#2
Dutch
English's closest major relative. 80% cognates. 575 hours to fluency.
Dutch is English's closest living relative among major languages. The grammar is simpler than German (two genders instead of three, no case system in practice), and roughly 80% of Dutch vocabulary has a direct English cognate. "Water" is water. "Finger" is finger. The FSI rates it at 575-600 hours. The catch: the Dutch speak such excellent English that getting them to practice Dutch with you is the hardest part. 25 million native speakers in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname.
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