For English speaking natives, there are many languages in the world that can look and sound like hieroglyphics or some kind of undecipherable code. However, some are comparatively easier than others. While French, Spanish and even German and Italian for that matter are considered easier to learn depending on one’s ability to understand complexities of a language and its nuances.
Some of these difficult languages are so because they need one to memorize a lot of characters or have incomprehensibly difficult words to pronounce.
Here is a list of some of these complicated to learn languages:
Persian
Chiefly spoken in countries like Afghanistan and Iran, this is a language spoken by more than 100 million people worldwide and has its origins in Indo-Italian influence. Though for Arabic and Urdu speakers, speaking in Persian may just be a way of life or an inspiring code of conduct but for native English speakers, only because the language is grammatically different from English, French or other European languages. There are different versions of the language with different alphabets used for different dialects as well as a right to left Perso-Arabic script that one needs to follow in a calligraphic Persian writing.
Afrikaan
This is a language that originated in West Germany and is the native language for South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia among some others. Though the language bears some similarities with Dutch dialects, Afrikaan is a language with its own set of rules, grammar and complexities.
Korean
Korea being a country marking its own significance in the world history, its official language is spoken roughly by more than 75 million people worldwide. However, a single sentence construction can seem to be the toughest task for a native English speaker. Both verbally and in the form of writing, Korean has different levels, a unique writing system and a vocabulary consisting of alphabets and syllables together, making it an unfamiliar, isolate sort of a script.
Sanskrit
The origin of Sanskrit can be traced to an ancient period when neither Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism nor Bengali or Thai existed. In fact, this is one language that is considered to be the mother of all these languages as all these languages extensively borrow some words from this language. Many old religious, philosophical and even historical texts in India are found to be in Sanskrit. Artists from ancient and even medieval periods are known to have created drama and poetry in this language.
Japanese
The language for about 120-125 million people in the world, Japanese is deemed to be one of the most difficult to learn languages of the world, especially because of its unique script and honorific system. The Japanese culture adds more nuances to the language which makes it all the more difficult for a native English speaker to learn Japanese. The vocabulary and alphabets, both seem alien to English speakers as the characters have been taken from Chinese, another difficult language of the world that also includes different syllables.
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Imagine a world without Harry Potter. Thanks to the imaginareums of its creator, author J K Rowling, our childhood was transformed from ordinary happenstances to the magical world of wizardry! Though Harry Potter fans may know the ins and outs of the boy wizard, how much do you really know about his creator, J K Rowling?
J K Rowling and Harry Potter actually share the same birthday, July 31!
Before J K Rowling became one of the richest people in the United Kingdom, she was an ordinary citizen like you and me. One night, she was travelling by train and was suddenly struck by the wonder of the boy wizard. So she jotted her ideas down on a napkin.
It’s not that Rowling didn’t try for success. Unfortunately, 12 publishing houses rejected her book proposal. Then Bloomsbury agreed to publish Harry Potter and well, you know what happens next!
Quidditch is one of the most popular fantasy games out there today. Did you know that the author filled up five notebooks full of made-believe names starting with the letter ‘Q’? Amazing!
What is J K Rowling’s full name? That’s right. Very few know it. Her full name is Joanne Kathleen Rowling. And get this…she actually doesn’t have a middle name. She just borrowed the name “Kathleen” from her grandmother!
Though J K Rowling is the godmother of children’s novels, she actually wrote a book for adults, called The Casual Vacancy in 2012.
In case you see a book by author Robert Galbraith, know that it is actually J K Rowling’s “pen name”. Yes, she has written another book under that pen name.
How come she picked King’s Cross Station of every station in the United Kingdom? It holds a special place in her heart, because that is where her parents first met!
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