Easiest language for an English speaker? (General discussion) Language Learning Forum

Easiest language for an English speaker?
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Language Learning Forum : General discussion

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montmorency
Diglot
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 4618 days ago
2371 posts - 3676 votes

Speaks: English*, German
Studies: Danish, Welsh

Message 57 of 80

03 June 2012 at 3:21pm | IP Logged

vonPeterhof wrote:

montmorency wrote:

...with a south-eastern or RIP accent...

Freudian slip or subtle British sarcasm?

:-) Would that I were so subtle.

No, clumsy English typo I'm afraid (now edited).
1 person has voted this message useful

montmorency
Diglot
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 4618 days ago
2371 posts - 3676 votes

Speaks: English*, German
Studies: Danish, Welsh

Message 58 of 80

03 June 2012 at 3:25pm | IP Logged

anamsc2 wrote:

I'm actually genuinely surprised that nobody has chosen Spanish. Not only are there a
lot of cognates, but also the grammar and pronunciation are not particularly
difficult*. Also, English speakers and language learners don't exist in a vacuum. At
the end of the day, much of successfully learning a language comes down to availability
of resources. There are a number of courses, books, podcasts, etc. aimed at English-
speaking learners of Spanish, it is relatively easy to find Spanish speakers, and there
is a ton of Spanish media that is easy for English-speakers to access. Plus, at least
in the US, many people grow up with some exposure to Spanish, in school, in their
towns, and in popular culture.

I tend to agree. It certainly seems to be easy to get up a working knowledge fairly
quickly.

As to getting from there to speaking and knowing it well, I'm not qualified to comment,
but I suspect it takes effort, like anything else. I've heard that Spanish is an easy
language to learn to speak badly.

Lots of Brits holiday in Spain, and quite a few have properties there, so it's no
longer the far away place of which we know little, that it once might have been.

2 persons have voted this message useful

montmorency
Diglot
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 4618 days ago
2371 posts - 3676 votes

Speaks: English*, German
Studies: Danish, Welsh

Message 59 of 80

03 June 2012 at 3:34pm | IP Logged

COF wrote:

I was wondering, how do immigrants to Norway learn Norwegian when the attitude of
Norwegians is to go into English every time they hear a foreign accent speaking not
fluent Norwegian?

Do the Norwegians have a different attitude towards immigrants speaking Norwegian, or
do most immigrants tend to just get by in English until their Norwegian gets proficient
enough that Norwegians don't go into English anymore?

I'm guessing the former, i.e. the attitude to immigrants (i.e. people who have come to
stay and work) is probably different.

If the experience of a family member of mine in the Netherlands is relevant, working
wasn't a problem ... there are plenty of jobs where the working language is
English...but when you have to fight the bureaucracy, you'd better know some Dutch, and
best of all, know it quite well.

Edited by montmorency on 03 June 2012 at 10:02pm
1 person has voted this message useful

jazzboy.bebop
Senior Member
Norway
norwegianthroughnove
Joined 5208 days ago
439 posts - 800 votes

Speaks: English*
Studies: Norwegian

Message 60 of 80

03 June 2012 at 3:52pm | IP Logged

Марк wrote:

jazzboy.bebop wrote:

The language in general is very easy grammatically

Lets say only close to English, not objectively easy.

That's very true, I should have clarified that it is easy grammatically from the point of view of an English speaker. The conjugation system and general syntax is very similar to English so feels relatively easy and more natural to adjust to compared to the conjugation system of French for example.

Edited by jazzboy.bebop on 03 June 2012 at 4:51pm
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tastyonions
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
goo.gl/UIdChYRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 4455 days ago
1044 posts - 1823 votes

Speaks: English*, French, Spanish
Studies: Italian

Message 61 of 80

03 June 2012 at 4:24pm | IP Logged

What language is closest to English phonologically (other than Scots)?

Edited by tastyonions on 03 June 2012 at 4:25pm
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Medulin
Tetraglot
Senior Member
Croatia
Joined 4458 days ago
1199 posts - 2192 votes

Speaks: Croatian*, English, Spanish, Portuguese
Studies: Norwegian, Hindi, Nepali

Message 62 of 80

03 June 2012 at 6:32pm | IP Logged

I don't know why people say Danish is ugly.
To me, it sounds pleasant, like Belgian Dutch (Flemish):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vytkltZSBwU

And the grammar is even easier than the Norwegian one.

Edited by Medulin on 03 June 2012 at 6:36pm
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COF
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5621 days ago
262 posts - 354 votes

Speaks: English*

Message 63 of 80

03 June 2012 at 8:08pm | IP Logged

I think the idea that Danish is an ugly language stems from a joking discrimnation more than anything.

Out of the Scandinavian countries, Denmark has traditionally thrown its weight around the most, ruling Denmark, Iceland and Southern Sweden at various times.

So today, the other Scandinavians make fun of the Danes mainly because there is still a slight bitterness about how they have behaved in the past, although it is mostly good natured and light hearted.
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tractor
Tetraglot
Senior Member
Norway
Joined 5243 days ago
1349 posts - 2292 votes

Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Spanish, Catalan
Studies: French, German, Latin

Message 64 of 80

03 June 2012 at 8:48pm | IP Logged

COF, you seem to have strong opinions about what Europeans think of each other. You have no idea what you're
talking about. This, for instance, is utterly nonsense:

COF wrote:

So today, the other Scandinavians make fun of the Danes mainly because there is still a slight
bitterness about how they have behaved in the past, although it is mostly good natured and light hearted.

5 persons have voted this message useful

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