Which language is most difficult language for people to learn?

Forbes

I think Polish simply has the reputation of being difficult because of the way it looks on the page; it appears to have some fearsome consonant clusters. Even then, whilst it does have consonant clusters that English lacks, appearances are a bit deceptive; the combination szcz looks like four sounds, but is in fact two.

Forbes

Again, Japanese has the reputation of being difficult because it has the most complex writing system of any language. The language itself is just as easy/difficult as any other language.

Forbes

All languages are equally crazy, but do not seem so to native speakers.

To me that is like saying: All people are equally tall.

I am not sure how many Finnish words there are for "you". It depends on how you want to count them; many suffixes and inflections can be added to Finnish words. The basic number of corresponding words without any suffixes is probably about 30. I'm not saying that this makes Finnish particularly difficult compared to other languages. We just use fewer prepositions.

The fact that English morphology is very simple does give a learner the impression that English is very easy. I remember that very clearly when I was a young boy and realised with great joy that a great number of Finnsih verb forms could be translated by using just one or two English verb forms. In the early going that is important. It encourages one to go on with one's studies. Of course the initial impression is at least partly wrong: even though the grammar seems ridiculously simple at first, there's more to it than meets the eye. One realises only later that there are very strict guidelines involving other points of grammar that have to be observed. Also, a language that is easy to some learners may prove difficult for others.

English spelling is usually mentioned as an example of what is difficult in English, and with justification! One aspect that is rarely mentioned as an example of difficulty is the pronunciation. This is of course due to native speakers not having any problems there except for some rare words. As a rule, a native pronounces a common word correctly the way he uses articles correctly. Since English pronunciation is just as illogical as the spelling is, pronunciation presents big problems for nonnatives. There's a difference in words like famous and infamous and the stress seems to travel towards the end of words when the words get longer: 'photo, pho'tography, photo'graphic, photogra'vurist. Fortunately the last word is seldom need these days! We talk about agricultural 'produce but we pro'duce agricultural products. (What is easy about Finnish is the pronunciation. A word is nearly always pronounced the way it is spelled and the main stress is always on the first syllable.)

However, the initial  -  albeit wrong!  -  impression is that English is easy and no doubt that is one of the reasons children and grown-ups alike are so eagerly attracted to studying it. I remember when I was 11 and had to choose between German and English that this apparent easiness was a major factor in my choice. Of course I studied German too, but that came a few years later. I found German grammar easy because it was so consistent and logical, and the morphology was very simple compared with my native language. Later at Helsinki University studying Old English was a breeze for me because it was so much like modern German, which I had studied in high school.

These days pupils usually start studying English at the age of nine. Nine-year-olds shouldn't be taught any real grammar at all. They are too young to understand it. Since other methods are used in the early going and students don't get familiar with grammatical terms, a student may have highly original opinions about English grammar after he graduates from high school. A 20-year-old university student once said to me: "But English has no grammar!"

Cheers, CB

I agree with you completely. Of course grammar includes syntax. I wrote about the very first experiences of a person who is beginning his language studies. All such experiences are very subjective!

I don't think there is an objective way or method to measure and compare the difficulty of languages. I honestly believe that just like people prefer different tastes and colours and whatever, they also vary in their ability to learn languages (and other things as well). If somebody thinks and says that a certain language is easy or difficult for him, it is his subjective view but he is certainly right. At least he feels that way. He may have a very superficial knowledge of the languages he is studying but if he finds one language easier or more difficult than other languages he is certainly right. 

 I know from experience that even if someone has a flair for languages, not all languages are equally easy for him. A language that is easy for some may be difficult for others. That's a fact. There are teachers who have been teaching languages for 35 years to thousands of students in Finland. They have noticed the differences.

Learning a foreign language is extremely subjective. Every student studies at least two foreign languages in comprehensive school in Finland. After that, in secondary school many students study a third foreign language. Some take up a fourth language. Students and teachers have a lot of experience in foreign language acquisition here.

With regard to English, most students never get far enough in their studies to really comprehend the intricacies of the language. They don't have to: graduating from comprehensive school calls for nothing special and it is possible to pass the nationwide Matriculation Examination, which is required if you want to graduate from secondary school, with very low language skills. Perhaps that is just as well. There are other things than languages that are also important. For many it's enough to be able to use basic English on their travels abroad and to exchange a few words with foreigners.

It's no wonder many students consider English easy. They never get far enough to encounter the difficulties, apart from the spelling, pronunciation and idioms!

Cheers, CB

CB