How hard is it to learn English as a second language?

MultiUmm

Everyone has heard that English is one of the hardest languages in the world to learn. But is it really?

Is it true that it is one of the most difficult languages to grasp? Or does it depend on where a person is from, i.e a German person finding it easier to learn than a Russian for example?

I'm wondering, is it pronunciation and spoken English that non-native speakers struggle with more so than written English?

I'd appreciate any feedback particularly if English is a second, third or fourth language to you.

sNarah

I found English the easiest to learn out of all the languages I speak. I'd say English would be my 4th language - if I was to line them up in order of learning them.

That said - because I am from the Flemish (Dutch) speaking part of Belgium, all our TV programme's are subtitled rather than dubbed - meaning The Simpsons thaught me A LOT of English .

I find it a lot easier than French or German - vocabulary would be related to Dutch as they originate from the same basis, grammar is rather straightforward and hasn't too many exeptions.

The only 'hard' thing is words that are pronounced the same way but written differently, it's hard to get around that sometimes. (i.e. They're - Their - There).

pickarooney

I've never heard anyone say English was one of the hardest languages to learn - quite the opposite in fact.

Unless it was native English speakers who said it - for some reason many people seem to think their own language is the toughest. Certainly I heard it said hundreds of times by Dutch people that Dutch was the hardest language to learn (it really isn't!) and very often in France too.

Naturally enough your own mother tongue and degree of exposure will strongly influence what is a hard or easy language to learn.

MultiUmm

sNarah wrote: »

I found English the easiest to learn out of all the languages I speak. I'd say English would be my 4th language - if I was to line them up in order of learning them.

That said - because I am from the Flemish (Dutch) speaking part of Belgium, all our TV programme's are subtitled rather than dubbed - meaning The Simpsons thaught me A LOT of English .

I find it a lot easier than French or German - vocabulary would be related to Dutch as they originate from the same basis, grammar is rather straightforward and hasn't too many exeptions.

The only 'hard' thing is words that are pronounced the same way but written differently, it's hard to get around that sometimes. (i.e. They're - Their - There).

Can I ask do you think having a grasp of other languages before English made it easier to learn in your eyes? For example, was the second language you learned a lot more difficult than the third or fourth? (disregarding the fact you found French and German harder in general of course :P)

Slightly OT but I always thought that if one was fluent in Dutch they'd find German relatively easy and vice versa!

Ha ha, well I assure you that plenty of people with English as their first language still struggle with they're, their and there! :P Do you ever get caught with pronunciation during spoken English? For example with letters like c the pronunciation changes frequently, is it a matter of picking it up by ear or??

MultiUmm

pickarooney wrote: »

I've never heard anyone say English was one of the hardest languages to learn - quite the opposite in fact.

Unless it was native English speakers who said it - for some reason many people seem to think their own language is the toughest. Certainly I heard it said hundreds of times by Dutch people that Dutch was the hardest language to learn (it really isn't!) and very often in France too.

Naturally enough your own mother tongue and degree of exposure will strongly influence what is a hard or easy language to learn.

Maybe it's a certain pride and superiority complex people have about their own language? As in "Oh, our language is wonderfully complex and sophisticated, of course you'll struggle with it!"

On a side note, my brother learned both Dutch and French but he found French a lot harder to grasp. I suppose it all depends on the individual too when it comes to learning a language, i.e if they're already language-orientated people and if they have a flare for it.

DublinWriter

sNarah wrote: »

That said - because I am from the Flemish (Dutch) speaking part of Belgium, all our TV programme's are subtitled rather than dubbed - meaning The Simpsons thaught me A LOT of English .

Having worked with the Flemish, most speak English better than the English themselves, better than the Dutch and let's not even talk about the Wallons!

English is an easy language to get basic skills in due to the lack of gender with nouns and a relatively simple grammatical structure.

However, I find most non-native speakers fall down trying to get to a medium or advanced level due to all the very fine metaphorical nuances that exist due to the differences in regional dialects and some of the more advanced rules of grammar in English would give the German language a run for it's money.

The problem(?) with English is that it's a mongrel-language derived from French, old-German and old-Nordic. There are at least five ways to say the same thing, whereas in French you can only state a fact one way, which is why French is still the internation language used for International Diplomacy.

storm2811

My mum moved here from Belgium in the 70's and said she picked it up quick enough,was nearly fluent in 2 years.

Best way to learn it is by just being stuck in some english speaking country and you pick it up really well apparently.
Same with other languages too I think.

bogtotty

I taught English for a good few years - of the learners I taught, I found speakers of Germanic languages picked it quicker than others. Cultural awareness is hugely important to learning English - the grammar & vocabulary isn't too bad, but the idioms, slang, dialects and regional accents make it very difficult to become truly proficient. Very different to a language like German where there is one official standard that everyone speaks in addition to their own local version, and where, like French, there is usually only one way to say something. Spelling/pronunciation can also be a nightmare for learners of English, e.g. words like 'rough' and 'through' follow no discernible rules. It's easy to get to an upper intermediate level in English than in some other languages, especially with the complete dominance of Anglophone music and films internationally. Even elementary learners know the chorus to at least one Beatles song.

sNarah

MultiUmm wrote: »

- Can I ask do you think having a grasp of other languages before English made it easier to learn in your eyes?
- Slightly OT but I always thought that if one was fluent in Dutch they'd find German relatively easy and vice versa!
QUOTE]

1: Tbh - can't answer that question properly - as I never struggled with English and it sort of came natural to me, being immersed in it through music and television. The fact that I did a lot of travelling and worked a summer as a nanny in the States when I was 16 obviously aided that process too.

