Duolingo: How we invented a new way to teach one of the most difficult languages to learn making.duolingo.com

posted by  banzaitokyo | 7 years, 11 months ago

According to the Foreign Language Institute, Japanese is classified as the most difficult language to learn for English speakers, as it requires 2,200 hours of classroom study to reach professional proficiency. Even if you did nothing but study Japanese (and gave up on things like sleeping and eating), it would take 91 days and 16 hours, or about three months, to become proficient! (Disclaimer: we don’t recommend this approach.)

So, why is Japanese so difficult to learn?