How many people, so many opinions

Not everyone agrees with such a calculation of the groups of foreign languages ​​that are the easiest and most difficult for a Russian person. Thus, Anna Kravchenko, deputy dean of the Faculty of Translation at Moscow State Linguistic University, is sure that there is no such thing as consistency and ease in learning foreign languages. According to her, each of us has his own abilities and features of the mindset. However, she believes that after mastering three foreign languages, the fourth and subsequent ones are easier to master, since a person has his own system for studying them.
The head of the Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics of the Institute of Linguistics of the Russian State Humanitarian University Sergey Gindin also notes that there are no general rules in the sequence of mastering foreign languages, their accessibility for a Russian-speaking person. Only relative ease between two similar languages ​​is possible. For example, a student of French will find it easier to learn Spanish, which also belongs to the Romance group.

Another specialist in foreign languages, simultaneous interpreter Dmitry Petrov, who has been hosting the popular Polyglot program on the Kultura TV channel for several years, believes that the certain complexity of the Russian language gives us, its native speakers, a big plus when learning foreign languages. Whereas the Englishman in this regard is much more difficult.

However, for Russians there are languages ​​with such categories that are absent in Russian. For this reason, it is not so easy for Russian-speaking students to master the Finno-Ugric and Turkic languages, which have a different logic. But Dmitry Petrov emphasizes that the difficulty of any foreign language is mostly a myth and, if desired, you can master any. Moreover, it is quite acceptable to study two languages ​​at the same time. He also calls not to be afraid of an accent, since every person in the world even speaks his native language with some kind of accent. For example, in the same Great Britain there is a classic version, the so-called royal English, which is spoken during working hours by announcers, some politicians and the queen. Otherwise, there are dozens of absolutely incredible dialects and accents, including London.

However, many believe that when learning a foreign language, one should be guided not by ease, but by its relevance. As you know, at present this is English, it is also studied by a significant part of Russians. But the future is not for him. Thus, Gennady Gladkov, who heads the Department of Language Training and the Bologna Process at MGIMO, is sure that in 50 years the most relevant language in the world will be Chinese, which will bypass English due to the growth of the population and economy of China.
It is generally accepted that Chinese is one of the most difficult foreign languages ​​for Russian speakers. However, those who dared to master it argue that this is not so. In particular, it is not at all necessary to know more than 80 thousand characters, most Chinese do not know them. For example, for reading it will be enough to master only one thousand of them.

At school, many of us were faced with the fact that they were divided into groups of different foreign languages ​​according to completely incomprehensible signs, calling some languages ​​simple and others complex, some children capable of learning English, and others German. We often hear from different people that this language is simple and this one is complex. But how to evaluate in fact whether a language is complex or simple? What language to choose for a child so that it is easier for him to learn it? What language to teach yourself as a second or third, so that it is again easier? Which European language is more difficult for a Russian person to learn, and which one is easier? I used to ask myself often these questions, and here's what I think about it now.

What parameters are important when learning a foreign language?

Below you can see a summary comparative table of foreign languages, which summarizes the data on the degree of difficulty of learning these languages ​​for a Russian person

Language	Pronunciation	Reading	Spelling	Vocabulary	Grammar
English	Difficult	Very difficult	Difficult	Very difficult	Just
Deutsch	Very simple	Very simple	Very simple	Very simple	Very difficult
French	Medium	Medium	Very difficult	Just	Difficult
Spanish	Just	Just	Just	Just	Just
Italian	Very simple	Just	Just	Just	Just

1. Pronunciation

In pronunciation, the most important thing is the presence of special sounds that are not in the native language. These sounds are difficult to pronounce at the time of the beginning of language learning, since different facial muscles are used to pronounce different sounds and the tongue is used differently as a muscular organ. When we actively use only part of our facial muscles, the rest will atrophy. Some of these atrophied muscles are very easy to "start" and start using them, others are more difficult. It takes practice, it takes habit. It is for this reason that the faces of foreigners and people who have lived in another country for a long time are often very different from our compatriots, while some subtle similarity can be found in their faces. It arises precisely due to the fact that people speak the same language and actively use the same facial muscles.

