Hardest European Languages to Learn (with map)

Can you name the European languages that are hardest to learn, from the perspective of an English native speaker?

As ranked by the US Foreign Language Institute

Including smaller languages that are the majority in their region

One of these languages belongs to a country typically considered Asian on Jetpunk

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Last updated: March 6, 2020

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First submitted	March 6, 2020
Times taken	1,203
Average score	90.5%
Rating	4.88
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Language

Less Hard

Albanian

Belarusian

Bulgarian

Czech

Greek

Icelandic

Latvian

Lithuanian

Macedonian

Polish

Russian

Serbo-Croatian

Slovak

Slovene

Turkish

Ukrainian

More Hard

Basque

Estonian

Finnish

Hungarian

Maltese

Example Sentences
Germanic
English	The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.
Icelandic	Skjótur brúni refurinn stökk yfir lata hundinn.

Slavic
Belarusian	Chutkaja buraja lisa pieraskočyla lianivy sabaka.
Bulgarian	Bŭrzata kafyava lisitsa preskochi mŭrzelivoto kuche.
Czech	Rychlá hnědá liška skočila přes líného psa.
Macedonian	Brzata kafeava lisica skokna nad mrzlivoto kuče.
Polish	Szybki brązowy lis przeskoczył nad leniwym psem.
Russian	Bystraya, korichnevaya lisa, pereprygnula cherez lenivogo psa.
Serbo-Croatian	Brza smeđa lisica preskočila je lijeni pas.
Slovak	Rýchla líška preskočila na lenivého psa.
Slovene	Hitro rjava lisica je skočila čez leni pes.
Ukrainian	Shvydka bura lysytsya perestrybnula nad ledachym sobakoyu.

Baltic
Latvian	Ātrā brūnā lapsa izlēca pāri slinkajam sunim.
Lithuanian	Greitai ruda lapė iššoko per tingų šunį.

Uralic
Estonian	Kiire pruun rebane hüppas üle laisa koera.
Finnish	Nopea ruskea kettu hyppäsi laiskakoiran yli.
Hungarian	A gyors barna róka átugrott a lusta kutyán.

Other
Albanian	Dhelpra e shpejtë kafe u hodh mbi qenin dembel.
Basque	Azeri marroi bizkorrak txakur alferraren gainetik salto egin zuen.
Greek	I grígori kafé alepoú pídixe páno apó to tempéliko skylí.
Maltese	Il-volpi kannella malajr qabżet fuq il-kelb għażżien.
Turkish	Hızlı kahverengi tilki tembel köpeğin üstünden atladı.

Level 69

Mar 6, 2020

I wanted to be a little more exclusive, but more specific sources are hard to come by. From what I've found, the easiest Slavic languages are Bulgarian or Macedonian, while the hardest is probably Polish. The Uralic languages, Turkish, Maltese and Basque are not related to English, increasing their difficulty. Some or all of the Celtic languages, as well as Uralic languages Karelian and Sami are likely difficult enough to be on this quiz, though they do not have enough speakers nor data.

Level 66

Oct 7, 2020

Fun!

Level 69

Oct 7, 2020

Thank you!

Level 68

Feb 24, 2023

Alright so the common trend I'm seeing here is that Baltic and Slavic languages are difficult to learn. Turkic/Uralic/Semitic/(Basque) languages aren't Indo-European so obviously they're going to be harder. Albanian and Greek are unique enough from everything else to be their own language family, so it makes sense that they're difficult to learn.

The only thing that breaks this trend is Icelandic. It's the only Germanic language on this list, which is odd. I would have assumed that English and Icelandic would be a bit closer. I thought the influence of Old Norse from Viking invasions would have connected the languages a bit more, especially since modern Icelandic and Old Norse are so closely related. I guess Old Norse didn't impact English as much as I thought.

Level 69

Feb 24, 2023

Icelandic is also a more conservative and insular language compared to the other Germanic languages, and so it preserves features which are more foreign compared with English.

Level 52

Mar 3, 2023

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