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Learning the “easier” language is a guarantee you will quit
In language learning forums, I see questions similar to this all the time:
“I can’t decide between Spanish and French, which is easier?”
“I really want to learn Japanese, but I have family in Italy and it would be cool to connect with them, which one should I pick?”
On the surface, it is true that an easier language might take half as long to learn than a hard language. The U.S. Department of State’s estimate of classroom hours supports this. Mandarin is coming to me about twice as slowly as Finnish. From a rationalization perspective, learners assume they have a better chance of completing the easier language. For the busy person who only has 30 minutes per day, they might think an easier language is their only option. It’s very tempting to gravitate towards the easier language with competing options.
The problem with this philosophy is you will hit a wall in every single language. No matter which language you choose, you will find something about it that you struggle with. For example, understanding fast spoken speech between multiple speakers is a commonly cited difficulty. Even with Spanish, the “learning podcasts” will speak slowly and clearly. This in no way represents how a group of friends talk on a crowded city street. With Finnish, my greatest challenge was…
