Which is harder Japanese or Spanish? (2024)

Which is harder Japanese or Spanish?

The US State Dept.'s Foreign Service Institute rates Japanese along with Chinese, Korean, and Arabic as only 4 languages in their most difficult category. They claim it takes 4 times longer to master Japanese than Spanish, Norwegian, or Romanian.

What language is harder Spanish or Japanese?

The US Foreign Service Institute measures languages by the average number of weeks it takes people to learn to reach level 3 on their 5 level scale (5 bring basically bilingual). Spanish takes 24 weeks and Japanese 88. So on that basis learning Japanese is nearly 4 times as hard as Spanish, for English speakers.

Is Japanese the hardest language in the world?

2. Japanese

It is one of the hardest language to learn. There are some connections between the characters of Japanese and Mandarin, though the pronunciation is often quite different. To make matters harder, Japanese has three different writing systems, Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji.

Which is more useful Spanish or Japanese?

If you want to use the language as part of your career, you should consider the International endeavors of the company you would like to work for. If it is a US based operation, Spanish is again going to be a better choice. If they have dealings with Japan- go with Japanese.

Is it easier to learn Japanese if you know Spanish?

i.e. it is easier for Spanish speakers to learn Japanese than it is for English speakers. Why is this? Ontologically, the same syllables are used…and are written in pretty much the same way.. e.g. two letters for the sounds:ka, ki(pronounced key), ku, ke (kay), ko….

How long will it take to learn Japanese?

On the other hand, you can expect to spend at least 3 years studying to become fluent in Japanese with near-native level accuracy. How long does it take to learn basic Japanese? If you're a complete novice and want to learn basic Japanese, expect to spend around 150-200 hours studying to reach a beginner level.

What level of difficulty is Spanish?

Category I – Languages that usually require around 24-30 weeks or 600-750 class hours to reach S-3/R-3 proficiency. This group contains languages like French, Spanish, Romanian and Dutch.

Is it difficult to learn Spanish?

Is Spanish easy to learn? Yes! Spanish is one of the easiest languages for English speakers to learn. While any language requires hard work to master, our language experts sat down and looked at spelling, pronunciation, and grammar and found Spanish to be the easiest option for beginners.

What is the top 5 hardest language?

Why do people say Japanese is hard?

It is said to be harder for native english people because of how different the languages are. Sentence structure is different and there is a lot of things english learners have trouble with when trying to learn japanese.

Is Japanese closer to English or Spanish?

There is only ONE Romance language that Japanese phonemes and pronunciation approximates—Spanish. Spanish and Japanese share the same short vowels—a, e, i, o, u—and the languages have no long vowels. Consonants in both Japanese and Spanish are tight and clipped and pronounced hard at the tip of the tongue.

How long does it take to learn Spanish?

So, to answer “how long does it take to learn Spanish” – it should take you about 24 weeks to learn Spanish, according to Foreign Service Institute. To explain it a bit more, if you spend 3 hours every day learning Spanish, you'll achieve fluency in around six months.

Which country speaks better Spanish?

Tied with Mexico for the purest Spanish in Latin America, Colombia is an obvious choice for the best Spanish speaking country for language study.

Is Japanese hard to lean?

In short, Japanese is one of the more difficult languages for a native English speaker to learn. It takes much dedication and time.

What is the hardest language for Spanish speakers?

Apart from Mandarin Chinese, which takes the prize as the most difficult language to learn for Spanish speakers, there are others that also stand out for the challenge they represent for students (especially adults).

Is Japanese harder than Korean?

However, many learners find Korean grammar to be slightly more straightforward than Japanese grammar due to its relatively simple sentence structure and verb conjugation. Japanese grammar, on the other hand, can be more complex with its use of particles, honorifics, and different levels of politeness.

Is Duolingo actually good for Japanese?

Duolingo is an excellent free resource for learning languages, especially if you consider yourself a beginner who is looking to immerse yourself quickly in Japanese.

Can I learn Japanese in 3 months?

It will take around 2-6 months to get through most beginner Japanese textbooks. Though, this does depend on how much time you have to spend on your studies and what grammar method you choose. You can even go through a couple different textbooks at the same time, if you want.

Is 2 hours a day enough to learn Japanese?

So, you will want to spend a good chunk of time learning every day. In general, it is recommended that learners spend 2 hours per day studying Japanese.

Which Spanish is hardest to learn?

Which Spanish is hardest to understand? Chile, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Cuba, and Andalusia (Spain) are a few of the places considered to speak more difficult Spanish. If you end up learning in those places, fear not! It will make understanding Spanish from elsewhere easier.

Which country has the hardest Spanish to learn?

Native speakers across Latin America and Spain often claim that Chilean Spanish is the most difficult to understand due to pronunciation and slang alike. So, if you're up for the challenge, give studying Spanish in Chile a try!

Is Spanish one of the hardest languages?

English speakers consider romance languages easy to pick up, including Spanish, Italian, Catalan, Portuguese, French, and Romanian. FSI ranks all six of these Latin language descendants as Category I tongues. At just 575-600 hours, they take the least time to achieve general proficiency.

How hard is Japanese to learn?

The Japanese language is considered one of the most difficult to learn by many English speakers. With three separate writing systems, an opposite sentence structure to English, and a complicated hierarchy of politeness, it's decidedly complex.

What is harder French or Spanish?

However, for many English speakers, Spanish is often considered slightly easier to learn than French. Here's why: Phonetics and pronunciation: Spanish has a MUCH more straightforward phonetic system, with consistent letter-to-sound correspondence, making it easier to pronounce words correctly.

How fast can you realistically learn Spanish?

Summary: According to FSI, if you spend 3 hours per day learning Spanish, you'll achieve fluency in around six months. Reduce your Spanish time to one hour a day and, according to FSI, it will take about 1.5 years to learn. As you can see, Spanish is one of the most accessible languages for English speakers.