However - like I said before - Dutch and English would have a lot of similarities as they orginate from the same branch. Maybe that's why?

2: Yes and No. Picking up basic vocubulary is véry easy. Untill the grammar part and all the exeptions start kicking up

DublinWriter wrote: »

Having worked with the Flemish, most speak English better than the English themselves, better than the Dutch and let's not even talk about the Wallons!

English is an easy language to get basic skills in due to the lack of gender with nouns and a relatively simple grammatical structure.

Funny you should say that, but that's exactly my opinion! In a way Flemish is a much softer variation of Dutch and is more "neutral" accentwise. Add to that no dubbed television programmes - like Holland, France and Germany - but subtitles. I truly believe that is the main reason the Flemish have such a good grasp of English! Also, the fact that Belgium has 3 official languages which theoretically* we all have speak, makes languages immersion that much more natural and evident.

(* competely different discussion, so I will not elaborate about that, 't is a tad complicated )

MultiUmm wrote: »

1 - Maybe it's a certain pride and superiority complex people have about their own language? As in "Oh, our language is wonderfully complex and sophisticated, of course you'll struggle with it!"

2 - On a side note, my brother learned both Dutch and French but he found French a lot harder to grasp. I suppose it all depends on the individual too when it comes to learning a language, i.e if they're already language-orientated people and if they have a flare for it.

1 - Yes, I believe so. The English speakers can say "oh t is so easy and universal", the French say it's the language of love... etc. But than again, a bit of pride never harmed anyone

2 - Again, I think this is to do with the origins of language. Latin/Germanic languages - meaning if your native languages is from the Latin base you'd pick up French, Italian and Spanish easier. If it's Germanic (like English), you pick up Dutch and German easier than Latin languages.

Micilin Muc

English is a very easy language to learn. It's not a very complex language any more, compared to other European languages. Its prevalence in international culture makes it compulsory if one wants to travel.

Benny Lava

sNarah wrote: »

The only 'hard' thing is words that are pronounced the same way but written differently, it's hard to get around that sometimes. (i.e. They're - Their - There).

To be fair most Irish people don't even understand the differences between they're/their/there or your/you're.

sNarah

Benny Lava wrote: »

To be fair most Irish people don't even understand the differences between they're/their/there or your/you're.

My BF keeps saying my English is better than his - just because I actually had to 'learn' it, and therefore would have had payed more attention to issues like that.

pickarooney

DublinWriter wrote: »

in French you can only state a fact one way,

This is clearly bollocks.

Donkey Oaty

sNarah wrote: »

My BF keeps saying my English is better than his - just because I actually had to 'learn' it, and therefore would have had payed more attention to issues like that.

Where is your boyfriend from?

FlutterinBantam

Donkey Oaty wrote: »

Where is your boyfriend from?

If he's from Meath,I could well believe her.

Frikken foreigners speak better English than most of us.

deman

sNarah wrote: »

Also, the fact that Belgium has 3 official languages which theoretically* we all have speak, makes languages immersion that much more natural and evident.

I have never met a Belgian that didn't speak at least 5 languages fluently. You really have a knack for it. Subtitling TV programmes instead of dubbing works really well as the Scandinavian countries do the same and they are often considered to be the best non-native English speakers.

At school, our English teacher pointed out time and time again that English was one of the most difficult languages in the world to learn.

What utter tripe!

Yes, it breaks its own rules hundreds of times.
Yes, pronunciation can be totally unphonetical.
Yes, irregular verbs are used incorrectly even by the language's own native speakers.

But there are many other languages out there that are a nightmare to learn.

sNarah

pickarooney wrote: »

This is clearly bollocks.

Uhu!

Donkey Oaty wrote: »

Where is your boyfriend from?

He's a North County Dub!

FlutterinBantam wrote: »

If he's from Meath,I could well believe her.

Frikken foreigners speak better English than most of us.

Sometimes that seems to be the case allright :rolleyes:

deman wrote: »

I have never met a Belgian that didn't speak at least 5 languages fluently. You really have a knack for it. Subtitling TV programmes instead of dubbing works really well as the Scandinavian countries do the same and they are often considered to be the best non-native English speakers.

At school, our English teacher pointed out time and time again that English was one of the most difficult languages in the world to learn.

What utter tripe!

Yes, it breaks its own rules hundreds of times.
Yes, pronunciation can be totally unphonetical.
Yes, irregular verbs are used incorrectly even by the language's own native speakers.

But there are many other languages out there that are a nightmare to learn.

Irish! It's fecking hard - I've nothing from my other languages that I can use as a reference languages for Irish, it's so annoying!!

And I know the subtitling sounds a bit silly - but I réally am 100% convinced it is the main reason for better grasp of English. Scandanivians do seem to have pretty high standards indeed, again, they also find it easy to switch between the 3 languages (Swedish, Danish and Norwegian) because they are closely related - Danish then again being close to Dutch - and going on to English that way.