If your intrested in a westerner's view? For me, out of the languages that I hear from day to day, Urhobo is the easiest to learn (Basic). My wife is Yoruba (kwara) and speaks Hausa as well, she believes hausa is the easiest to learn. I find Hausa to be clearer on the ear than Yoruba but I can not speak either apart from the basic greetings etc.

have u tried Chinese?very easy to learn.

yoruba it is

Okolie agree wit ya but 2 some people it may b somethin' different cause they might think dat something else is easier. But yoruba iz da easiest 2 me

@okolile, please CAN U explain the meaning of your user name??

i hear its Hausa.

Hausa is the Easiest

Hausa language

wazobia

Hausa is the easiest to read and write.

But ibibio is the easiest to speak

_{once your done struggling with the words that sound strong}

I apoplgize for my ignorance about this topic, but I have a few questions:

How are Nigerian languages similar to one another?

How are Nigerian languages different from one another?

Do Nigerian languages "borrow" from other languages or each other?

What sounds are in Nigerian languages that a Western English speaker would find difficult to speak?

Are there letters in Nigerian languages that are not found in most other
languages?


Any help you can offer about any of these questions, I would very much appreciate. 

Thank You!

i'm igbo and i would like to say that igbo is not all that easy. when i hear people speaking yoruba, even though i don't understand it, to my ears, it sounds easier to speak. when i even try to speak igbo(not that i speak it) , i get all tongue tied myself. that's why i can never really learn how to speak it. but someday, i would like to learn how to speak hausa.

I think Yoruba is a hard language to learn  .

There are a couple of sounds that are not found in European languages and if you haven't learnt them as a kid, well, they are practically impossible to make right!

It is also a tonal language and that makes it difficult. Having to make your voice pitch go up, or go down, or stay at the same pitch, to change the meaning of a word, is not a European thing either and it is very confusing if you are not used to it.

well yoruba is not a european language so you can't really compare pronounciations with the european language.

I know but the original question was asking which language would be easiest for a non indiginous person to learn, which I take to be a non-Nigerian or even a non-African. the questioner is from the US, so I thought they would like to know what it would be like for an American to learn a Nigerian language - and from a language only point of view they are European.

Just saying that for Europeans, Yoruba is a difficult language to learn for those 2 reasons.

I haven't tried to learn any of the others so I wouldn't know how hard or easy they are.

@English 1:
I can certainly appreciate that!  Being French-Canadian by birth, I am amused that non-French speaking people have such trouble articulating some sounds in that language when it seems very natural to me.

I hope I'm not too old to try to learn to speak some of the Nigerian languages.  I'd like to visit Nigeria someday, and I'd like to experience what it's like to speak at least some of the languages, even if on a fundamental basis.  I'll try to wrap my tongue around them, somehow!

Yoruba is the easiest i Learnt it in two years with no prerequisite knowledge

Of the major languages in Nigeria, I wonder which is easiest to learn, and can be quickly mastered by a non-indigene?

Lagos is the Easiest Nigerian Language to learn  and can be quickly mastered especially if your major is either Idumota or[b] Lagos-Highland[/b] I forget to add Lagos-Island

this thread is quite funny to me and i also feel sorry for teh person dat asked this question.lol, well for me i wud just say YORUBA is d easiet to learn, BRAPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!

Igbo Language is the easiest language to speak and understand

@nancyekpoh
I dont think so even for me that am a 9*ja in 9*ja

I believe it is hausa am not from there though but it is easier to pick

Yoruba offcourse is the easiest language to learn

How is the easiest and the best language one can learn becos Hausa is not only a Nigerian language but a west African language that make it the best and easiest language becos alot of people speak it around the the world , IGBO is the hardest language one can learn with all the chukwu chukwu in it lolz

lol

IGBO is the hardest language one can learn with all the chukwu chukwu in it lolz

u sure ain't lying about that and i'm igbo. lol

Yoruba has proven to be the easiest to learn , heck you don't see many schools teaching Hausa or Ibo in nigeria.

as far as iam concerned

igbo is the easiest because almost all nigeria can speak or udnerstand 20% of igbo langage
How do see it

rowlandwhy:

as far as iam concerned

igbo is the easiest because almost all nigeria can speak or udnerstand 20% of igbo langage
How do see it

Erm which nigeria are you talking about? Have you ever been outside abia state?

Pidgin is the easiest to learn

yoruba and hausa are the easiest to learn

I'm an Igbo woman.
Hausa is the easiest Naija language to learn and Yoruba is the hardest (sounds like they are fighting,too much Yoruba Yoruba , trust me you don't want to learn it ) ,the accents and emphasis in Igbo and Yoruba will cause a learner to bite his tongue.
Hausa is more free flowing,very romantic sounding and is very light on the tongue.

I know someone who spent 6 years of med school in Ibadan and learnt 0% Yoruba but spent 1 year of Housejob in Kaduna and speaks Hausa like the natives and his answer is partly what I gave above.

First off, I wonder why anyone is mentioning Yoruba here. Apart from the cuss words, it's definitely not Yoruba.

Igbo is probably the hardest with the gb,kw, ny, gh, n with the stroke on top. . .Lots of complications.

Frome experience and talking with people who have transversed the nation, Hausa is the easiest by a long mile. You will not find anyone who have lived in the North for 4 years who cannot speak the language. It's very easy to learn and free flowing.

babyosisi:

, trust me you don't want to learn it )

Color me surprised by osisi's response



NOT.

Donzman:

First off, I wonder why anyone is mentioning Yoruba here. Apart from the cuss words, it's definitely not Yoruba.

Igbo is probably the hardest with the gb,kw, ny, gh, n with the stroke on top. . .Lots of complications.

Frome experience and talking with people who have transversed the nation, Hausa is the easiest by a long mile. You will not find anyone who have lived in the North for 4 years who cannot speak the language. It's very easy to learn and free flowing.

same goes for yoruba actually, all the igbo people i know can speak yoruba more than they speak igbo (they lived in lagos)