Wednesday 18 August 2010

Comparative Difficulty of Languages

Language Difficulty Desirability Time Needed? (Estimate)
Romance
Languages

French 3 5 18 months*

Spanish 2 5 12 months*

Italian 2 3 12 months*

Portuguese 2 3 12 months*
Germanic
Languages

English 3 5 14 months (proficient level)

German 4 3 30 months

Norwegian 2 1 6 - 8 months

Celtic
Languages

Welsh 3 2/3 18 months

Other

Mandarin** 3-5 5 12-36 months

Esperanto 1 2 2 months


* Time needed to learn significantly reduces with knowledge of one or more other Romance Language. If already proficient in say French, your time needed to learn Spanish or another Romance Language should be approximately 6 months.

** Spoken Mandarin is relatively straightforward, simple grammar poses no real difficulties, however tones may seem daunting at first. Written Mandarin however is extremely difficult.

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