I've heard it is the hardest to learn but is by far the most fvcked up language to learn?
http://www.grammar.com/a-vs-an-when-to-use/
http://www.grammar.com/a-vs-an-when-to-use/
The English language
- Thread starter HighStickHarry
- Start date
English is just a reflection of the jumbled-up mess of humanity of the peoples who speak it. Too many origins over too long a time frame make English a bitch. Chinese (which dialect?) is also difficult for an outsider to learn for the same reasons.
Both are amalgamations of several languages over many centuries as more and more outsiders and their different languages were absorbed.
The five Romance languages, on the other hand, are different from one another and cover a large geographic area, but they share strong Latin roots and learning one makes the other four easier to learn.
Say two people tell you they speak four languages. If one speaks four Romance languages, he's an accomplished linguist. If the other speaks English, Mandarin, Korean and Farsi, THAT'S damn impressive!
Some consider German a fifth cousin of English, but that's our closest relative.
Most languages have at least a few rules of spelling and pronunciation with assorted exceptions. English has far more exceptions than rules because the words in a 10-word English sentence may have ten different etymologies.
Speaking of English being a bitch, I have a friend in Brazil who comes to the 'States every couple of years on business who says the best part of every trip is learning the new slang. He says English changes more and faster than any other language. "It must be a bitch trying to stay 'cool' in America!" he says.
Yeah, and getting old doesn't help.
Both are amalgamations of several languages over many centuries as more and more outsiders and their different languages were absorbed.
The five Romance languages, on the other hand, are different from one another and cover a large geographic area, but they share strong Latin roots and learning one makes the other four easier to learn.
Say two people tell you they speak four languages. If one speaks four Romance languages, he's an accomplished linguist. If the other speaks English, Mandarin, Korean and Farsi, THAT'S damn impressive!
Some consider German a fifth cousin of English, but that's our closest relative.
Most languages have at least a few rules of spelling and pronunciation with assorted exceptions. English has far more exceptions than rules because the words in a 10-word English sentence may have ten different etymologies.
Speaking of English being a bitch, I have a friend in Brazil who comes to the 'States every couple of years on business who says the best part of every trip is learning the new slang. He says English changes more and faster than any other language. "It must be a bitch trying to stay 'cool' in America!" he says.
Yeah, and getting old doesn't help.
Agree w/ all points - the fact that there is a good amount of french roots in our language make it somewhat easier for us to learn the romantic languages, plus a far amount of spanish influence as well. Thanks to Norman conquest for smoothing English out a little
.
Yeah thanks, now I'm going to follow Youtube and reddit rabbit trails for hours now.
Typical grammatical rules are broken all the time in English.
This is part of the reason it's easier to pick out a person who didn't grow up speaking the language. They typically miss out on the nuances that those of us who grew up speaking intuitively know.
This is part of the reason it's easier to pick out a person who didn't grow up speaking the language. They typically miss out on the nuances that those of us who grew up speaking intuitively know.
Czech is one of the hardest on the planet. Having lived there for a few years I can tell you even the Czech people do not understand some of the language rules.
When the wife and I were thinking about immersion schools, we toured the French and Spanish schools. The French tour was interesting. They did share that French is far more difficult to learn than Spanish because of of all the tenses, 5 times as many in French (and English) vs. Spanish.
The French tour consisted of more of a sell than the Spanish tour. They cited some data about Africa being mostly French speaking than anything else in the next 30 years.
On my own, I found a report from the British Commerce (whatever they call their agency) a couple of years ago about the languages of the future. It took into account about 12 metrics they assessed to force rank about 15 languages. Spanish was number 1. It took into account emerging markets, areas where British presence was low, etc. Number 2 was Arabic, 3 was Mandrin, 4 was Hebrew, 5 was French, etc. I think that was the order?
It was about 65 or so pages and had a section dedicated entirely to the fact that England's ambivalence for not emphasizing biliterate education was going to hurt them in the future, and that most contracts today (globally) are written in English won't mean jack in 20-30 years.
Another prediction they made in the report was that Mexico would have an economy that was #8 by 2030, bigger than both France an England. Think about that, when most of us were born, they weren't in the top 50.
Anyhoo, the kid is in Spanish immersion. I have no GD idea what's going on with the papers he brings home. And google translate blows.
The French tour consisted of more of a sell than the Spanish tour. They cited some data about Africa being mostly French speaking than anything else in the next 30 years.
On my own, I found a report from the British Commerce (whatever they call their agency) a couple of years ago about the languages of the future. It took into account about 12 metrics they assessed to force rank about 15 languages. Spanish was number 1. It took into account emerging markets, areas where British presence was low, etc. Number 2 was Arabic, 3 was Mandrin, 4 was Hebrew, 5 was French, etc. I think that was the order?
It was about 65 or so pages and had a section dedicated entirely to the fact that England's ambivalence for not emphasizing biliterate education was going to hurt them in the future, and that most contracts today (globally) are written in English won't mean jack in 20-30 years.
Another prediction they made in the report was that Mexico would have an economy that was #8 by 2030, bigger than both France an England. Think about that, when most of us were born, they weren't in the top 50.
Anyhoo, the kid is in Spanish immersion. I have no GD idea what's going on with the papers he brings home. And google translate blows.
How old is he? Are these schools extensions of his regular school or are they post-high school or college? Is he taking all of his classes in Spanish, or just language?
I think that's a great way to go for anyone considering a language. Thanks for the latest stats on the future of different languages, too.
Tenses? We don't need no stinkin' tenses. We were talking about language development in class the other day and I was saying how when your five-year-old comes in and says, "Daddy, I seen a dog in the yard!" you need to say, "I SAW a dog in the yard" and ask him to repeat it. But in Oklahoma we say, "Yep, I seen that son of a bitch, too!"
Edited to add: @Alpha Poke. I want some answers!
I think that's a great way to go for anyone considering a language. Thanks for the latest stats on the future of different languages, too.
Tenses? We don't need no stinkin' tenses. We were talking about language development in class the other day and I was saying how when your five-year-old comes in and says, "Daddy, I seen a dog in the yard!" you need to say, "I SAW a dog in the yard" and ask him to repeat it. But in Oklahoma we say, "Yep, I seen that son of a bitch, too!"
Edited to add: @Alpha Poke. I want some answers!
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Here are some great examples regarding why the English language is hard to master:
"The bandage was wound around the wound."
"He could lead if he could get the lead out."
"The farm was used to produce produce."
"A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line."
"The doctor decided to subject the subject to a series of tests."
"The bandage was wound around the wound."
"He could lead if he could get the lead out."
"The farm was used to produce produce."
"A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line."
"The doctor decided to subject the subject to a series of tests."
