List of Languages Showing Learning Difficulty
Based on empirical research. Including number of memorization units.
RESULTS
OF RESEARCH
The results of research into the suitability
and difficulty of languages were astounding. It should be noted that one
language scored so much above all of the others that it stood out scientifically
and empirically as the easiest and best.
No other language, not even English, is even close to the easiest language.
The questions used in the study provide an empirically verifiable level of difficulty
showing how difficult a language is to learn. The language easiest to learn
and use was basic Esperanto (A SCIENTIFICALLY DEVELOPED VOCABULARY OF HIGHEST
UTILITY WORDS using international words, 70 percent English) which tested out
at only 1224 memorization units. The full International Language (also known
as Esperanto) tested out at 12,000 memorization units for average adult understanding.
The next closest candidates were Malay with 40,000; Burmese with 64,000;
and English with 122,520. The Average difficulty of languages evaluated
was 201,000 memorization units. That means that the average language was
about 200 times as difficult as the easiest. The most difficult languages
had over 1000 times more memorizations than the most efficient. The figure
in the middle is the number of memorization units needed for 90-100 percent understanding
Name
Suitability Difficulty Number
of Countries
(higher is better)
(Lower is better) with
pen pals
basic Esperanto 92
1,224. 116
Esperanto
92
12,000. 116
English
32
122,520. 50
Albanian
7
947,000. 1
Arabic
16
338,000. 16
Basque
8 778,000.
2
Bengali
10
231,000. 4
Bohemian Czech 12
1,558,000. 1
Bulgarian
7
588,000. 5
Burmese
9
66,000. 1
Byelorussian 8
796,000. 2
Cantonese
24
605,000. 2
Chinese
24
605,000. 5
Czech
12
1,558,000. 1
Danish
8
260,000. 3
Dutch
9
490,000. 3
Estonian
11
299,000. 3
Finnish
13
951,000. 2
French
17
1,243,000. 40
German
24
573,000. 12
Gouyu
24
605,000. 1
Greek
11
1,830,000. 4
Hindi
12
142,000. 6
Hindustani 12
142,000. 6
Hungarian
8
734,000. 3
Icelandic
10
1,249,000. 1
Irish
8
924,000. 1
Italian
11
451,000. 8
Japanese
9
1,557,000. 3
Korean
11
4,042,000. 5
Latin
12
1,139,000. 0
Lithuanian 6
1,133,000. 3
Luxemburgian 16
573,000. 1
Malay
15
40,000. 6
Mandarin
24
605,000. 5
Old Bulgarian 7
1,847,000. 5
Persian
9
582,000. 2
Polish
11
647,000. 3
Portuguese 12
464,000. 3
Rumanian
6
1,472,000. 3
Russian 18
902,000. 15
Serbian
6
880,000. 4
Siamese
2
62,000. 1
Slavonic
6
1,883,000. 1
Slovak
6
550,000. 5
Slovene
7
526,000. 2
Sorbian
7
1,462,000. 1
Spanish
20
897,000. 20
Swedish 8
157,000. 3
Ukrainian
7
736,000. 3
Urdu
12
142,000. 3
Welsh
5
854,000. 1
Wu
24
605,000. 1
Languages not shown had a suitability score of
four or less or information was unavailable.
Fluency in English requires nearly ten times the memorization facts required for
Esperanto. This makes Esperanto from 3.3 to 300 times easier to learn than
other languages and 10 times easier to learn than English. For English speakers
it is even easier because 60-70 percent of Esperanto vocabulary is similar to
an English word with a similar meaning. How does this compare with other
researchers? Per Thorndike, Esperanto is four times easier. Per Sherwood,
five to ten times easier. Per The California Esperanto Education Commission,
five times easier. Per The World Almanac, five to twenty times easier.
Per Janton, eight times easier than French.