10 Most Difficult Languages in the World
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Most difficult language in the world: The official language of Mainland China, Taiwan, and Singapore, Mandarin has consistently been ranked as the hardest language in the world. Mandarin is spoken by over 1.118 billion people and is the second most spoken language in the world only second to English.
Hardest language in the world: There are close to 6,900 distinct languages in the world of which 2,197 are spoken in Asia and 230 are spoken in Europe. Popular universities abroad and in India promote learning a third language which simply speaks of the importance of languages in a lifetime.
The hardest language in the world is extremely subjective and depends from one individual to another and also on the grasping abilities of the individual. When we talk about the most difficult language in the world, we are talking about a language that is hard to learn for an English language speaker.
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Top 10 Hardest Languages in the World
Hardest language in the world: In this section, we are going to be talking about the 10 most difficult languages in the world.
- Mandarin
- Arabic
- Japanese
- Korean
- Telugu
- Cantonese
- Polish
- Finnish
- Russian
- Icelandic
Hardest language in the world – Mandarin (Chinese Simplified)
Unanimously speaking, Mandarin Chinese is considered to be the hardest language in the world. One of the most widely spoken languages in the world, Mandarin is the official language of the People's Republic of China and Taiwan, as well as one of the four official languages of Singapore. Mandarin Chinese is considered to be one of the most difficult languages in the world as it is a tonal language with thousands of characters and a mysterious writing system.
- Say Hello in Mandarin - 你好 (Nǐ hǎo)
Most Difficult Language in the World
Toughest language in the world: In this section, we are going to be talking about the toughest language in the world for native English speakers to learn. Candidates should note that this is only a suggestive list of the most difficult languages in the world. In the end, the hardest language in the world would be based on an individual's difficulty in learning the new language.
Arabic
Extensively spoken across Arab and Africa – Arabic is one of the most difficult languages in the world to learn. Arabic is considered one of the toughest languages to learn as it has numerous dialects, a huge vocabulary, tough pronunciations, a lack of vowels and a right-to-left writing style. According to the US Foreign Service Institute (FSI), candidates looking to learn the Arabic language would take 88 weeks to reach Professional Working Proficiency.
- Say Hello in Arabic - مرحب (mrhban)
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Japanese
The official language of Japan, Japanese is considered one of the toughest languages for English speakers to learn. The Japanese language is considered one of the hardest to learn as it involves three separate writing systems, an opposite sentence structure to English, and a complicated hierarchy of politeness making it decidedly complex. According to the FSI, learning the Japanese language falls under Category V and would take native English speakers 88 weeks to reach Professional Working Proficiency.
- Say Hello in Japanese - こんにちは (Kon'nichiwa)
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Korean
Derived from Mandarin, Korean also falls under the category of one of the toughest languages to learn as it follows a unique writing system, Hangul - which consists of characters that represent 19 consonants and 21 vowels. The grammar followed in the Korean language is very different from English as it has various verb endings to indicate politeness, anxiety, mood and also subject-object-verb order. The Korean language also falls under category V in the learning difficulty.
- Say Hello in Korean - 안녕하세요 (annyeonghaseyo)
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Telugu
One of the toughest languages in the world - Telugu is the official language of the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and the union territory of Puducherry. Telugu is often considered one of the hardest languages in the world because the language has its unique script and grammar and is a challenge to individuals unfamiliar with other Dravidian languages like Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam.
- Say Hello in Telugu - హలో (Halō)
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Cantonese (Chinese Traditional)
Spoken by close to 85.5 million people worldwide including in cities like Canton, Hong Kong and Macau, Cantonese is another tough language to muster. Learning Cantonese is considered an uphill task due to its tonal nature and complex usage of grammar. And for those wondering, Mandarin and Cantonese are not similar and are regarded as two different languages.
- Say Hello in Cantonese - 你好 (Nǐ hǎo)
Polish
Widely spoken across Poland and parts of eastern Germany, northern Czech Republic and Slovakia, and western parts of Belarus and Ukraine. Polish is also regarded as one of the toughest languages to learn for the native English speaker as it uses difficult grammar that includes a system of cases and verb aspects. The Polish alphabet has been derived from the Latin script and includes certain additional letters formed using diacritics.
- Say Hello in Polish - Witam
Finnish
Spoken mainly in Finland and parts of Sweden and Norway, the Finnish language also falls under the toughest language category as the language follows a complex grammar which includes 15 cases for nouns and a rich system of verb conjugation. Students looking to learn one of the toughest languages – Finish would need 44 weeks or 1100 class hours to reach Professional Working Proficiency as mentioned by FSI.
