Is English A Difficult Language?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Brasil

ENGLISH----- PORTUGUESE

Present----- Presente
I love------- eu amo
you love----- tu amas
he loves----- ele ama
we love----- nós amamos
you all love--- vós amais
they love ----- eles amam

Past--------- Pretérito
I loved------- eu amei
you loved----- tu amaste
he loved----- ele amou
we loved----- nós amamos
you all loved--- vós amastes
they loved----- eles amaram

Future--------- Futuro
I will love------- eu amarei
you will love----- tu amarás
he will love----- ele amará
we will love----- nós amaremos
you all will love--- vós amareis
they will love----- eles amarão

So, I think English conjugation is very simple, almost no variation.
Now, look at the red letters in portuguese conjugation. That kind of variation is complex.
I've taken Portuguese grammar as example. The same I say about Portuguese is also for any neo-latin language and other languages.

---

Yes, that is the point I was trying to make earlier. ;)

I'm sorry, but that is a terrible example Brazil. the words function the same way, your endings are just at the end of the word. That is not more difficult, because it is simpler to remember that rule.

Try hebrew though, that has 26 binyanim of verb types. That has far more endings, especially since it is also inflected to time, speaker, and gender. Either way, these grammar rules aren't the hardest part. it is vocabulary consistency which is the difficult, and English has plenty of homonyms and similar sounding accents that it can jar even native speakers.

That being said, I am in no way saying you are wrong about Portuguese being harder, I am just saying that is a terrible example.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JBI

I'm sorry, but that is a terrible example Brazil. the words function the same way, your endings are just at the end of the word. That is not more difficult, because it is simpler to remember that rule.

---

Lol, sure, just try to remember 50+ variations per verb, it will make your head spin. English speakers should not be discouraged on account of this, though. If you ask a native for ALL of these conjugations, chances are he will not know. You don't need to turn into Luís de Camões or Cervantes to be able to communicate fluently. ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JBI

Try hebrew though, that has 26 binyanim of verb types. That has far more endings, especially since it is also inflected to time, speaker, and gender.

---

Hebrew is a semitic language. That is a different arena altogether. Portuguese and english are indo-european languages.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JBI

Either way, these grammar rules aren't the hardest part.

---

This is true. _THESE_ grammar rules are not the hardest part... there are other grammar rules that make it even more difficult, lol.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JBI

it is vocabulary consistency which is the difficult,

---

Uh, no... "vocabulary consistency" is actually just the first part of learning a language. The last part would be to master the grammar. It may take years to master the grammar -- if you ever manage to master it, that is. Some people never do.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JBI

and English has plenty of homonyms and similar sounding accents that it can jar even native speakers.

---

This, although true, is by no means a particularity of the english language! Just about EVERY language "has plenty of homonyms and similar sounding accents that it can jar even native speakers." It seems like english speakers like very much to drop this line simply because they can't find anything else that makes their language appear fancy. ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JBI

That being said, I am in no way saying you are wrong about Portuguese being harder, I am just saying that is a terrible example.

---

It is a terrible example to prove what? That there are harder languages than english? If this is the point addressed, then portuguese is not "a terrible example", at all.

Brasil is correct in his assertions.

The debate about "Portuguese and English languages" is very deep!!!!
(The debate about languages begins in the post #44 of the thread Brazilian Literature)

Just an example (the complete version is in "Brazilian Literature" thread):

We have in Portuguese the verb that means "to get a cold". It is gripar. See the conjugation at the Present:
Eu gripo, Tu gripas, Ele gripa, Nós gripamos, etc...
(=I get a cold, you get a cold, he get a cold, we get a cold...)

The word gripado is the past participle of the verb gripar.
The word gripar is the infinitive form.

If you are a female you have to say: Eu estou gripada
If you are a male you have to say: Eu estou gripado

English does not have declinations by male/female and singular/plural.
English article "a" in Portuguese can assume four forms: um, uma, uns, umas.
English article "the" in Portuguese can assume four forms: o, a, os, as.

