The Easiet African Languages to Learn
Most linguists, non-Africans and travelers visiting Africa for the first time have at one point asked these questions; "What African language is the easiest to learn?" Or "What African languages are the easiest to learn?"
There are answers to these questions, but it's important to understand that learning a new language in any part of the world requires a lot of patience, consistency, practice and most importantly, zeal. Without all of that, learning a new language becomes impossible and difficult.
Language learning should be a recognized priority for everyone, not only students. To thrive in this interconnected world, with its evolving technologies and expanding population, it's important to understand more than one language.
Learning a new language is beneficial in so many ways. For travelers visiting Africa, learning the local dialect of the country you want to visit makes communication with the locals easier. And locals become more inviting and accommodating when you understand and speak their language.
Research suggests that learning more than one language reduces the chances of cognitive decline as we age. This confirms the long held claim that people who speak more than one language have better memory, and are better at solving problems.
For English speakers, Swahili is the easiest African language to learn. It is one of those African languages you can read out just as it is written. Once you have learned Swahili, it becomes easier to learn other African languages like Xhosa, Zulu and Shona.
Swahili has borrowed about 35% of its vocabulary from Arabic, including the word Swahili is from the Arabic word "Sawahili" which means "the coast" in English. So someone who speaks Arabic may find it easier to learn Swahili. Swahili is loanword-friendly as it has borrowed words from Arabic, Bantu family of languages, English, Persian, Portuguese, French and German.
Swahili is slowly becoming the lingua franca for most East African countries. These countries include; Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and Congo (Kinshasa). Other countries that speak Swahili include; Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Somalia, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Yemen, Comoros, Oman and Botswana. People who speak Swahili as their mother tongue are referred to as "Waswahilli" – They are a collection of diverse ethnic groups which use Swahili as their mother tongue.
Currently, there are 100 million people who speak Swahili. It is the most spoken language in sub-Saharan Africa.
Other easiest African languages to learn include;
## ZULU:
The Zulu language, often referred to as isiZulu, is one of the easiest African languages to learn. Despite its linguistic complexity, the Zulu language can be learned in just 12 weeks.
This language is spoken by about nine million South Africans. Like other loanword-friendly languages, it has borrowed many words from other languages, including; Afrikaans, English, and the Khoisan languages. Even though South Africa is a top travel spot, most travelers think learning the Zulu language is herculean. This language is spoken in most South African homes, so learning it would prove effective when interacting with the locals.
WOLOF:
Wolof is a West African language spoken in countries like; Senegal, Gambia, and Southern Mauritania. This language has about 10 million first and non-native speakers. It is spoken in France, the US and other nations in the world. It is listed as one of the easiest African languages to learn. With the right technique, Wolof can be learned in just 7 weeks. This is possible when an hour of study is devoted everyday to learning the language. It is less demanding than the Zulu language, and locals in Senegal will likely be impressed if you communicate with them in Wolof.
YORUBA:
With more than 47 million speakers, including 2 million second-language speakers, the Yoruba language is one of the easiest African languages to learn. In Nigeria, it is the easiest language to learn. This language is spoken in other West African countries including; Benin Republic, Togo, The Gambia, Sierra Leone and Côte d'Ivoire. It is also spoken in countries outside Africa; in parts of Brazil, the Caribbean, and North Africa. If you are looking to visit West Africa, then learning the West African Pidgin English and the Yoruba is a great start.
## AFRIKAANS:Afrikaans is one of the eleven official languages spoken in South Africa. It is a Creole language that came about as a result of colonialism in South Africa. Most linguists refer to it as the sister language of the Dutch language because of its origin from the language. It was formed due to the amalgamation of Dutch with other languages including; Indian, Malay, Portuguese, Bantu, and Khoekhoe. It was originally considered a Dutch dialect, but this language has evolved to become a language of its own.
Afrikaans is recognised as one of the easiest African languages to learn because of its flexible and loanword-friendly nature.
In about 6 weeks of consistently learning Afrikaans, beginners can reach conversational level. But it takes about 3–6 months to become proficient with the language.