What are the hardest languages in the world to learn? According to the ranking of the Language Institute of the Netherlands for English speakers, the most difficult languages in the world to learn are Chinese, Arabic, Japanese, Hungarian, Korean, Finnish, Basque, Navajo, Icelandic, and Polish.

Chinese
Modern Chinese has 87 thousand characters, in which every line is important. One hieroglyph can represent several sounds, a word or a sentence. The phonetic system of the language has 4 tones and numerous homophones. Without knowing all the subtleties, you will not be able to correctly read and understand what is depicted graphically.

Arabic
Arabic is also not an easy language. This sign system is written from right to left. One letter can have up to 4 spelling options depending on its location in the word, and the sound can have 4 tones. Therefore, there are no words with the same pronunciation. Vowels are not displayed on the letter at all, there are no lowercase letters, you cannot break the word for hyphenation.

Japanese
Three ABCs complicate learning. The first, kanji, uses characters. You will have to memorize at least 2 thousand pieces, and mnemonics will not help here. The second alphabet, hiragana, is for Japanese words. The third, katakana, is for borrowed ones.

Hungarian
About 30% of Hungarian words are unique. There are 35 cases, and they are changed by changing the suffix. There are up to 10 suffixes in one word, which is why it can be very long. Difficult pronunciation of guttural vowel sounds will always make a Hungarian beginner stand out from the locals. The language is also distinguished by a large number of rules and expressive idioms.

Korean
The absence of childbirth makes it difficult to understand speech. In Korean, as in Japanese, it is important to express respect for your interlocutor through different styles. Koreans have 7 of them: very formally polite, formally polite, modern polite, neutral, simple conversational, family. The ending of the verb in a sentence depends on the style.

Finnish language
Finnish is a logical language, but has a powerful layer of grammar. Each rule needs to be known like a mathematical formula. Fortunately, there are few exceptions to the rule. Nouns have 15 cases and no gender. There are few prepositions; words are connected mainly by changing endings. Finns speak very quickly, so it is difficult to perceive their speech by ear. Don't forget about the large number of dialects.

Basque
The language dictionary contains about 500 thousand words. The system has 24 cases. Words in a sentence are linked by changing endings. Due to the complexity of the language, the US military used it to transmit classified information during World War II.

Navajo
Navajo is an Athabaskan language native to the Navajo Indians. It is spoken by about 170 thousand people living in the southwestern United States (Arizona, Utah, New Mexico). This language has also been tested by war. During World War II, it became the code for sending secret messages over the radio. The radio operators knew this language and could quickly encrypt the text. The Japanese didn't figure out the key. There were no dictionaries or grammars of this language at that time. Navajo is called the opposite of English. It has 50 vowels and consonants, tones reflected in the writing, and many other features.

Icelandic
Words can have up to 70 forms. Even new words for modern concepts are adapted to archaic features. Many Icelandic phonemes are original and not found in English. Audio recordings or communication with Icelanders will help you learn the correct pronunciation.

Polish language
If your native language belongs to the Slavic language group, mastering Polish is not difficult. But for English speakers it is really difficult. That’s why half-joking inscriptions on T-shirts like “I know Polish. What is your superpower? Spelling in Polish is phonetic (we write what we hear), but there are a lot of hissing sounds. There are also quite a few illogical points to remember. There are sometimes more exceptions to the rules than the rules themselves. They confuse trap words that sound similar to words in other Slavic languages, but mean the opposite or something completely different.