What makes English so difficult to learn?

Anonymous wrote:

"I wanted to say that's not true at all. English is very very "limited" compared to Italian, for example." I'd have to disagree entirely.  I'm a native English speaker, and I also speak some Spanish and I'm learning French.  I feel just as restricted speaking Spanish and French as you do speaking English.  It's not because we don't have ways of saying the same things, we just wouldn't use the same expression.  In fact an English speaker probably wouldn't even say the same thing, they would describe the thought in a different way that makes sense to an English speaker.

Nooo way. I'm sorry, I don't know how to explain this, but there are a lot of (important) expressions that in English don't exist and there isn't a way to express those meanings. You can't say "We say something else instead, it's just you don't know we do so", I know you actually say nothing instead. A little example?
What's your opinion about the war in Japan? - Well, that war is...
I'm tired of always using that "well", I want some synonyms...

There is not one agreed upon grammar so the rules change depending upon who or whom you are learning from. In general, Americans are very flexible with their grammar and speak will often use some form of non-standard English depending upon social circumstances.

This means you can speak English and break many of the grammar rules. Not too many people will mind as long as they can understand you and most of the time they will.

All languages have their difficulties. Learning tonal languages is a struggle for English speakers and languages with complex grammar rules.

What’s hard is the verb to be: you are, I am, he is.

There is no egg in eggplant or ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins were not invented in England nor french fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies, while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat. We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. And why is it that writers write, but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce, and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So, one moose, 2 meese? One index, two indices? Is cheese the plural of choose? If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?!

In what language do people recite at a play, and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? Park on driveways and drive on parkways? How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? How can the weather be hot as hell one day and cold as hell another? When a house burns up, it burns down. You fill in a form by filling it out and an alarm clock goes off by going on. When the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it, but when I wind up this answer, I end it? Now you see why it takes 3-7 times as long to learn English as it does to learn Spanish and why English sucks!!

PS: I'm an English teacher, and I don't think it sucks at all, you guys are just fun to mess with...

 

Saska wrote:

Guest wrote: Why many foreign speakers have such problems with the English language? I mean, I came to the U.S. about two years ago, and in the beginning I've had problems with the language (probably just like eveybody else), but what makes English such a difficult language to learn? Most people (like in Europe) they grasp the [other] languages right away. The pronunciation is a lot easier, but still? What is so difficult about English? I know that there is stress, and that a lot of people shorten the vowels, but what makes English so hard? Thank You for taking Your time reading this To the original poster, I do not believe English is   a language hard to learn, much easier than all the other languages I am learning at the moment, (excluding ONE) and I am learning 6 languages. English is fairly easy, if you compare it to lets say French or Croatian ... What's difficult is to learn it PROPERLY.

That is right. Many native speakers do not even know proper English. It would definitely be difficult for a non native speaker to learn Proper English.

I am currently learning Icelandic, and it is really hard. Everything declines, nouns, numbers, adjectives, and the definite article. At least only pronouns decline in English.