English speakers find Romanian language easier to learn than German, according to experts from the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), the U.S. government’s main provider of foreign affairs training, including language courses, reports Bigthink.com.

FSI is the main learning organization of the US State Department, being the place where diplomats go to study foreign languages they need for their jobs. The institute divides languages into five categories, depending on how long it takes to learn them.

A map drawn up by FSI shows the difficulty of European languages. English, for example, is a Category 0 language, which means that the Americans are expected to be proficient in it.

Romanian is considered a Category I language, which means that an English speaker needs about 24 weeks to be able to read and speak in Romanian. Italian, French, Spanish, and Portuguese languages are also in this category.

German is the only language in Category II, meaning English speakers should be able to reach reading and speaking proficiency in about 30 weeks. Meanwhile, languages such as Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, and Czech are considered Category IV languages, which means that English speakers need around 44 weeks to learn them.

Find the map here.

Romanians are among the best English speakers in the world

Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com