What is the Closest Language to English? - Rosetta Stone (2024)

The closest language to English is one called Frisian, which is a Germanic language spoken by a small population of about 480,000 people. There are three separate dialects of the language, and it’s only spoken at the southern fringes of the North Sea in the Netherlands and Germany.

However, the closest major language to English, is Dutch. With 23 million native speakers, and an additional 5 million who speak it as a second language, Dutch is the 3rd most-widely spoken Germanic language in the world after English and German. It’s a very popular language to learn, not only because it is the closest language to English, but also because of the accommodating manner of Dutch natives. The Dutch people are famous for their acceptance of visitors. In fact, at any given moment in Amsterdam, the Dutch capital, 30% of the population is composed of visitors. Unlike some cultures, the Dutch are far less likely to be offended if you make a grammatical mistake when learning to speak the language. So dive right in and practice your Dutch with confidence.

For the same reasons Dutch is the closest language to English, German is also a close language, and another one that many English speakers may find easier to learn. Dutch is commonly mentioned as the language nestled between English and German.

Whether you want to learn a language that is close to English, such asDutch or German, or you have your heart set on another of the 23 additional languages that Rosetta Stone offers, we are confident that our program can help you achieve your goal.

Learn the most similar language to English

Learning a new languagecan transform your personal or professional life by opening you to a world full of new possibilities. You have already taken the first step by choosing a trusted language learning program.

Rosetta Stone has over 25 years of language learning experience. We know that anyone has the ability to learn to read, write, and speak a language with ease. Our method of language learning, called Dynamic Immersion®, helps you acquire vocabulary and phrases in the context in which they’re used in everyday conversations, building confidence through speaking, and contextualizing your learning. This method has been proven to help language learners build confidence speaking so they can thrive in real-world situations.

The most important thing you can do to be successful in learning a new language is to make practice a part of your daily routine. Try to seek out immersive opportunities in the language you are learning, such as listening to a podcast or TV show with the subtitles off. If possible, find a way to engage with native speakers. Additionally, with Rosetta Stone’s award-winning mobile app, fitting in the brief, 10-minute lessons is a breeze. The mobile app is included with your subscription and is always in sync with the desktop version, making language lessons fit easily into your daily routine.

In order to achieve true success, your language program must emphasize speaking the language and practicing pronunciation. You need to know what to say and how to say it as a local would. There’s little point in knowing the words if you can’t speak and understand them through conversation. Rosetta Stone helps get accurate pronunciation right from your very first lesson. We embed a patented speech recognition engine called TruAccent® into every lesson. By comparing your voice to thousands of native speakers, TruAccent gives you real-time feedback which enables you to make adjustments and perfect your accent in real-time. TruAccent is a powerful tool to help you learn a language close to English, or any language you may choose.

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What is the Closest Language to English? - Rosetta Stone (1)

Rosetta Stone

Built by experts, Rosetta Stone has been the leading language learning platform for 30 years. Through carefully scaffolded lessons, you can learn language immersively with the exact pacing you need to feel conversation ready. Whatever your reason for learning a language, Rosetta Stone helps you experience the joy of making meaningful connections with the world around you.

What is the Closest Language to English? - Rosetta Stone (2024)

FAQs

What language is the closest to English? ›

Dutch, Frisian, and German stand as the nearest kin to English, with Frisian holding the strongest resemblance. The syntax, lexicon, and phonetics of both Frisian and English demonstrate their shared lineage.

What is similar to Rosetta Stone? ›

Paid & Free Alternatives to Rosetta Stone
  • Duolingo.
  • Busuu.
  • Lingvist.
  • Mango Languages.
  • Babbel for Business.
  • Memrise.
  • Open English.
  • Speexx.

Has anyone become fluent using Rosetta Stone? ›

Rosetta Stone is designed to help people learn a language quickly and effectively, but it won't make you fluent in any language. To become truly fluent, you need more than just the Rosetta Stone program.

Is English closer to Dutch or German? ›

So dive right in and practice your Dutch with confidence. For the same reasons Dutch is the closest language to English, German is also a close language, and another one that many English speakers may find easier to learn. Dutch is commonly mentioned as the language nestled between English and German.

Is French or German closer to English? ›

Informal English is definitely closer to German than French, but the more formal you get, the more French-like it is going to become because of the increased per cent of French vocabulary used in formal English. Anyway, it still has a Germanic syntax even in its most formal registers.

What is the easiest language to learn closest to English? ›

15 of the easiest languages to learn for English speakers - ranked
  • Frisian. Frisian is thought to be one of the languages most closely related to English, and therefore also the easiest for English-speakers to pick up. ...
  • Dutch. ...
  • Norwegian. ...
  • Spanish. ...
  • Portuguese. ...
  • Italian. ...
  • French. ...
  • Swedish.
Oct 24, 2021

How does Babbel compare to Rosetta Stone? ›

Rosetta Stone will get you speaking and understanding fast because of its real-life content; Babbel builds your skills over the long term because they're being built to be more flexible, and useful in a variety of contexts (reading books, watching TV, etc.).

Is Rosetta Stone enough to learn a language? ›

Rosetta Stone is incredibly useful when you need to learn vocabulary, gender, plurals, and some verb conjugations, but it's not as helpful when it comes to complex grammar, nuance, or cultural context.

What is the easiest language to learn on Rosetta Stone? ›

The great news about this beautiful language is that it is often considered one of the easiest to learn too. Spanish is phonetic (you pronounce every syllable as it is written) and has fewer irregular verb conjugations than many other languages, meaning it is both useful and not too tricky.

What language level is Rosetta Stone? ›

Rosetta Stone offers 25 languages at the Foundations level (A1 – B1) and 5 at the Fluency Builder level (B1-C2).

What are the hardest languages to learn on Rosetta Stone? ›

Generally, if you're an English speaker with no exposure to other languages, here are some of the most challenging: Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, Vietnamese, Finnish, Japanese, and Korean. Here's the good news; when you're excited to learn a new language, even the hardest ones can simply seem fun.

Is Rosetta Stone struggling? ›

Rosetta Stone shares have tumbled as the company struggles to offset its late transition into mobile apps and new rivals in a crowded language-learning market. Rosetta Stone shares have tumbled as the company struggles to offset its late transition into mobile apps and new rivals in a crowded language-learning market.

What is the hardest language to learn? ›

1. Mandarin Chinese. Interestingly, the hardest language to learn is also the most widely spoken native language in the world. Mandarin Chinese is challenging for a number of reasons.

Which European language is closest to English? ›

Closest Major Language: Dutch

Like Frisian and English, Dutch is another West Germanic language that developed from Proto-Germanic. Because of this, Dutch possesses many words and phrases similar to English and has a similar grammatical structure.

Is English closer to French or Spanish? ›

In fact, the lexical similarity between French and Spanish is about 75%, meaning that a high percentage of the words in these languages are very similar. For comparison, French and Spanish both share a less than 50% lexical similarity with English.

Are there languages similar to English? ›

Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish.

These Scandinavian languages, mainly Norwegian, have similar sentence structures and many cognates with English due to their Germanic roots.

What languages is English a mix of? ›

So, English is made of Old English, Danish, Norse, and French, and has been changed by Latin, Greek, Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Dutch and Spanish, along with some words from other languages. English grammar has also changed, becoming simpler and less Germanic.

What is the easiest language to learn? ›

Languages that are related to English and easy to learn include most Germanic languages (Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, and German) and Romance languages (Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, and Romanian).

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