- Say Hello in Finnish - Hei
Also Read
Russian
Official languages for Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, the Russian language is again part of the toughest languages in the world. While most European languages follow the Latin alphabet system, the Russian alphabet is Cyrillic. The main difficulty the Russian language poses for English speakers is that it is an inflected language meaning the words change their ending depending on what they are doing in a sentence. So candidates looking to learn Russian would have to not only learn the word but also what to do with it.
- Say Hello in Russian - привет (privet)
Icelandic
Spoken by 97% of Iceland, the Icelandic language is also considered one of the toughest languages for native English speakers simply because of its complex grammar including four cases, three grammatical genders, and verb conjugations. When we talk about the position of the Icelandic language in the FSI Language difficulty scale – the Icelandic language belongs to Category IV, where people would require 44 weeks or 1100 class hours to reach Professional Working Proficiency.
- Say Hello in Icelandic - Halló
The toughest language in the world - Extended
While the languages mentioned above are a few of the world's toughest languages. An extended list of the most difficult languages includes, Danish, Hindi, Hungarian, Navajo, Somali, Turkish and Vietnamese among others.
What is FSI Language Difficulty?
Toughest language in the world: The US Foreign Service Institute (FSI) has been teaching a wide range of languages to thousands of students for over 70 years and through this research they have been able to categorize languages according to the average amount of time it takes students to reach “Professional Working Proficiency”.
| Category | Time to Learn | Hardest Language in the World |
|---|---|---|
| Category I (Languages closely related to English) |
24-30 weeks or 600-750 class hours | Afrikaans, Danish, Dutch, French, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Swedish |
| Category II (Languages similar to English) |
30 weeks | German |
| Category III (Languages with linguistic/ or cultural differences from English) |
36 weeks or 900 class hours | Indonesian, Malaysian, Swahili |
| Category IV (Languages with significant linguistic and/ or cultural differences from English) |
44 weeks or 1100 class hours | Albanian, Amharic, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Bengali, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Burmese, Croatian, Czech, Estonian, Finnish, Georgian, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Khmer, Lao, Latvia, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Mongolian, Nepali, Pashto, Persian, Polish, Russian, Serbian, Sinhala, Slovak, Slovenian, Tagalog, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uzbek, Vietnamese, Xhosa, Zulu |
| Category V (Languages which are exceptionally difficult for English speakers) |
88 weeks or 2200 class hours | Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean |
Related Read: Top 10 Easiest Languages to Learn
Indian students looking to learn any of the above-mentioned hardest languages in the world are advised to check out the respective embassies and consulates of the countries where the language is officially spoken. They would not only offer courses on learning the language but also other tools to practice the language such as movies, literature and coursework.
Candidates can get in touch with us with their queries in the comments section below. Indian students looking for guidance with university admissions can get in touch with our Shiksha Counselling team for free.
Q: How hard is it to get into University of Tokyo?
Yes, it is slightly hard to get into the University of Tokyo because of its moderatly high acceptance rate. The University of Tokyo acceptance rate is around 34%, which means out of 100 applicants only 34 are accepted. Applicants has to meet the admission requirements and submit all the required documents to get admission at Tokyo University.
Q: How much does University of Tokyo cost for international students?
The University of Tokyo cost for international students is low for undergraduate and graduate study. Students can complete their degree under 3 L. The below table includes the University of Tokyo fees for Indian students:
Courses | 1st Year Tuition Fees | Duration & Eligibility |
|---|---|---|
MS (3 courses) | INR 3 L | Duration: 2 years |
MA (2 courses) | INR 2 L | Duration: 2 years |
MArch (1 course) | INR 3 L | Duration: 2 years |
MEng (1 course) | INR 3 L | Duration: 2 years |
Q: What would you need to get accepted into Tokyo University?
International students have to meet the University of Tokyo admissions requirements to get admission. These admission requirements will vary from one programme to another. International applicants whose first language is not English must meet below English language proficiency test score:
English Language Tests | Score Required |
|---|---|
TOEFL iBT | 100 |
IELTS | 7.0 |
We have provided below the general admission requirements for undergraduate and graduate admission at Tokyo University:
University of Tokyo Undergraduate Admission Requirements
- Submit your official high school transcripts
- Meet the English language proficiency test requirements
- Additional test scores for ACT/SAT (optional)
- Submit two letters of recommendation
University of Tokyo Graduate Admission Requirements
- Must complete a bachelor’s degree in a relevant discipline
- Meet the English language proficiency test requirements
- Additional test scores for GMAT/GRE
- A Resume?
