* Your native language: Speakers of languages with similar sounds, grammar, and writing systems will find it easier to learn a related language.
* Your learning style and aptitude: Some people are naturally better at learning languages than others.
* Your motivation and dedication: The more effort you put in, the faster you will learn.
* The specific language you choose: Some languages have more complex grammar, writing systems, or pronunciation than others.
However, some Asian languages are often considered challenging for native English speakers due to their unique features:
* Tonal languages: Languages like Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, Vietnamese, and Thai use tones to distinguish meaning. This can be difficult for speakers of non-tonal languages.
* Complex writing systems: Japanese, Korean, and Chinese all have logographic writing systems, meaning that each character represents a word or morpheme. This requires memorizing a large number of characters.
* Grammatical differences: Asian languages often have different grammatical structures than English, which can be challenging to learn. For example, Japanese has subject-object-verb word order.
Some commonly cited "hard" Asian languages for English speakers include:
* Mandarin Chinese: Difficult tones, complex writing system, and grammatical differences.
* Japanese: Complex writing system (three different scripts), honorifics, and grammatical differences.
* Korean: Complex writing system (Hangul), honorifics, and grammatical differences.
* Cantonese: Difficult tones, complex writing system, and different grammar than Mandarin.
* Vietnamese: Difficult tones and pronunciation, complex grammar.
Ultimately, the best way to determine which Asian language is hardest for you is to try learning a few and see which one you find most challenging. There are many resources available to help you get started, including online courses, textbooks, and language exchange partners.