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Revealing Map Shows How Long It Takes to Learn the Most Popular Languages in Europe

By Sara Barnes on November 30, 2017

Have you ever wondered what the hardest language to learn is? Although it’s different for everyone, there’s a general sense that some languages are more difficult to grasp than others. For English speakers wanting to expand their proficiency in another tongue, the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) has ranked languages around the world by how many weeks it takes to learn them. To visualize this, Redditor Fummy shared a map that displays this data in part of Europe.

The language map spans from Portugal to Ukraine, and the difficulty rankings run the gamut from Category I (about 24 weeks of instruction) to Category IV (about 44 weeks of instruction). So, if you’re looking to learn a new language with relative ease, why not try Spanish or French? In less than a year, you can have a good grasp on both of them. But if you’re looking for a tougher linguistic challenge, try learning Hungarian. It will take you about 44 weeks (and around 1,100 hours) of instruction, as it’s considered a language “with significant linguistic and/or cultural differences from English.”

Check out the FSI’s full list of languages on the next page. And for Spotify users, it’s easier than you think to start your lessons. The program has French, Spanish, Chinese, German, and more available for free.