Which of these two language groups are the hardest (for a native English speaker) (high school)

[Rams_Lord]

What do you think?

[saibot]

It's impossible to answer because of the way the poll is worded.

Arabic, Hebrew, and Amharic are all in the same language group (Semitic).

Mandarin, Japanese, and Korean are in three different groups (unless you believe that Japanese and Korean are related, which is debatable. If there is a link, it is in the distant past, and knowing one does little to help you learn the other).

However, Arabic, Mandarin, Japanese and Korean are ALL rated by the Foreign Service Institute as "exceptionally difficult for native English speakers." Hebrew and Amharic however, are downgraded to having "significant linguistic and cultural differences from English." So, by this standard, Hebrew and Amharic are the easiest of the six.

Mandarin is particularly difficult for an English-speaker because you not only have to master tones (and those who didn't grow up with them often have a hard time even hearing them!), but you also have to memorize a few thousand Chinese characters. That's my choice for most difficult.

Personally, I would pick Japanese as the easiest, but I'm biased. I started learning Japanese in high school, many years ago, and have worked as a translator. The sound system and grammar of Japanese are relatively simple, in my opinion. You do have to learn Chinese characters (kanji), but not as many as in Chinese. Personally, I loved learning kanji and found it fun, not difficult, but many people would not agree with me.

[Rams_Lord]

Originally Posted by saibot

It's impossible to answer because of the way the poll is worded.

Arabic, Hebrew, and Amharic are all in the same language group (Semitic).

Mandarin, Japanese, and Korean are in three different groups (unless you believe that Japanese and Korean are related, which is debatable. If there is a link, it is in the distant past, and knowing one does little to help you learn the other).

However, Arabic, Mandarin, Japanese and Korean are ALL rated by the Foreign Service Institute as "exceptionally difficult for native English speakers." Hebrew and Amharic however, are downgraded to having "significant linguistic and cultural differences from English." So, by this standard, Hebrew and Amharic are the easiest of the six.

Mandarin is particularly difficult for an English-speaker because you not only have to master tones (and those who didn't grow up with them often have a hard time even hearing them!), but you also have to memorize a few thousand Chinese characters. That's my choice for most difficult.

Personally, I would pick Japanese as the easiest, but I'm biased. I started learning Japanese in high school, many years ago, and have worked as a translator. The sound system and grammar of Japanese are relatively simple, in my opinion. You do have to learn Chinese characters (kanji), but not as many as in Chinese. Personally, I loved learning kanji and found it fun, not difficult, but many people would not agree with me.

I should of worded it differently, that's true. But thanks for your input

[jtur88]

Depends on the level of proficiency desired. Mandarin is very easy at the basic elementary level, because grammar is nearly non-existent and it's uninflected. "Ta" means he, she, it, him, and her. But it becomes much more difficult to master the nuances, and is is probably nearly impossible for most adults to learn to read and write beyond Dick-and-Jane level. Learning to read and write it will be of absolutely no value in learning to speak and understand it,, so if you're only talking about becoming fluent, writing it not an impediment.

Arabic is much harder at the elementary level, because it has subtle consonantal difference that the English ear cannot distinguish, but color the adjacent vowels.. And words are inflected with internal changes, not simple endings.