In German and Italian, there are no particularly difficult sounds for Russian people. In Italian, sounds just need to be pronounced brighter and more emotionally, and in German, harder and more specifically. Of course, there are some nuances of pronunciation. For example, in German there is a burry [p] and a muffled soft [x], but these sounds are familiar to a Russian person and it does not take much effort to master them.

Spanish has a few special sounds:

• Interdental [s] (you need to put your tongue between your teeth and say [s], i.e. such a lisping [s]), but this sound is used only in European Spanish, in Latin America they pronounce the usual [s])
• Something between the sounds [b] and [c] (both of these sounds are very muffled and they sound very similar)

In French, there are more special sounds and you “break the language” more strongly, while you are just starting to learn French. Here are the following special sounds for a Russian person:

• burry r
• nasal sounds
• Unusual combination of vowels and consonants

English is the most difficult of this group of languages ​​for pronunciation by a Russian person. It has such new sounds for us:

• Interdental s and s
• Bow n
• special sound r
• A wide variety of vowels that cannot even be expressed in Russian letters
• The presence of long and short sounds that affect the meaning of the word

Therefore, without an accent, it is much easier for a Russian person to speak Spanish, Italian and German. And in French and especially in English it is much more difficult. But with practice, anything is possible. Still, Russian people are lucky, our language has a lot of different sounds that allow us to train our facial muscles, and we are able to quickly start speaking other languages ​​​​without a strong accent. For example, the Spaniards cannot boast of this. Russian pronunciation is very difficult for them, due to the fact that their language does not have such a variety of consonant sounds.

1. Reading

Reading in a foreign language is considered easy if there are few rules for reading and there are practically no exceptions. Accordingly, it is considered difficult if there are many reading rules and exceptions to them.

According to this rule, German is nowhere easier. You will always be able to read any new unfamiliar word correctly with almost one hundred percent probability.

But English in this regard is a complete disorder. You can almost never be sure how a new word is read for you. English is a mixture of several other languages ​​(it has a lot of French, Spanish and German words), so there are many rules for reading, and even more exceptions to them. In addition, in English, even the context affects how to read the same combination of letters. For example, the phrases “I read” and “I read” are written in the same way “Iread”, and they are read in the first case [ai read], and in the second [ai red], and if you do not know the context of this phrase, then how to read it correctly completely unclear. In general, to read English correctly, you just need to know how each word is read. Therefore, it becomes easy to read in English only when you have a large enough vocabulary.

Reading French is not that very difficult, but it has its own peculiarities. Some letters are not readable at all, and some are read only in certain cases, and there is also such a thing as word chaining, that is, a group of words in certain situations is read as one word. But if you know all these features, then it gradually turns out that reading French is not so difficult.

1. Spelling

Spelling refers to how difficult it is to write down a new word correctly by ear. In this regard, the Russian language itself is very complicated, since we often say “a” and write “o”, or we say “and” and write “e”, but there are a lot of other rules. That is why few people at school have “excellent” in the Russian language. But not all languages ​​are like that.

It's hard to get it wrong in German. In Spanish and Italian, you can make a mistake, but also very rarely.

But writing in French and English is very difficult. There are a lot of letters in French that are not pronounced, but written, and one sound is transmitted by three or four letters. A simple example, the word beaucoup (a lot) is read [side], and there are twice as many letters.

In English, the same sound can be transmitted by several different combinations of letters, and the same letter can be read in different situations as many as 7 different sounds.

To write correctly in French, you just need to know a lot of rules, but in English you just need to know how EVERY word is spelled, otherwise you have a lot of chances to make a mistake.

1. Vocabulary

Vocabulary is vocabulary. Vocabulary complexity can be judged by how easy it is to learn new words. It is easy to learn new words if they are short, if they consist of several other words you already know, or if many other words can be formed from one root using different prefixes and endings.

In this regard, German is again a very simple language. There are few short words, but there are a lot of single-root words or compound words. Therefore, vocabulary is gained very quickly, and even gradually you yourself learn to invent German words that you have not heard before.

