What kind of language is English?

Germanic languages
One example is the Germanic languages. Linguists generally describe Germanic languages in three groups: West Germanic, North Germanic, and East Germanic. The West Germanic group includes German, English, and Dutch.

Is German grammar like English?

German and English words often follow the same grammatical rules. For English speakers who are attempting to learn German, one of the features they will encounter is a similarity in grammatical rules.

Why English is a strange language?

English sounds strange English probably sounds a little “weird” to many speakers of other languages. English has more phonemes than many languages, with around 44, depending on which variety of English you speak. It has an unusually large set of vowel sounds – there are around 11.

How similar are English and Dutch?

With the exception of Frisian, Dutch is linguistically the closest language to English, with both languages being part of the West Germanic linguistic family. These means many Dutch words are cognates with English (meaning they share the same linguistic roots), giving them similar spelling and pronunciation.

Is Frisian still spoken?

North Frisian is spoken in the northernmost German district of Nordfriesland in the state of Schleswig-Holstein: on the North Frisian mainland, and on the North Frisian Islands of Sylt, Föhr, Amrum, and the Halligs. It is also spoken on the islands of Heligoland, in the North Sea….Frisian languages.

Is English a good language?

Not surprisingly, one of the reasons why English is such an awesome language is that it is the second most widely spoken language in the world (behind Mandarin Chinese), and by far the most learnt language, with an estimated 1.5 billion learners. English is the official language of NATO and the European Union.

Why Dutch is easy?

English students frequently say to me that Dutch is the easiest language to learn. It makes sense because Dutch is part of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European family of languages, just like English. And if you compare it to another language of that family, German, it’s much easier.

Is English older than Dutch?

Relation to the Germanic languages group Within the Indo-European language tree, Dutch is grouped within the Germanic languages, which means it shares a common ancestor with languages such as English, German, and Scandinavian languages. gradually split off from Proto-Germanic, beginning around the Early Middle Ages.

What languages are the most like English?

Mandarin. Chinese is one of the most widely spoken languages globally – there are over a billion native speakers.

Are there any languages easier than English?

1) Spanish. As English speakers, we can be thankful that Spanish pronunciations are one of the easiest to learn. 2) Italian. Italian is the most “romantic” of the romance languages. 3) French. Welcome to the International language of love. 4) Portuguese. With the Brazilian economy ranking 6th in the world, Portuguese has become a powerful language to learn.

What language is truly closest to English?

9 easy languages for English speakers Afrikaans. Afrikaans and English both derive from the West Germanic language family. Danish. As with most Scandinavian languages, the biggest hurdle with studying Danish is in being able to practice. French. Like all romance languages, French has a few difficulties for prospective speakers. Italian. Norwegian. Portuguese. Romanian. Spanish. Swedish.

What are the easiest languages to learn?

The easiest languages to learn are those most closely related to English, such as Spanish, French and Italian. Reaching proficiency for these requires about 600 hours, or just over 20 weeks of study.