The Most Cost Effective Language To Learn. Where does Romanian rank?

Which languages were most valuable to learn, based on the number of speakers worldwide, number of countries in which the language has official status, estimated hours to learn, and cost to learn?

Romanian secures 6th place, with a score of 65.78! Closely related to Italian, Romanian is a member of the Romance family of languages, renowned as being among the simplest for those already fluent in a related language to learn. Classified as a Rank 1 language by the Foreign Service Institute’, Romanian is among the easiest languages for English speakers to learn too!

In first place is Spanish, with a score of 94.45! With over 24,000 UK based monthly searches relating to ‘holidays in Spain’, fluent speakers could set their sights further afield than Spain itself — As the fourth most spoken language in the world, Spanish speakers can be found from Central and South America, to Europe, North Africa, and Asia.

In second place with a score of 93.91 is French. The official language of an astonishing 29 countries means wherever you are in the world, you won’t be far from hearing ‘Bonjour!’ French stands as lingua franca in Switzerland and Luxembourg too, and according to the the above mentioned source, takes native English speakers only around 600 hours to learn, at a cost of around £1.10 per hour.

With a score of 89.96, Portuguese ranks third. The official language of 10 nations, Portuguese has an enormous global reach that stretches from Brazil, to Mozambique, and as far afield as Macau. Much like its geographical neighbour Spanish, Portuguese is a member of the Romance family of languages, so the estimated learning time sits at 600 hours, at a cost of £1.10 per hour.

Fourth is Italian with 78.79 points. Much like its linguistic neighbour French, Italian has official status in Switzerland, as well as San Marino and the Vatican. Although having official status in only four countries means the global spread of Italian isn’t as profound as its romantic compatriots, the approximate learning time of 600 hours and  £1.10 per hour to learn secures its position.

With 72.82 points, Dutch secures fifth place. The third most spoken Germanic language (after English and German), Dutch has official status in the Netherlands, Belgium, and tropical South American former colony Suriname, with closely related daughter language Afrikaans an official language in South Africa and Namibia. Noted as being particularly straightforward for English speakers to learn, the estimated learning time sits at 600 hours, at a cost of £1.10 per hour.