This is unlikely to work for you in English. There are a lot of short words in English, especially those that are used in everyday speech, so it is very easy to start learning English words. But it is very difficult to gain vocabulary, since there are practically no single-root and compound words. Each word needs to be learned anew, associations do not work. In addition, due to the fact that English is a mixture of several languages, it has a lot of synonyms from different languages ​​that you have to learn in order to simply understand your interlocutor. In order to speak, one can have fewer words in the active vocabulary.

1. Grammar

Knowledge of grammar is understood as the ability to correctly connect words together into meaningful phrases, not at the level of "my yours to understand." It is not easy to assess the complexity of the grammar of any language at first glance, each has its own difficulties, and each of them, on the contrary, simplifies something. Therefore, it is better to compare them on several parameters. See the table below first.

	Word order	Verbs	Place-estate	Nouns	Articles	Adjectives
	(statement, question)	(conjugations and tenses)	(gender, number, case)
English	Difficult	Just	Very simple
Deutsch	Very difficult	Difficult	Difficult
French	Medium	Medium	Medium
Spanish	Very simple	Medium	Just
Italian	Very simple	Medium

Please note that I give this assessment only from the point of view of spoken language, that is, I consider only those grammatical structures that are regularly used in speech. For example, out of 9 English tenses, only 3-5 are used in real life. And in German and Spanish, present tense verbs can be used with the appropriate context to convey the future tense.

In English, only word order is relatively complicated, since the question is not set by a simple change in intonation, but a rearrangement of words is also necessary, and sometimes the addition of auxiliary verbs. The conjugation of verbs in colloquial speech is very simple: only the ending in the 3rd person singular changes, and in the future and past tense, you can generally use the same construction for all persons and numbers (will + verb, verb + ed). The only difficulty with English verbs is the presence of a relatively large number of irregular verbs that are not declined according to the rule, and you just need to remember their forms, but these irregular verbs are in all languages, and you can’t hide from them anywhere J Pronouns, articles, nouns and adjectives generally do not decline by gender and case. The plural of a noun is formed using the same ending -s. The form of adjectives never changes at all.

In Spanish, Italian and French, all grammar rules are very similar. Only Spaniards and Italians have a simpler attitude to word order, there are practically no rules (only the place of the verb and adjectives play a role), and the question can be asked simply by changing your intonation. Although the French in colloquial speech are increasingly beginning to simplify their speech. Verbs in these languages ​​are conjugated by gender and number, their endings change, but to convey the future tense, you can use the present tense and add only the context, and the past tense is formed using the verbs to be / have in the appropriate conjugation + participial form from the semantic verb, that is, you only need to know the conjugation of the verbs to be and to have in the corresponding language. Pronouns, articles, nouns and adjectives decline in similar ways in these languages, but French has more exceptions.

The German language does not please us with its grammar. There are many difficulties in it. But it all obeys clear rules, there are few exceptions. The order of the words is strict, the intonation is not particularly helpful. Verbs have a special place in a sentence, especially compound ones. The plural of nouns is formed according to several rules. Nouns, adjectives, articles and pronouns are declined by gender, case and number just like in Russian. But, for example, in German there are no auxiliary verbs, as in English.

In general, in each language, grammar is simple or complex in its own way. But still, of these 5 champions in terms of the rules you need to know in order to speak correctly in spoken language, German is ahead of the others. But in all other respects (reading, spelling, pronunciation, vocabulary), the German language is very simple.

There are no simple languages. Unless for Russians, Belarusian or Ukrainian 🙂 But you can choose for yourself those parameters that are easier for you and use them to choose a foreign language for yourself or for your child if you are going to teach him.

In Russia, most people prefer English. This is due to the demand for this language in the world and its international status, but English is not the easiest language for Russian people to learn. Maybe you studied English, maybe it was difficult for you, and this article helped you understand why. So maybe you and your children should choose to study another foreign language, and return to English later. The second foreign language is always much easier to learn than the first.

You may find other articles on this topic useful:

More information about each language can be found here.

The complexity and simplicity of learning a particular language, of course, will depend on what nationality and native speaker the student is. It is logical that it will be easier for a German to learn Dutch than a Korean. An Englishman will learn German faster than a Chinese.

