What Is the Most Difficult Language in the World?

When people talk about the hardest languages to learn, Chinese is often the first that comes to mind. But it's not that simple. There’s no universally accepted way to rank languages by difficulty what’s tough for one learner might come easily to another.

Take Mandarin Chinese, for example: its writing system and tonal pronunciation can be intimidating. A wrong tone can change a word's meaning entirely. Yet its grammar is surprisingly simple and logical, and can be learned in only a few hours.

Meanwhile, Finnish and Hungarian have relatively simple pronunciation but notoriously complex grammatical systems, with cases and structures unfamiliar to most learners.

Familiarity also plays a role. A Spanish speaker will find Portuguese much easier than Japanese.

Ultimately, motivation also plays a crucial role. A person who is not really motivated or has a bad study method will not progress fast.

How We Measure Difficulty

In this guide, we explore the languages considered most difficult based on four main categories: grammar, pronunciation, writing system, and the time it takes to learn. Keep in mind: language learning is personal, and difficulty is relative.

Hardest Grammar

Languages with complex inflection, extensive case systems, or unique syntactic rules challenge even experienced learners:

Turkish (and other Turkic languages)

These languages use agglutination, adding multiple suffixes onto a word to create new words or sentences. Moreover, they also have what is called vowel harmony the rule that certain vowels don't want to stay together so the suffix has to change according to the last letter of the word.

Hungarian

Known for its 18 grammatical cases and verb conjugations that vary widely depending on definiteness, number, and tense highly analytical and structure-rich.

Finnish & Estonian

They feature up to 15 cases, and a syntax that doesn’t map easily onto English logic, requiring a rethink in how sentences are formed.

South Indian languages

Languages like Tamil and Kannada follow a Subject-Object-Verb order and employ extensive verb conjugations and compound structures that differ greatly from Indo-European norms.

Caucasian languages

Extremely complex grammar, with ergative structures, multiple cases, and consonant-heavy phonologies a real challenge for outsiders.

Inuit languages

In Inuit, a single word can encapsulate what would take an entire sentence in English, using multiple morphemes for precise meaning.

Russian & Polish

Both feature complicated case systems and irregular verbs, but the biggest challenge is the difference between perfective and imperfective verbs. These languages have two groups of verbs one used to express actions that are completed, and the other for actions that are still ongoing and each group has its own conjugation rules.

Hardest Pronunciation

Some languages feature sounds not found in most other languages, making pronunciation particularly tricky:

Khoisan

Spoken primarily in Southern Africa and Namibia, these languages are so difficult to pronounce that they can alter the structure of the throat of a foreign person trying to speak them.

Vietnamese

Depending on the dialect, it has up to nine tones small pitch differences can lead to completely different meanings.

Cantonese

A tonal language with six to nine tones, it demands acute listening skills and precision to avoid confusion between similarly pronounced words.

Mandarin Chinese

With four main tones and a neutral one, learners must master pitch modulation early to be understood accurately.

East African tone languages

Languages like Yoruba rely on tone for grammatical and lexical meaning, making tone recognition a key skill for learners.

South Indian languages

They include retroflex consonants sounds produced with the tongue curled back which don't exist in many other language families.

Estonian

Features three lengths (short, long, overlong) for both vowels and consonants, and is considered the language with the most sounds on Earth.

Hardest Writing Systems

Moving beyond the Latin alphabet if a language is written in another script, that will make things far more difficult for learners.

Chinese

A logographic system where each character represents a word or idea. Learners must memorize at least two thousand characters to read a simple text.

Japanese

It is particularly challenging because not only does it use a writing system similar to Chinese (kanji), but also two other alphabets: hiragana and katakana. So a student has to learn not one but three writing systems!

Cambodian (Khmer)

The script has the largest number of letters in any alphabet and contains complex subscript letters that make reading intricate.

Thai

Uses a tonal script where each letter represents a syllable. Moreover, it is written without spacing between words, and tone rules are embedded into the writing.

South Indian scripts

Like Tamil and Kannada, these use rounded, complicated characters, often joined together, requiring careful visual memorization and stroke mastery.

Arabic

Written right to left, its letters change shape depending on where they appear in a word. It also omits vowels in standard writing, requiring strong contextual reading.

Longest Time Required to Learn

According to the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), these languages take over 2,000 hours of study for English speakers to reach professional proficiency:

Arabic

Not only is Standard Arabic complex, but the language also includes numerous dialects, many of which differ significantly. To become truly fluent and hold everyday conversations, learners often need to study both the standard form and at least one regional dialect.

Japanese

One of the most difficult for English speakers due to layered politeness levels, non-Latin writing systems, and verb-final sentence structure.

Chinese (Mandarin)

Requires mastery of tones and thousands of logographic characters a double challenge in both speaking and writing.

Korean

While its script (Hangul) is logically structured and relatively easy, the grammar, honorifics, and nuances of verb usage make it tough for non-native learners.

Other Factors to Consider

Availability of Resources

Popular languages like Spanish, French, and Japanese offer a wealth of textbooks, apps, and online tutors. Less widely studied ones, like Xhosa or Georgian, may have limited materials and communities for practice.

Dialects and Variants

Languages such as Arabic and Chinese are not monolithic learners must often choose a specific dialect or regional form, which may differ significantly in pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar.

Final Thoughts

So, what is the hardest language to learn? It depends on your background, learning style, and goals. A native English speaker might struggle with Slavic grammar, while a Chinese learner might find tones intuitive but English spelling a nightmare.

In the end, the most difficult language is the one you’re not motivated to learn. But with the right mindset and persistence, even the most daunting languages can become second nature.