Top 10 hardest languages to learn

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French, one of the 'Top 10 hardest languages to learn' (China.org.cn)

Many languages have been claimed to be the toughest one to learn. Here follow ten candidates for the title of "hardest language to learn," as released by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization. This list of 10 candidates includes an explanation as of why they made this list. Read it and find out whether these languages are worth their "tough as nails" reputation.

Top 10: French

As an official language in 29 countries, French is a challenging language. However, it can be seen as both easy and hard, depending on the learner's native language. French is a Roman language. If the learner's grasp of other Roman languages such as Italian, Portuguese and Spanish is strong, French will be a very quick and enjoyable new language to acquire. Otherwise, for those coming from a completely different language family, learning French would be considerably more difficult. Its pronunciation follows very strict rules based on the spelling, which is often based more on history than phonology.

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