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English - The Most Difficult Language | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Lizzern Diglot Senior Member Norway Joined 5909 days ago 791 posts - 1053 votes  Speaks: Norwegian*, English Studies: Japanese | Message 33 of 52 23 May 2009 at 2:23pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I think with Spanish there's also an element of "this is easy enough that you're going to be able to learn this well enough to speak to us". They genuinely want you to learn it, and think you can - so won't discourage you by telling you it's hard. If you say you think it is, then they're happy to agree with that, but it's more like agreeing that it's not done overnight so it's bound to feel a little hard until you eventually sort things out just fine. It's just not so much of an outlet for nationalistic pride as it may be in some other places. I don't think I've ever met a Spanish speaker who believed that his language couldn't be learned, I've found them to be very encouraging indeed and happy to give you a peptalk if you're struggling because they genuinely believe you will get it right if you keep at it.
On an unrelated note, Greeks genuinely believe their language is mighty difficult to learn. Which I guess it may be, I don't know enough Greek to tell, but apparently a study was carried out to find out which nationality in Europe is the proudest, and they found that the Greeks are more proud of being Greek than the Spanish are of being Spanish, the Germans of being German, etc. My Greek friends have always made sure to point out how hard Greek is, yet also, how the Greek language is the ultimate source of all that is good in the world. It's sweet though :-) Edited by Lizzern on 23 May 2009 at 2:28pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Ashiro Groupie United Kingdom learnxlanguage.com/ Joined 5802 days ago 89 posts - 101 votes Studies: Spanish | Message 34 of 52 23 May 2009 at 11:58pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Every Greek I've known has been infuriatingly arrogant with regards to their language and culture. I've never known such a prominent personality trait to run so rampant through an entire nation as it does with the Greeks. According to them they invented philosophy, politics, mathematics, language, history, literature, etc, etc.
Sorry if I offend any Greeks. I've just had numerous horrible experiences with them. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Vinlander Groupie Canada Joined 5821 days ago 62 posts - 69 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 35 of 52 24 May 2009 at 9:15pm | IP Logged | |||||
Anyhow I think English is pretty easy especially for Germanic speakers because it's pretty much a creole. I mean all the grammar is super simple compared to most Germanic or European languages. The only thing that makes it's hard is the Vocab of mixed origins. Which also means mixed spellings. Edited by Vinlander on 24 May 2009 at 9:17pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Lizzern Diglot Senior Member Norway Joined 5909 days ago 791 posts - 1053 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English Studies: Japanese | Message 36 of 52 24 May 2009 at 9:32pm | IP Logged | |||||
Exactly! Maybe somebody should tell them that they no longer get to take credit :-) I'm sure that would go down well... 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Vinlander Groupie Canada Joined 5821 days ago 62 posts - 69 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 37 of 52 25 May 2009 at 2:31am | IP Logged | |||||
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| reasonableman Newbie United Kingdom Joined 5655 days ago 33 posts - 35 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Turkish | Message 38 of 52 02 June 2009 at 8:09pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I saw a link to this and it is pretty relevant and startling:
We must polish the Polish furniture. He could lead if he would get the lead out. The farm was used to produce produce. The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse. The soldier decided to desert in the desert. This was a good time to present the present. A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum. When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes. I did not object to the object. The insurance was invalid for the invalid. The bandage was wound around the wound. There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row. They were too close to the door to close it. The buck does funny things when the does are present. They sent a sewer down to stitch the tear in the sewer line. To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow. The wind was too strong to wind the sail. After a number of injections my jaw got number. Upon seeing the tear in my clothes I shed a tear. I had to subject the subject to a series of tests. How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend? I read it once and will read it agen I learned much from this learned treatise. I was content to note the content of the message. The Blessed Virgin blessed her. Blessed her richly. It's a bit wicked to over-trim a short wicked candle. If he will absent himself we mark him absent. I incline toward bypassing the incline. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| cordelia0507 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5838 days ago 1473 posts - 2176 votes Speaks: Swedish* Studies: German, Russian | Message 39 of 52 02 June 2009 at 10:14pm | IP Logged | |||||
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The post above illustrates how impossible the English language is!
