Portuguese

Portuguese is Spanish's sibling — if you know one, you're halfway to the other. The FSI rates it at 575-600 hours for speakers with no prior Romance language knowledge. Brazilian Portuguese is generally considered easier for English speakers due to its open vowels and clearer pronunciation (European Portuguese swallows vowels like it's in a hurry). With 260 million speakers across Brazil, Portugal, Mozambique, and Angola, Portuguese opens doors across four continents.