- Provide Two Letters of Recommendation
- The university also asks you to submit Two Essays
Q: Is it hard to get admission in the University of Tokyo for international students?
Tokyo University does not publish official data on the acceptance rate. However, as per some unofficial sources including EduRank, the University of Tokyo acceptance rate is 35%. Which shows that university is very selective in admissions and hard to get into. International students should check the minimum admission requirements before applying to Tokyo University. Please note that, the data given above on acceptance rate is taken from unofficial sources, therefore, it is subject to change.
Q: What are the admission requirements at the University of Tokyo?
International students have to meet the University of Tokyo admissions requirements to get admission. These admission requirements will vary from one programme to another. We have provided below the general admission requirements for undergraduate and graduate admission at Tokyo University:
University of Tokyo Undergraduate Admission Requirements
- Submit your official high school transcripts
- Meet the English language proficiency test requirements
- Additional test scores for ACT/SAT (optional)
- Submit two letters of recommendation
University of Tokyo Graduate Admission Requirements
- Must complete a bachelor’s degree in a relevant discipline
- Meet the English language proficiency test requirements
- Additional test scores for GMAT/GRE
- A Resume?
- Provide Two Letters of Recommendation
- The university also asks you to submit Two Essays
Q: Does University of Tokyo give full scholarship to international students?
The University of Tokyo offers a variety of scholarships for international students enrolling into its undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Some scholarships are awarded directly by the University of Tokyo, meanwhile, the majority of the scholarships are offered by external funding sources. Some of the popular scholarships for international students are given below.
- Japanese Government Scholarship
- MEXT Honors Scholarship for Privately Financed International Students
- The University of Tokyo Fellowship
- University Scholarship for PEAK Students
- Scholarships Offered by Private Organizations
Q: Which is better: Korea University or Yonsei University?
If we compare Korea University and Yonsei University, the following points can be given to show which university is better:
| Category | Korea University | Yonsei University |
|---|---|---|
| Acceptance rate | Around 8% | 18% |
| QS World Rankings 2024 | #79 | #76 |
| Tuition Fees (MBA) | INR 26 L | INR 28 L |
Q: What can international students study in Kyoto University?
Kyoto University offers a variety of programs for their international audience, where the language of instruction is English. Overseas students can choose to study courses in leading fields such as:
| Kyoto University Programs for International Students | ||
|---|---|---|
| Education | Law | Economics |
| Science | Medicine | Agriculture |
| Engineering | Letters | Informatics |
| Biostudies | Global Environmental Studies | Management |
Hardest Languages in the World FAQs
Q. What are the 10 hardest languages in the world?
The hardest languages in world to learn often depends on a learner's native language and their linguistic background. However, some commonly cited difficult languages in the world are:
- Mandarin Chinese
- Arabic
- Japanese
- Korean
- Hungarian
- Finnish
- Navajo
- Icelandic
- Basque
- Russian
Q. What are the 20 hardest languages in the world?
The top 20 hardest language in the world includes:
- Mandarin Chinese
- Arabic
- Japanese
- Korean
- Hungarian
- Finnish
- Navajo
- Icelandic
- Basque
- Russian
- Polish
- Thai
- Vietnamese
- Tibetan
- Georgian
- Amharic
- Mongolian
- Cantonese
- Bengali
- Xhosa
Q. What are the top 10 most spoken languages in the world?
As of the latest date, the most spoken languages globally, based on total speakers, are:
- English - 1.5 billion speakers
- Mandarin Chinese - 1.1 billion speakers
- Hindi - 609 million speakers
- Spanish - 559 million speakers
- French - 309 million speakers
- Standard Arabic - 274 million speakers
- Bengali - 272 million speakers
- Portuguese - 263 million speakers
- Russian - 255 million speakers
- Urdu - 231 million speakers
Q. What are the top 10 sweetest languages in the world?
The concept of "sweetness" in language is subjective and often relates to phonetics, rhythm, and culture. Some languages frequently described as "sweet" or melodious include:
- French
- Italian
- Spanish
- Portuguese
- Arabic
- Japanese
- Bengali
- Swahili
- Hindi
- Turkish
Raushan Kumar is a skilled writer and a Study Abroad Expert in the Editorial Team at Shiksha. He oversees various aspects of studying abroad, including educational opportunities, entrance exams, colleges, latest new... Read Full Bio
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