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View Poll Results: ???
English 12 8.33%
French 5 3.47%
Russian 10 6.94%
Chinese 52 36.11%
Japanese 19 13.19%
Arabic 14 9.72%
Spanish 0 0%
German 3 2.08%
Italian 1 0.69%
Another 28 19.44%
Voters: 144. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 01-23-2014, 11:51 PM
 
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My native language is Russian. Spanish is easy to learn, English is more difficult.
And answering the question "What is the most difficult language (to learn it)?" - I do not know how it's hard to learn Chinese, Japanese or Arabic but it seems to me that most difficult languages to learn is Russian and German.
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Old 01-23-2014, 11:59 PM
 
Location: State of Transition
102,092 posts, read 107,197,582 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gentoo View Post
Getting away from European languages, some of the Native American ones are way out there! Cherokee I believe was used as a code language in WWII and was un-crackable. Aztec is virtually unpronounceable if you're not a native speaker.

Then, I'd have to wonder about others like the Bushman language. How would one even spell the different pops and clicks that are very common in that language?
My gardener is a Native Nahuatl (Aztec) speaker! It's no harder to pronounce than the Mayan or some Native American languages. But those click languages in southern Africa? Well, I guess you get used to it after awhile. Actually, some Native American languages have clicks. The San (Bushman) languages/dialects spell the clicks with different symbols and keys on the typewriter, like an exclamation point, question mark, etc.

Rest assured that linguists have managed to codify nearly all the languages in the world. That reminds me, a good film on the effort to record, transcribe, and save dying languages in the world is "The Linguists". It discusses a forgotten Siberian Turkic language, Chemehuevi (American SW), a pre-Inca language in Bolivia (everyone believed all the pre-Inca languages had been replaced by Quechua historically, and that none remained), and others. Fascinating film.
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Old 01-24-2014, 08:59 AM
 
Location: São Paulo, Brazil
1,741 posts, read 2,515,301 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gentoo View Post
Being Filipino, you are probably more familiar with English than most. English is hard for most people because it is very inconsistent. Think about all the "exceptions" to the rules;

Generally vowels with have a short sound in a word when followed by a double vowel. Unless it's a double L then it has a long sound, especially if the vowel is O. The combination "gh" is usually silent, but can sound like an F. Words like 'drought' and 'draught' have one vowel different but the gh also changes; silent in the first word, F sound in the second. Then there are things that as native English speakers, we don't even think of. The letter S almost always sounds like a Z at the end of a word. Plurals are usually formed by adding as S. Sometimes ES as in 'foxes'. Sometimes EN as in 'oxen'. Some words don't change at all such as 'deer', 'shrimp', 'sheep' etc. Then there are weird ones like fish. It remains 'fish' it's it's plural of one kind of fish but becomes 'fishes' if more than one kind is involved.

Then there are our verbs. In most languages (well European ones anyway), the infinitive of verbs remains one word but in English, the infinitive is formed by preceding the verb with the word 'to'. The past tense can be made by adding 'ED'. But sometimes by adding 'EN'. Sometimes by using a different word and at other times, the same word is simply pronounced differently (such as read and read).

Then there is just the way the languages is spoken that can confuse those trying to learn it: We park on driveways and drive on parkways. Have noses that run and feet that smell. When the stars are out, they're visable but when the lights are out, they're invisible. To close up a store and close down a store are the same but a wise man and wise guy are opposites.

The dove dove into the bush. The farmer taught his sow to sow. I need to polish the Polish furniture. Some things are invalid for the invalid. A minute is a minute amount of time. The EMT wound the wound tightly. Wind the sail so the wind won't wind it. When I wind up my watch, I start it. When I wind up this post, I end it.

I don't know about you but I am amazed that non native speakers ever learn English at all.
If you are saying English is difficult, what to say about German? That language has more exceptions than rules!
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Old 01-24-2014, 09:01 AM
 
Location: Leeds, UK
22,118 posts, read 29,497,086 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Atai J. View Post
My native language is Russian. Spanish is easy to learn, English is more difficult.
And answering the question "What is the most difficult language (to learn it)?" - I do not know how it's hard to learn Chinese, Japanese or Arabic but it seems to me that most difficult languages to learn is Russian and German.
Interesting. German is one of the easier languages for a native English-speaker to learn.
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Old 01-24-2014, 09:08 AM
 
1,600 posts, read 1,880,169 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dunno what to put here View Post
Interesting. German is one of the easier languages for a native English-speaker to learn.
It depends: German grammar is far more complicated than English one, given that English speaking have problems with the easiest Italian phonology (Italian has 5 vowels+2 semi-vowels, English has 15 plus 2 semiwowels and still most English speaking I met have heavy and thick accent and often mistaken pronunciation), let alone with German which is more complex.
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Old 01-24-2014, 10:04 AM
 
2,238 posts, read 3,309,765 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kevxu View Post
I would think that any language with tones, such as Chinese, or a click language, such as Xhosa.

My experience is limited to European languages. I found Greek difficult because it seemed to have so many irregulars and exceptions to its rules.

Irish is difficult to speak well because the pronunciation of consonants varies in ways that are very subtle to an English speaker, and its grammar is very complicated.
Your first sentence was literally on my mind. Also the languages where ppl click and vibrate and do throat acrobatics with their throat for language communication in sone parts of Africa is hard too. It would probably make you slice your throat trying to imitate it.

Idk how they do that/it.
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Old 01-24-2014, 02:06 PM
 
4,449 posts, read 4,597,077 times
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Curous as to how those 'click' langauge evolved. Was it a matter of providing say an emphasis in the communication? Was environment/geography a factor? Where is it believed to have first started? Pretty interesting I'd say.
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Old 01-15-2015, 07:19 PM
 
Location: Vermont, New England
75 posts, read 119,541 times
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North Sentinelese. The north sentinel islands are an archipelago off the cost of Burma, but the islands belong to India. There are 50-100 people living on these islands and they are an uncontacted people. We have no idea what their language is like, and every time someone had set foot on the islands they were murdered!

The Indian government has tried to make contact, bring them gifts etc, but the Sentinelese just won't have it, and fire arrows at anyone who tries to reach them! We may never learn about their language and culture

As far as major languages go : I'm learning Arabic and that is an extremely difficult language. Korean and Japanese are also among the hardest

Last edited by urbo2705; 01-15-2015 at 07:22 PM.. Reason: Wanted to add additional information
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Old 01-15-2015, 07:29 PM
 
Location: Sydney, Australia
11,645 posts, read 12,868,126 times
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East Asian languages and French (their accent is too heavy).
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Old 01-15-2015, 10:53 PM
 
Location: Taipei
8,854 posts, read 8,372,932 times
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I find Latin quite difficult.
Btw since somebody brought up simplified/traditional Chinese characters a few years ago(lol), I just wanna say that simplified characters are hideous and the pinyin system China uses is the lamest in the history of lame.
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