HyunWook Park
Is English easy to learn in comparison to other languages?

I have heard many times that English is an easy language to learn in comparison to other languages. However, I can't agree with it. The more I study English, the harder it becomes to learn. In addition, I have learned some foreign languages apart from English and when I listen to people speaking them such as Turkish, Spanish and Chinese, I can catch some words although I don't know what that means. I can repeat after them. But, when it comes to English, even though I have learned English for more than 10 years, it is still hard to understand native speakers and movies. 

 

What do you guys think? Is English really easy language to learn?

Jul 30, 2015 6:53 PM
Comments · 7
3

I have studied English and Korean. My native language is Dutch. For me Korean is very difficult, since it is so different from Dutch, while English is quite close my own native language. Once I studied Korean, I knew why Koreans have so much trouble learning English.

July 30, 2015
2

It helps me to learn? 

Please!

 

-------------------------------------

Me ajuda a aprender ?

Por favor!

July 30, 2015
2

To me, the most important aspect of learning a language is the immersion and English is the only language in the world where you're going to see it in most of places. Even those who are not interested in learning the language at all, like many Brazilians, they know something, they know a few words and if you ask them to try to imitate the English sound, they'll do it because they know the sound of it due to the massive impact on the media where we hear English everywhere and that kinda sinks in. 

So, once you begin learning the language, it is " easier " because you are already familiar with the language somehow.

 

Grab some different nationalities and throw them for some years in an English speaking-country without any previous knowledge in the language, and do the same, throwing them in Korea, Finland, Japn, Brazil. After two years, pay them a visit and check who got the most accurate communicative skills!  Of course there'll be exceptions but it's just what we are used to see in general. 

July 30, 2015
2

I used to think english was a simpler language than most european languages because theres very little gender differentiation and tense seems simples.

where some languages words can change based on the gender etc, english stays quite rigid.

However its a very contextual language with many words spelled the same but pronounced differnelt,y meaning different things.  example:

Bow - to bend at the waist as a sign of respect/ greeting

Bow - as in a knotted ribbon or a tie

Bow - the front end of a ship

Bow - a weapon, used to fire arrows

1 and 3 are pronounced differently than 2 and 4.

Live, do I mean live as in continue to exist or live as in a bands performance on stage or an electrical outlet that is switched on?  

when reading english you need to know te context of the sentence to identify the pronunciation and meaning of a lot of words, and if you are only learning a language trying to figure this stuff out can be a very frustrating experience.

And off course   ->  They're, there, where, were, wear, we're, etc, an embarassing amount of native speakers struggle with english on a daily basis

July 30, 2015

I don't kow, which one is 'the hardest' though) Russian is definitely among the hardest.

July 30, 2015
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