No language can be considered simpler or more difficult than another. Because there are no absolute criteria for assessing the complexity of a language. Each language consists of grammar, phonetics, certain rules for writing words. And if in Chinese, for example, spelling is very complex and there are tones in phonetics, then in the same language grammar will not cause you any difficulties. And in Italian, along with a simple pronunciation, there are a lot of irregular verbs.

What languages ​​for a Russian person will seem easier to learn and understand?

The Russian language, along with Belarusian and Ukrainian, are included in the Slavic group of languages ​​​​and are called East Slavic. As you know, the vocabulary, phonetics and grammar of these languages ​​are almost identical to Russian. Therefore, learning these languages ​​will not be a huge task. And the understanding of Ukrainian and Belarusian is understandable almost on an intuitive level, even for those who have not encountered them at all.

In Serbo-Croatian (used in the countries of Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia) and Bulgarian, there are noticeable similarities in terms of vocabulary and grammar. The phonetics of such languages ​​is more difficult to write. The written word (usually in Latin) of such languages ​​is very similar to writing Russian words only in Latin letters (for example: zaprto - closed, locked (Horv), otprto - open (Horw)) Pronunciation will be more difficult here, it will be necessary to work with stress, which may not be located on the same syllable as in Russian, even if the spelling of the words is almost identical. Such languages ​​have an extensive system of tenses and unstressed particles, which are unusual for the Russian language.

The most difficult of the Slavic languages ​​for the Russian mentality will probably be Czech and Polish. There are more unfamiliar words here, which are no longer very similar to identical Russian ones, because part of the vocabulary is borrowed from German. But the situation is easier with the accent. It is practically fixed in words: on the first and second syllable from the end.

The situation is slightly more complicated with the Baltic languages ​​(Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia). If, in terms of vocabulary, they are a bit reminiscent of the Slavic languages, but with the study of the richness of their grammar, you will have to work hard.

Among the Germanic languages ​​it will be easier to learn English. Slightly more difficult is German and Dutch, which will have difficulty in grammar. The greatest difficulty will fall on the Scandinavian languages. There are practically no words of international origin in them and you will have to memorize almost the entire vocabulary. Also, the Scandinavian languages ​​(Danish, Norwegian, Swedish) are distinguished by complex offerings and inconsistent spelling of words.

Among Romance languages, it will be easier to learn Italian or Spanish, Portuguese than French, which has very complex pronunciation and spelling rules.

What languages ​​are difficult for Russians to learn?

Turkic (Turkish) and Finn-Ugric languages ​​(Finnish, Hungarian) have strict and logical spelling rules. However, these rules differ from the Russian spelling of sentences. Their verbs, as a rule, are in the last places in the sentence, there are no prepositions at all, and case and number are expressed by different indicators. In addition, such languages ​​have a huge number of cases (there are 20 in Hungarian).

Other difficult languages ​​include Arabic and Hebrew. Both grammar and pronunciation are difficult. Writing does not convey vowels, there are also many exceptions and irregular verbs that will have to be memorized.

Chinese and Japanese languages ​​are complex due to hieroglyphic writing. To write or read something in Chinese, you will have to learn several thousand characters, and when studying Japanese, you will have to master as many as 2 alphabets - katakana and hiragana.

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The first is to learn English. The second is German. Knowing English and German, you will be able to learn French without any problems, since the lexical base will already be laid. But they are practically not useful to you when living, say, in the UAE. And you won't be able to use them if you go to work in China or Uganda.

In China, English can be explained with units, and in Uganda, knowledge of Swahili is especially urgent - less than 1% of the population speaks English here. We recommend that you evaluate not the global perspectives of the language, but its prospects for you, for your future life and work. How to do it, what languages ​​should be learned and how to compare them with your own priorities? More on this later.

Which language to learn first

English. With rare exceptions that only prove the rule. It is the official language in over 60 countries around the world. English is spoken by more than 1.5 billion people around the world. It is native to more than 700 million people. Take a look around - the best songs, TOP movie scripts, documents, instructions - all this is written in English. Knowing it significantly increases your chances of employment and your value as a qualified employee, no matter what industry you work in and no matter what your duties include.