That is why I think English is simple and easy. In English you don't have to conjugate verbs and there is (almost) no declination.

But I apreciate all languages, they are all beatiful for me. I love English, Arabic and all romance languages.

I love English but I do not really think that it is easy to learn. The first stages are attained pretty fast. But I do think that later on it gets more and more difficult. Not the understanding part but the writing...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pyrrho

I love English but I do not really think that it is easy to learn.

---

To attain fluency in any language is not an easy task. I don't think it is easy to learn english. But compared to any other major european language, english is easy.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pyrrho

The first stages are attained pretty fast. But I do think that later on it gets more and more difficult. Not the understanding part but the writing...

---

That is exactly how it goes... first you acquire a vague understanding of the words -- you associate words to objects and/or ideas -- then you begin to vaguely understand a text. But to write is a bit more difficult, you are right. That is part of learning the grammar already. That may take years. That is the last part.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pyrrho

I love English but I do not really think that it is easy to learn. The first stages are attained pretty fast. But I do think that later on it gets more and more difficult. Not the understanding part but the writing...

---

?
I don't quite understand that very well. Wish I haven't sound obtuse, eh?

Learning a new language is not that difficult only if you are in that language community. But being distant from the community and imagine when one becomes compelled to learn a live language depending upon signs or prints, is not it a tedious thing to do. That is how I learn it.

I do not speak a single word in English in my community. I simply read it in print, watch TV programs, listen to songs in English, and these are the sources of my knowledge in English.

What about yours?

That is just my very subjective view. I study English literature and while at school learning English was always very easy for me I have some problems to write on a more academic level. It' s just that I read and read and read but, nonetheless, it still does not work out the way I would wish it to. And many of my fellow students have the same problem. Like EdwardJ said: advanced grammar...hm... and style. Not so easy to obtain.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by blazeofglory

I do not speak a single word in English in my community. I simply read it in print, watch TV programs, listen to songs in English, and these are the sources of my knowledge in English.

What about yours?

---

I mainly use English in the internet; sometimes I search on English websites when I couldn't get enough info on German websites; I read English online newspapers or this forum and occasionally a novel in English, and I also have a friend to whom I write in English.

Fact is, I've never uttered a word of it ever since I've left my English class in school, and even back then the focus was far more on reading/writing than on listening and speaking. Thus, it's quite inaccurate to say that I can speak it, since I never had an actual opportunity to do so.

Concerning the difficulty: besides my native language German I've studied two foreign languages in school, English and Russian, and I can easily tell you that Russian has caused me a lot more troubles than English, but that's very likely only because English and German are far more related than Russian and German, the grammar of English comes more natural and it's easier to build the vocabulary... I certainly do not believe that English is an easier language per se.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pyrrho

That is just my very subjective view. I study English literature and while at school learning English was always very easy for me I have some problems to write on a more academic level. It' s just that I read and read and read but, nonetheless, it still does not work out the way I would wish it to. And many of my fellow students have the same problem. Like EdwardJ said: advanced grammar...hm... and style. Not so easy to obtain.

---

I have never had any prolbems with English but at academic level I remember feeling the need of lack of vocabulary.

Ah an old post. Still. Indo-European languages are easy in general. I will stand by that.

Excuse me, important news: a passive wifi device has been developed to see through walls. This will help police and people determine de actual positions of criminals. Still working on sensitivity issues like, for example, if the criminals don't move, they cannot be detected. But a higher sensitivity is coming soon where the device will detect breathing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JBI

Ah an old post. Still. Indo-European languages are easy in general. I will stand by that.

---

What is the most difficult language according to you?

I don't know if this has already been said, but the greatest determinant of the difficulty of other languages is your native language. If your native language is Cantonese, you will find Mandarin relatively easy to learn. If your native language is Kurdish, you will find Persian relatively easy to learn. And so on.