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Why is English so easy? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| datsunking1 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5584 days ago 1014 posts - 1533 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Russian, Dutch, French | Message 1 of 78 27 December 2009 at 3:14am | IP Logged |
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I honestly don't know how people do it. So many members here have learned English to a very very impressive level as a second language, yet if I were to try to learn their native tongue, I would probably slaughter it. I honestly don't know what it is! I feel pretty comfortable talking in Spanish, yet no where to the extent that a native Spanish speaker can learn English in the same timeframe.
Whats the secret? Discuss. -Jordan 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Silvance5 Groupie United States Joined 5493 days ago 86 posts - 118 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, French | Message 2 of 78 27 December 2009 at 3:18am | IP Logged |
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If I were to guess, I'd say a lot of it is due to necessity. A lot of foreign countries (Germany is a good example) make it a point to get students to take several years of English. America is fairly xenophobic when it comes to teaching foreign languages, and it's somewhat difficult to find a school that teaches anything beyond Spanish (for Mexico and Latin America) and sometimes French (I don't understand why, maybe for French Canada.) Mostly because it's not all that necessary for an American to speak a foreign language. It's a shame really, I think more foreign language classes in school could open us up to the cultures of many amazing places. Edited by Silvance5 on 27 December 2009 at 3:18am 4 persons have voted this message useful | |
| The Real CZ Senior Member United States Joined 5648 days ago 1069 posts - 1495 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Korean | Message 3 of 78 27 December 2009 at 3:42am | IP Logged |
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Probably because they start at a younger age and that it's required in school (aside from English being the international language.)
Only language related courses I remember being required was learning some Spanish vocabulary in first grade, taking one quarter of Spanish in 8th grade (mainly just vocab lists), and optional in high school (the two years required to graduate are bull. I took Spanish for a week and dropped it.) What I'm getting to is that when I was first "required" to take Spanish was when I was 13, and it was very lax. European students start learning foreign languages younger and for a longer amount of time. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Levi Pentaglot Senior Member United States Joined 5566 days ago 2268 posts - 3328 votes Speaks: English*, French, Esperanto, German, Spanish Studies: Russian, Dutch, Portuguese, Mandarin, Japanese, Italian | Message 4 of 78 27 December 2009 at 4:05am | IP Logged |
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Don't forget that all the popular music is in English. For some reason I will never understand, people all around the world love singing in English and listening to songs in English. I can't tell you how many foreign radio stations I've tuned into to practice my target languages, only to find them playing the same songs I get here in New York. Edited by Levi on 27 December 2009 at 4:08am 9 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Paskwc Pentaglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5676 days ago 450 posts - 624 votes Speaks: Hindi, Urdu*, Arabic (Levantine), French, English Studies: Persian, Spanish | Message 5 of 78 27 December 2009 at 4:32am | IP Logged |
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English is not easy, but learning it is. With the exception of a few places, there is no
social stigma attached to it. Young children are actively encouraged, if not obliged, to learn it. Older children understand their future livelihoods depend on their ability to speak English. Plus, all of youth culture is spread through English. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Taihen Diglot Newbie Brazil Joined 5446 days ago 6 posts - 8 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Japanese Studies: English | Message 6 of 78 27 December 2009 at 5:09am | IP Logged |
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I don't think English is so easy.
But we can find resources in any place! I just started studying English seriously and I'm impressed with the amount of resources that I can find on internet... I'm not talking about home pages that teach English, but about multimedia made by natives for natives. I agree with Paskwc... English is not easy, but learning it is! 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| kerateo Triglot Senior Member Mexico Joined 5645 days ago 112 posts - 180 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English, French Studies: Italian | Message 7 of 78 27 December 2009 at 5:22am | IP Logged |
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Well... For me it is easy, the grammar is a joke, there is practically no conjugation, the vocab is 50-60 % latin and 90 % of all music in the radio and movies and TV series is in English. If the orthography would be a little more logical...
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| datsunking1 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5584 days ago 1014 posts - 1533 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Russian, Dutch, French | Message 8 of 78 27 December 2009 at 5:43am | IP Logged |
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I think Spanish grammar is difficult :( after all the basic tenses and the subjunctive. Then I just don't get it. There aren't any resources to teach it either besides being in the country. even the "Complete Grammar Guides" only go up to past subjunctive. UGH
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