No further proof is needed...! This must be the most illogical language in Europe! The EU should do something about this, lol :-) !! In light of this, it is not hard to understand why the French stick to French wherever possible. Although I have some reservations against French too, at least none of this crazy business is going on in the language of Balzac and Voltaire. All I can say is thank goodness I learn English before I was old enough to realise what a crazy language it is... :-) No insult intended at anybody English speaking, but I dare anyone to find such a crazy example as the one above in any European language! It couldn't possibly exist! 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 40 of 52 02 June 2009 at 11:05pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Here's another example of the ridiculously inconsistent English spelling system:
I'm unsure of the title of this poem, but I've seen it listed as "the Dearest Creature in Creation", or "The Chaos" and attributed to various authors; one website even called it "English is Tough Stuff". This is a little dated, and "mould" is clearly the British spelling (not that the American spelling of "mold" is any simpler to figure out) but still pretty funny. Dearest creature in creation, Study English pronunciation. I will teach you in my verse Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse. I will keep you, Suzy, busy, Make your head with heat grow dizzy. Tear in eye, your dress will tear. So shall I! Oh hear my prayer. Just compare heart, beard, and heard, Dies and diet, lord and word, Sword and sward, retain and Britain. (Mind the latter, how it's written.) Now I surely will not plague you With such words as plaque and ague. But be careful how you speak: Say break and steak, but bleak and streak; Cloven, oven, how and low, Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe. Hear me say, devoid of trickery, Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore, Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles, Exiles, similes, and reviles; Scholar, vicar, and cigar, Solar, mica, war and far; One, anemone, Balmoral, Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel; Gertrude, German, wind and mind, Scene, Melpomene, mankind. Billet does not rhyme with ballet, Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet. Blood and flood are not like food, Nor is mould like should and would. Viscous, viscount, load and broad, Toward, to forward, to reward. And your pronunciation's OK When you correctly say croquet, Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve, Friend and fiend, alive and live. Ivy, privy, famous; clamour And enamour rhyme with hammer. River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb, Doll and roll and some and home. Stranger does not rhyme with anger, Neither does devour with clangour. Souls but foul, haunt but aunt, Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant, Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger, And then singer, ginger, linger, Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge, Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age. Query does not rhyme with very, Nor does fury sound like bury. Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth. Job, nob, bosom, transom, oath. Though the differences seem little, We say actual but victual. Refer does not rhyme with deafer. Foeffer does, and zephyr, heifer. Mint, pint, senate and sedate; Dull, bull, and George ate late. Scenic, Arabic, Pacific, Science, conscience, scientific. Liberty, library, heave and heaven, Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven. We say hallowed, but allowed, People, leopard, towed, but vowed. Mark the differences, moreover, Between mover, cover, clover; Leeches, breeches, wise, precise, Chalice, but police and lice; Camel, constable, unstable, Principle, disciple, label. Petal, panel, and canal, Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal. Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair, Senator, spectator, mayor. Tour, but our and succour, four. Gas, alas, and Arkansas. Sea, idea, Korea, area, Psalm, Maria, but malaria. Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean. Doctrine, turpentine, marine. Compare alien with Italian, Dandelion and battalion. Sally with ally, yea, ye, Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key. Say aver, but ever, fever, Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver. Heron, granary, canary. Crevice and device and aerie. Face, but preface, not efface. Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass. Large, but target, gin, give, verging, Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging. Ear, but earn and wear and tear Do not rhyme with here but ere. Seven is right, but so is even, Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen, Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk, Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work. Pronunciation -- think of Psyche! Is a paling stout and spikey? Won't it make you lose your wits, Writing groats and saying grits? It's a dark abyss or tunnel: Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale, Islington and Isle of Wight, Housewife, verdict and indict. Finally, which rhymes with enough -- Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough? Hiccough has the sound of cup. My advice is to give up!!! This poem, like the example two posts above this one, is most effective when read out loud; but still I wonder how any of us ever learn English? The languages I'm currently learning seem to have many aspects that could be difficult, although the spelling systems are simple. Now that I think of it, Dutch may become problematic if the spelling rules are changed a few more times. I think Dutch spelling has been revised 3 or 4 times in the last 100 years, and I know I read somewhere that there are now two books of spelling rules for Dutch: het groene boekje and het witte boek. Edited by mick33 on 02 June 2009 at 11:14pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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