words in Kanji (which have different readings), as well as the Onnamonapia which is used in everyday conversation. It's a process, though being able to understand Hololive JP makes it worth it.