Why English is so difficult to learn...

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by The Vagabond
ranskaldan, would you agree that English suits for computers much more than any other major language?

That's because ASCII is an US invention. If the Euros invented it, it'd be something like Unicode.

[Zero]

every language has its uniqueness... It's really hard to determine which language is superior to another.

Learning another language often helps you think in differently, thats probably why they teach second language in H.S....

anyway back on topic, english is defintely hard. Immigrants often have trouble with syntax.... hell the natives have trouble speaking good english..

[The Vagabond]

UR, you are right about this part. But what I meant was actually the possibility of incorporating the language into user-friendly applications. Simple grammatical forms on a small scale make it so much easier for English!

[Stefu]

English was definitely easier to learn that Swedish or spit-in-other-people's-faces-language they speak in that big country between Poland and Netherlands. Then again, it might have been all saturation.

[ranskaldan]

vagabond:

That's true.

But the same logic would mean that it's even SIMPLER if it were in Chinese, with close to zero grammatical endings and massive dependence on syntax.

But on the other hand, the Chinese script is hopeless. Oh well...

[The Vagabond]

Originally posted by ranskaldan
But on the other hand, the Chinese script is hopeless. Oh well...

Well, you've already answered to yourself.

[ranskaldan]

Mmm... there's something wrong in your points, I'm sure.

How are these user-friendly things handled in French or German versions of Windows anyway?

Der/die/das ______ etc etc??

[The Vagabond]

Originally posted by ranskaldan
How are these user-friendly things handled in French or German versions of Windows anyway?

In Windows it is relatively easy. But what about some customizable stuff, f.e. as in Civ or SMAC? You have to make an additional effort to account for all those grammar thingies. And yet you'll still end up with a lot of grammar errors.

[Drake Tungsten]

Nothing wrong with it. But it adds nothing to the richness or descriptiveness of English.

I know that I'd rather say "arachnophobia" than "fear of spiders", just like I'd rather say "schadenfreude" than "getting pleasure from the suffering of others". Less words = good. The strength of English is that it so readily incorporates foreign words that effectively express concepts not yet covered by English.

[Ned]

Originally posted by Zkribbler
A couple of problems with English:

1) It was written down early and then went through a major vowel shift. The pronounciation changed but the spelling didn't.

2) About the time it was reaching its final form, Britain was undergoing a series of invations. So the language is an amalgum of German, Danish, Norwegian, Norman French and a dab of Latin.

I find it interesting that there is no Gaelic in the English language. To me, an American, and there is very little difference between the accents of the Welsh, Scottish and lower-class English. They all have more similarities to each other than differences. So why is it that Gaelic has/had no influence on English?

[monolith94]

My thought is the best language for poetry.

[alva]

Originally posted by Zkribbler
A couple of problems with English:

1) It was written down early and then went through a major vowel shift. The pronounciation changed but the spelling didn't.

IMO, that's what makes is less difficult...
Here(belgium&holland) they change the whole thing every 15 years

[FrustratedPoet]

*SHOCK*

*HORROR*

oh my god, it appears that almost everyone thinks that their own native language is the best in world!

who would have thought it?

[alva]

I don't

[Sikander]

I have to disagree with Raskal's contention that English vocabulary isn't useful / doesn't add to literary richness. Having so many synonyms, many of which are known to the educated speaker means that you can add shades of meaning to sentences that have the same meaning in a literal sense. Thus a sentence can be written with words rooted in Germanic, and it will sound simple or old, while writing with words rooted in French or Latin can sound a lot more sophisticated while conveying the same information.

For poetry the extra words help English close the gap on languages which have far fewer sounds (which immensely simplifies rhyming), and additionally help one to achieve the proper meter. Highly inflected languages like Russian have one significant advantage on English in poetry, which is that they can rearrange the order of their words freely without changing the meaning of a sentence. However objects can be difficult to rhyme in general, as you are often left with few choices in endings, so this tends to even out the word order advantage somewhat.

I would rank English as the equal of many languages in poetry, and superior to most in prose for these reasons. But it can be tough to learn, with plenty of irregularites, some difficult sounds (and a lot of sounds), and some fairly complex grammar as your capabilities progress beyond simple sentences and tenses.