Hardest languages to learn as second languages
By Amanda
@mommyzhuuraan (217)
United Kingdom
August 2, 2018 3:22pm CST
Every once in a while, I think about languages and which ones would be hardest or easiest to learn as second languages. It makes me realize I'm glad English is my native language, because I think it's probably a really hard one to learn as a second one. It has multiple sounds for each vowel, a few consonants with more than one sound, a consonant that can also be a vowel, weird combinations of letters that make still more sounds, unnecessary silent letters like those in knife or thumb, and so many rules that it doesn't even follow it's not funny. I mean there are always exceptions, but English has so many of them that it can even be a headache for a native speaker. In fact, just earlier today I encountered a word I didn't even believe was a real word, but I looked it up in the dictionary and it was.
I've also noticed that very few people who speake English as a second language pronounce words correctly, often are uncertain how to say things, and use broken language. This isn't entirely their fault, and shows that they are at least trying, but it is a difficult language. I have no sympathy for those who don't even bother to try, and expect everyone else to bend over for them, but if someone genuinely makes the effort, it's cool.
So what do you think are the easiest and hardest languages to learn as second ones?
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7 responses
@mommyzhuuraan (217)
• United Kingdom
2 Aug 18
Wow, that does sound like a handful. I think the pictographic languages would be hard too, at least writing and reading. Speaking might not be as hard though.
1 person likes this
@AKRao24 (27424)
• India
2 Aug 18
@mommyzhuuraan , Believe me we are known as Italians of East for that musical language we have! By the way the language I mentioned there is my mother tongue!
1 person likes this
@MALUSE (69390)
• Germany
2 Aug 18
@mommyzhuuraan @TheHorse There can be no answer because it always depends on your native tongue if you find a foreign language easy or not. If you belong to the peoples which speak Germanic languages (German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian), then you don't find English extraordinarily difficult.
If you speak a Romanic language (French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian) or a Slavic language (Polish; Czech, Russian, Ukranian, Serbian, etc.), you find it difficult.
I can't go through the whole world but I hope you get the picture.
I've read repeatedly that English is a very difficult language. This comes invariably from speakers of the English tongue, often from people who don't know a foreign language. Everything mentioned in the first paragraph of this post can be learnt by foreigners and they don't have to be linguistic geniuses. I've taught English at secondary grammar schools in Germany for 40 years and know what I'm saying.
English has become the world language No 1 for historical and political reasons. People all over the world can be glad that they don't have to learn, say, German which is much more difficult. I can't give you a grammar lesson here but can tell you that to construct a correct English sentence is easy-peasy in comparison to German or French or Russian - to name two other languages.
"I have no sympathy for those who don't even bother to try" --- How many foreign languages have you bothered to try to learn if I may ask?
2 people like this
@mommyzhuuraan (217)
• United Kingdom
2 Aug 18
I am a native English speaker, but I have taken 4 years of Spanish in high school and I've been dabbling in German for a few months now and, while I don't know a lot, I know more of it than I thought I would after such a short time. I don't like when so-called experts think they know more than ordinary people. It is a matter of opinion, and some people may find it easier than others, but I stand by what I said about it not even following its own rules. It's pretty bad when even a native speaker doesn't recognize a word, one that if real such as the one referred to before, should have been self evident, but instead was something my husband and I both thought was incorrect when it wasn't.
@MALUSE (69390)
• Germany
2 Aug 18
@mommyzhuuraan Are you learning German from an online language learning site? There are some good ones.
It's not surprising or embarrassing that English speaking people can find words in their language they don't understand. English is the language with the largest vocabulary which can be explained by its history and a brain can only store so-and-so many words.
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104632)
• United States
2 Aug 18
I think that question depends on the person's native language. Germanic languages are usually considered easier for Native English speakers to learn because of the language's roots.
With that being said, Welsh is the easiest of the Celtic languages to learn because it's pronounced pretty much how it's spoken. There are some exceptions, and of course mutations are a pain to try to learn.
Any Chinese language would probably be the hardest for an English Speaker, and that's even considering the characters they use instead of letters.
2 people like this
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
3 Aug 18
I find Portuguese to be impossible even though I am quite fluent in French.
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@mommyzhuuraan (217)
• United Kingdom
2 Aug 18
I took Spanish in high school but lost a lot because I didn't have anyone to practice with, but trying to pick it back up. Spelling is way easier than English, although remembering irregular verbs and like 5 different tenses for conjugations can be a handful, lol. I'm learning German now too and the grammer is easier than Spanish, but the spelling is trickier.
@TheHorse (207500)
• Walnut Creek, California
2 Aug 18
@mommyzhuuraan Good for you. I suppose I'd really give it a shot if I woke up living in a foreign country.
@mommyzhuuraan (217)
• United Kingdom
2 Aug 18
I hadn't thought of that. I've never heard it spoken aloud, but I imagine it's not easy.
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@Courage7 (19633)
• United States
2 Aug 18
@mommyzhuuraan No it isnt easy at all. My Mother Irish born spoke some but even she did not know all.
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