If you are asking this question, most probably you do not speak English or Portuguese as a native language.
The answer to this question can be very subjective and may be based on many factors which include your native language, your experience with other languages, personal learning ability and ease to pick up new languages, availability of ample learning resources and enough opportunity to practice the language. However, if you are reading this blog, it means that you already know English.
With approximately 1.35 billion speakers, English is the most widely spoken language across the globe and also has approximately 1.5 billion learners all over the world. Portuguese is comparatively chosen by a smaller group of people as a foreign language to learn.
Let us understand which is a difficult language to learn: English or Portuguese
Language family
Let us understand that learning a language becomes easier if it belongs to the same language family. Among the six major language families, the Indo-European and Sino-Tibetan have the world’s most spoken languages which are English and Chinese respectively.
For someone who speaks a Romance language, learning English would be comparatively easy due to the many cognates and other similarities. Whereas, if your native language is Japanese learning, Chinese would be comparatively easy.
Learning resources and practice options
As English is the most widely spoken and studied language across the world it is easy to find good learning resources and people to practice the language skills with.
Also, in a country like India, most schools use English as a medium of instruction or teach it as a second language. This makes it easy for many students to learn English from an early age.
Portuguese on the other hand though offered as a foreign language in some schools and can be learnt through other learning mediums, is not a popular choice among many even in romance languages. Thus, finding a good tutor or finding people to practice the language with can become a challenge which can also increase the difficulty in learning.
Understanding the similarities and differences
Though English is a Germanic language and Portuguese a Romance language, both belong to the same large language family which is the Indo-European language family. Thus, you can find similarities in both languages.
For example, both languages follow the subject-verb-object sentence structure and even conceptualize grammar and syntax the same way.
There exist differences as well, such as the nasal sounds in Portuguese and interrogative form which is different from English. Unlike why or what is used in English for a question, changing the intonation at the end of a sentence would become a question in Portuguese.
So which language is easy for you to learn?
If you are an Indian, you probably are already good at at least two languages which is your native language and English, because most schools teach English and encourage students to speak in English.
There are others who have learnt a third or a fourth language depending on their place of stay and if they have a partner who speaks another language.
This helps you understand your learning style and can give you an edge over others when learning English or Portuguese as you already are aware about what works for you when it comes to learning a new language.
It is important to understand that learning a new language is a process that takes time and effort. Whether it is English or Portuguese that you would like to learn, find reliable resources, practice consistently and ensure that you spend time every day to learn the language and you can learn both languages.
Whether it is English or the Portuguese language that you would like to learn, you can book a free demo session with Multibhashi and find an expert who can help you further.