5 reasons to learn English first:

• Opportunity to clarify in most countries of the world.
• Best for travel and business trips abroad.
• The ability to watch the best Hollywood movies in the original.
• An advantage in education and career development.
• The ability not to face language barriers in everyday life.

It is the most used language in the world. What's more, it is versatile and applicable in most situations.

Example: you want to go study abroad, let's say to Italy, but you don't know Italian. Knowledge of English will allow you to choose a program in which you can use a well-known foreign language for learning as a base. But if you know only German or French, then the chance to get an education in Italy tends to zero.

But there are exceptions. They lie in the individual characteristics of each person. If English is not given to you, if you feel sincere hatred for studying it, if you do not understand the logic, it makes no sense to torture yourself. Of course, if these are just your feelings, and not the mediocrity of the teacher and incorrectly built training.

Example: singer Shakira knows many languages, but English was the most difficult for her. Despite a close-to-genius IQ and phenomenal learning abilities, the Colombian native still doesn't speak English fluently and prefers to sing and speak it only as a last resort.

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What language to learn second, third, fourth

There is no need to guess here - it is important to be guided by the desires, needs and tasks facing you. Motivation is the basis of fast and successful learning. You must clearly understand why you need it and at what level you need to master it. It is recommended to formulate goals and only after that start considering options.

Suppose that after graduation you want to enter one of the Czech universities for a master's program. Then you should learn Czech. Or in your city there is a plant owned by the Japanese - in order to make a successful career as a manager, knowledge of Japanese is desirable here. We know nothing about the tasks before you. Therefore, we can offer only TOP-7 languages ​​(besides English), which are most often chosen for study:

1. Deutsch.
2. French.
3. Spanish.
4. Chinese.
5. Italian.
6. Arab.
7. Norwegian.

Let's make a reservation that the Scandinavian languages ​​​​are among the most difficult in the world. If you are planning to move to Norway or Sweden but are not making progress in learning Norwegian and Swedish, consider your options. It is no secret that in Sweden they are quite loyal to emigrants who do not know the language. Moreover, children have the right to study in their native language: if there is at least one Russian-speaking child in the school, then they will definitely find a Russian-speaking teacher for him. Therefore, be sure to clarify the need for training.

TOP 5 most promising languages

If you do not set yourself the task of moving or traveling frequently to a certain country, working in international enterprises and being a sought-after translator, then we recommend that you pay attention to the most promising languages ​​​​in the world. They may not be the most popular and not the most popular at the moment. But if you do not know which foreign language is better to learn in terms of its prospects in the future, this rating is especially for you.

Chinese

The most widespread in the world. The prospects for the Celestial Empire in terms of the development of the economy and industry are beyond doubt. Strong contacts with Russia, the United States and other leading economies of the world lead to the emergence of a mass of international enterprises in which knowledge of Chinese is highly welcome. Chinese is at least 10 radically different dialects. It makes sense to learn literary (it is also called Mandarin or Northern Chinese) - it can be used to communicate with a native speaker of any dialect.

Spanish

It ranks third in prevalence among all languages ​​of the world. It is also one of the easiest to learn. It is used not only in Spain, but also in many countries that were once colonies. Not all of them are alike - for example, in Mexico they speak a special dialect of Spanish called Español mexicano. There are significant differences, but if necessary, you can speak in classic Spanish with any Mexican - you will be understood.

Deutsch

Germany is one of the strongest economies in the world, one of the most developed and comfortable countries for life. Therefore, the language has not lost its prospects for more than a century. German is spoken not only in Germany, but also in Austria, Switzerland, and a number of other European countries. It is especially promising for employment and emigration to Europe.

Arab

It ranks 4th in terms of prevalence in the world. More than 240 million people speak it in different parts of the world. The difficulty lies in the fact that the language has a lot of local dialects, and learning classical Arabic does not guarantee you understanding them. However, they will understand you - you will be able to speak not only as a tourist, but also as a specialist.

Japanese

The official Japanese language is only in Japan, but to varying degrees it is in demand in at least 25 Asian countries. By the way, it has a minimum of similarities with Chinese, you should not combine the study of these two languages, mistakenly assuming their identity. From the point of view of prospects, it is worth noting the development of the state economy, the scientific industry. Japan is one of the world leaders in terms of GDP.

