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Why is English so easy? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| cordelia0507 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5840 days ago 1473 posts - 2176 votes  Speaks: Swedish* Studies: German, Russian | Message 17 of 78 27 December 2009 at 5:47pm | IP Logged | ||
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Whoever said it was easy? It wasn't.
You too would find the motivation to keep going if your entire future was hanging on it (Passing or failing at school, college or not, blue-collar or white collar job). 7 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Silvance5 Groupie United States Joined 5496 days ago 86 posts - 118 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, French | Message 18 of 78 27 December 2009 at 7:03pm | IP Logged | ||
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Also, from my experience, non English native speakers seem very proud to know English. They speak it at every opportunity even when their English isn't that good. Practice makes perfect after all.
Here though, there are a lot of people that speak foreign languages, but a lot of them seem reluctant to speak them. Even with other English speakers learning the same language as them. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Muz9 Diglot Groupie Netherlands Joined 5526 days ago 84 posts - 112 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written), Somali | Message 19 of 78 27 December 2009 at 7:35pm | IP Logged | ||
English is only easy for Europeans but most people from other language families struggle with it. Don't underestimate English it has many tricky features. But what I really adore about English is the word ‘THE’! How fantastic, I think genders are pretty useless, English seems like it is more modern. 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Hashimi Senior Member Oman Joined 6261 days ago 362 posts - 529 votes Speaks: Arabic (Written)* Studies: English, Japanese | Message 20 of 78 27 December 2009 at 7:49pm | IP Logged | ||
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English is not easy, but the answer to your questions lies in one word: EXPOSURE. 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Muz9 Diglot Groupie Netherlands Joined 5526 days ago 84 posts - 112 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written), Somali | Message 21 of 78 27 December 2009 at 8:06pm | IP Logged | ||
I agree with this statement, for example in my country the Netherlands somewhere between 80 to 90% speak English (conversational level), probably the highest number outside an Anglophone country. Why? Because most Dutch children learn English pretty early even before their first English classes in school they already speak English due to the media here only using subtitles. Whilst in other European countries (especially the larger ones) their English skills are on average much poorer, they emphasize less on English and most of the media is dubbed instead of using subtitles. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Sennin Senior Member Bulgaria Joined 6036 days ago 1457 posts - 1759 votes 5 sounds | Message 22 of 78 27 December 2009 at 9:00pm | IP Logged | ||
I used to be very shy when my English was "not very good". Nowadays, I'm still shy but to a considerably lesser extend. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Thatzright Diglot Senior Member Finland Joined 5674 days ago 202 posts - 311 votes Speaks: Finnish*, English Studies: French, Swedish, German, Russian | Message 23 of 78 27 December 2009 at 10:47pm | IP Logged | ||
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As many have already correctly pointed out, it is not so much about English being incredibly easy as it is about it being the lingua franca. Personally, I estimate I'd be fluent or close to it in the number one world language no matter what it was by now, after nearly eight years of studying it, using it every day and hearing and seeing it all around me, no matter if it was Russian or Arabic or German or whatever. Of course, the pace with which one learns English as a foreign language is made faster by the fact that its grammar is relatively simple, but I think it definitely has more to do with the exposure.
You don't really have to make the effort of picking up a textbook, using a learning program or searching for a specific TV or radio channel to learn English. Edited by Thatzright on 27 December 2009 at 11:29pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Alvinho Triglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 6236 days ago 828 posts - 832 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, English, Spanish | Message 24 of 78 27 December 2009 at 11:56pm | IP Logged | ||
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I've been studying English for bloody eleven years....it was taught in a horrible way by a lame English teacher throughout elementary and high school.....and she used to avoid going forward...therefore, only studying such a basic grammar, mainly verb "to be".
Today I still find it somewhat easy as long as keep studying in a regular pace every day so that I avoid it getting rusted.....however, I wouldn't dare to underestimate it by saying it's pretty easy.......for instance, I find it easier than Spanish and other Latin languages. Finally, my main problem is still the listening skill stuff....it has improved a bit compared to previous years, but I still feel uncomfortable about it. I've watched movies with subtitles in English, listened to music, but where I'm residing there aren't many foreign tourists around....and there's a prospect of moving to Canada in the next months...they say I'm prepared to live abroad but I'm still a bit of afraid to set my feet in an English-speaking country. 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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