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English - The Most Difficult Language | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6909 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes  Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 9 of 52 15 May 2009 at 8:03pm | IP Logged | ||
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On the other hand, it's not that uncommon to hear people state this a "reason" either before or after learning a language:
1 "I give up since I don't HAVE TO learn this, therefore I choose language X instead (because that's really useful!)." 2 "It's amazing how Vyacheslav has learned to speak English so well! Yes, but he also HAD TO learn it." Side note - I've heard Swedes almost bragging over Swedish being "the most difficult language", and I wouldn't be too surprised if the kind of reasoning exists in all parts of the world. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Jar-ptitsa Triglot Senior Member Belgium Joined 5898 days ago 980 posts - 1006 votes Speaks: French*, Dutch, German | Message 10 of 52 15 May 2009 at 8:09pm | IP Logged | ||
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In my opinion English is:
READ --- extremely easy WRITE ---not difficult LISTEN --- extremely difficult SPEAK --- difficult 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| mick33 Senior Member United States Joined 5924 days ago 1335 posts - 1632 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Finnish Studies: Thai, Polish, Afrikaans, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish, Swedish | Message 11 of 52 15 May 2009 at 8:49pm | IP Logged | ||
Edited by mick33 on 15 May 2009 at 8:50pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| robertdover8 Groupie United States Joined 6020 days ago 43 posts - 42 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 13 of 52 15 May 2009 at 10:36pm | IP Logged | ||
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I alwayz hav truble speling! But seriously, I do. One problem I have often is trying to pronounce a new word I read.
Spelling is so inconsistent that you kind of just have to guess how to say it. Even as a native speaker I still have trouble spelling often, and I'm no idiot! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Marc Frisch Heptaglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6665 days ago 1001 posts - 1169 votes Speaks: German*, French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian Studies: Persian, Tamil | Message 14 of 52 15 May 2009 at 11:14pm | IP Logged | ||
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I've heard speakers of Polish, Arabic, and Japanese refer to their language as particularly difficult to learn (not without a certain pride).
On the other hand, I've heard Chileans, Norwegians and Iranians say that their language is easy to learn. And for English, most people I've talked to about this issue seem to consider it fairly easy (but keep in mind that those people are mostly Germans who have the advantage of already speaking a related language!). 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Marc Frisch Heptaglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6665 days ago 1001 posts - 1169 votes Speaks: German*, French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian Studies: Persian, Tamil | Message 15 of 52 15 May 2009 at 11:22pm | IP Logged | ||
It exists, but it's much more common in some language than in others. I think that the Japanese are particularly convinced that their language is the most difficult - and they may very well have a point. When I'm asked about German, I usually respond that it's fairly easy to learn the essentials, but it takes a lot of practice to really master some finer points (case endings and word order, for example). By the way, I can't really think of anything that would make Swedish difficult to learn for anyone (except maybe pronunciation); it has close to no illogical features, except some minor irregularities in verb conjugation. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Recht Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5801 days ago 241 posts - 270 votes Speaks: English*, GermanB1 | Message 16 of 52 16 May 2009 at 12:49am | IP Logged | ||
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English spelling and pronunciation makes absolutely no sense.
Spelling and pronunciation in German is so much easier I have no idea how one can learn English and learn to pronounce every word properly. A word in English could be theoretically spelled 3 or 4 ways, since all the vowels can make the same sounds. "Market" "Markit" "Markut" are all pretty much the same. "disagreement" "disigreement" "disugreement". See what I mean? Glad I learned this when I was 4. Edited by Recht on 16 May 2009 at 12:52am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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