What foreign language to learn for emigration

Naturally, this depends on the country to which you plan to emigrate. Our advice will be relevant only if you have not yet decided on the place of your future residence.

We are guided by information about the most popular countries for emigration among Russians. Which languages ​​do you need to learn according to these data:

• English - most often, Russians prefer to emigrate to the United States. He is also in demand for admission to universities in the USA, Great Britain, Canada and a number of other countries under special programs and grants that cover tuition costs.
• German and French is ideal if you want to emigrate to these countries and stay there after completing your studies. Education in these countries is practically free (with the exception of mandatory fees of 300-500 euros per semester).
• Italian is required for immigration to Italy. Interestingly, the level of English proficiency in this country is almost at the same level as in Russia. In general, Italians, unlike many Europeans, do not speak English well.

Also popular destinations for emigration are Scandinavian countries - Sweden, Norway, Denmark. Russian citizens also willingly emigrate to European countries - to Switzerland, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Serbia, and the Baltic countries. But according to surveys, less than 10% of Russians ready to emigrate plan to go to Asia.

What foreign language to study for a child

Here again, it is important to be guided by the conditions of the child's life. Do not choose the simplest language - choose the most promising. At the same time, observe the child's enthusiasm, his desire to learn. If you see that he is absolutely indifferent to learning, change the tutor or place of study. If the result remains the same, it makes sense to choose another language for learning. The most popular are English, French, German and Spanish. The native languages ​​of the parents (or one of the parents) should not be taken into account.

What language is better to learn as an additional? It makes sense to pay attention to the options with the simplest grammar - Italian, French.

Educators disagree about whether a child should learn two languages ​​at the same time. It is important to monitor the condition of children - they should not be overloaded. You should not take away their childhood, guided only by their own ambitions and the desire to get a comprehensively developed child prodigy. Observe the child's attitude to the educational process - his desire is extremely important.

The easiest and most difficult languages ​​to learn

The starting position is important here: for example, knowledge of English will greatly simplify the study of the languages ​​of the Latin and Germanic groups. Your native language is also important. It is no secret that the easiest way for Russians to learn Ukrainian and Belarusian, Bulgarian and Serbian. However, they cannot yet be called promising in the global sense. Therefore, we note the most simple European ones to study:

• English.
• Italian.
• Spanish.
• French.

Spanish is considered to be the simplest - it is characterized by simplicity of spelling, grammar and pronunciation. As it is heard - so it is written, there is no need to be afraid to make mistakes. Ideally, if you know English - Spanish has a very similar vocabulary, and learning will go as quickly as possible. The second and third places are Italian and French, respectively. English is more complex but also quite accessible.

It was from him that all dialects were formed, so even when moving to a country where pure language variations are not practiced, you can quickly adjust. In the classical version, it is also easiest to follow the logic of word formation and sentence construction. It is often clearer, more pleasing to the ear. Almost always it is literary and official for drafting documents.

Conclusion

Learn the languages ​​that you need and are interested in. Without necessity, there is no motivation, and without sincere interest, there is no desire. Both of these components form the basis of successful learning. It makes no sense to study when the process only causes tension and irritation in you. Learning should truly please you. You must understand why you are studying this particular language, what prospects it opens up for you, what allows you to do it in the future.

If you do not know which languages ​​to learn right now, try to look into the future. Figure out where you want to live and what to do. Choose English as your base and master it at a decent level. If you already speak English, move on to others. But be careful - only some people are able to simultaneously learn French and, say, German. In other cases, separate training is required.

What foreign language to study: TOP-5 most promising

4.5 (90%) 18 votes

Order of study

Much depends on how many languages ​​you already know, what language group, whether the grammatical structure is similar, etc. It also matters for what purpose you need this or that language: hobby, work, etc. Today we will consider such aspect, as the study of foreign languages ​​by a Russian person, we find out what is easiest for him.
Senior lecturer and methodologist at the Institute of Philology and History of the Russian State Humanitarian University, Candidate of Philological Sciences Nikita Petrov believes that for a Russian-speaking person, foreign languages ​​are divided into five groups, the last of which includes the most difficult to understand.

According to Petrov, who developed a mnemonics technique that helps in learning languages, it is easiest for a Russian person to master Slavic languages ​​and Esperanto. At the same time, the specialist clarifies that the Slovak and Polish languages ​​are easier to master after mastering Czech. Petrov included Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Romanian into the second group of foreign languages, and also added Latvian. The third section includes English, Dutch, Lithuanian, Yiddish, French and other Romance languages ​​not included in the second group. It is noteworthy that, according to the author of mnemonics, English is easier to learn after French, and Dutch is better with prior mastery of English. Whereas Petrov recommends mastering Yiddish after German and Slavic languages.

He placed German and other Germanic languages, Hebrew, Greek, Altaic and Indo-Iranian languages ​​in the fourth group according to the degree of ease. The fifth group includes all other languages ​​of the world. There is also a caveat here: Nikita Petrov advises to start learning Persian and Hebrew after Arabic, and Korean and Japanese after Chinese.

In addition, in his opinion, when mastering any foreign language, you first need to master the alphabet, reading rules, several dozen of the most common words and expressions. Then turn to basic grammar and vocabulary on the main everyday topics. After that, you can already start reading the adapted texts and discussing them. At the end of the grammar course, Petrov recommends choosing additional lexical topics, taking into account the profession, interests, etc. And the crowning achievement of learning a foreign language should be reading works of art in the original and easy communication with native speakers.

How many people, so many opinions

Not everyone agrees with such a calculation of the groups of foreign languages ​​that are the easiest and most difficult for a Russian person. Thus, Anna Kravchenko, deputy dean of the Faculty of Translation at Moscow State Linguistic University, is sure that there is no such thing as consistency and ease in learning foreign languages. According to her, each of us has his own abilities and features of the mindset. However, she believes that after mastering three foreign languages, the fourth and subsequent ones are easier to master, since a person has his own system for studying them.
The head of the Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics of the Institute of Linguistics of the Russian State Humanitarian University Sergey Gindin also notes that there are no general rules in the sequence of mastering foreign languages, their accessibility for a Russian-speaking person. Only relative ease between two similar languages ​​is possible. For example, a student of French will find it easier to learn Spanish, which also belongs to the Romance group.

Another specialist in foreign languages, simultaneous interpreter Dmitry Petrov, who has been hosting the popular Polyglot program on the Kultura TV channel for several years, believes that the certain complexity of the Russian language gives us, its native speakers, a big plus when learning foreign languages. Whereas the Englishman in this regard is much more difficult.

However, for Russians there are languages ​​with such categories that are absent in Russian. For this reason, it is not so easy for Russian-speaking students to master the Finno-Ugric and Turkic languages, which have a different logic. But Dmitry Petrov emphasizes that the difficulty of any foreign language is mostly a myth and, if desired, you can master any. Moreover, it is quite acceptable to study two languages ​​at the same time. He also calls not to be afraid of an accent, since every person in the world even speaks his native language with some kind of accent. For example, in the same Great Britain there is a classic version, the so-called royal English, which is spoken during working hours by announcers, some politicians and the queen. Otherwise, there are dozens of absolutely incredible dialects and accents, including London.

However, many believe that when learning a foreign language, one should be guided not by ease, but by its relevance. As you know, at present this is English, it is also studied by a significant part of Russians. But the future is not for him. Thus, Gennady Gladkov, who heads the Department of Language Training and the Bologna Process at MGIMO, is sure that in 50 years the most relevant language in the world will be Chinese, which will bypass English due to the growth of the population and economy of China.
It is generally accepted that Chinese is one of the most difficult foreign languages ​​for Russian speakers. However, those who dared to master it argue that this is not so. In particular, it is not at all necessary to know more than 80 thousand characters, most Chinese do not know them. For example, to read, it will be enough to master only one thousand of them. And, of course, it is important to liberate yourself, free yourself from psychological clamps and barriers, because there is no such foreign language that would be completely inaccessible for mastering. Polyglots are sure: the main thing is to remember the language core - basic vocabulary and frequently used grammatical and syntactic constructions, and then everything will go like clockwork.