I have heard that english is one of the hardest langauges to learn, so I was wondering what is the hardest for those who already speak english, also is it diferent to learn to speak than to read or write?
2006-06-15 15:24:03 · 11 answers · asked by Hebe 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Other - Arts & Humanities
My *opinion* would be any "tonal" language...any language that contains words that change meaning depending on inflections (I know that Lao & Khmer are both tonal). Possibly the language of the people formerly know as Kalahari bushmen - I think they are now called "San." Their speech is based more on clicking noises than anything an English speaker has ever heard. Anyone who says French/Spanish/Portugese/Italian or even Arabic lives in a narrow world.
2006-06-15 18:42:13 · answer #1 · answered by juliatn1 2 · 8⤊ 3⤋
It's really not possible to answer this in a definitive manner. Every person has an individual learning style and capability, so what may be easy for you might be very difficult for me and vice versa. I've studied Latin, French, Rusiian, German, and Arabic. Of these, Arabic is the most challenging for me because it differs the most from English. Part of the difficulty is that in order to truly master a language, you have to understand the culture that goes with it. Arabic is an official language in at least 22 countries, each with its own culture. Very hard to master.
As far as different to speak, read, and/or write? Definitely. It goes back to learning styles, though. Some people learn speaking quickly, others reading. The easiest way to learn multiple languages well is to be immersed in the culture of each one, so you're exposed to all forms of it. Hope this answers your quesitons! :)
2006-06-15 22:33:29 · answer #2 · answered by jundia257 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm a native English Speaker, who's learned some French and is now working on Chinese. Since English is an amalgam of the Romance languages, such as French, German and Spanish, they're are many cognates (similar words) that makes it easier to pick up one of the Romance languages.
But Chinese has a totally different system of characters that don't really correspond to our alphabet. Plus it is almost "sung" having four different pitches that can totally change a words meaning.
2006-06-15 22:36:16 · answer #3 · answered by Carol D 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would guess Asian or Arabic languages would be the most difficult for English speakers to learn since there is an entirely different system of writing and many of the sounds are different from the ones that we use.
2006-06-15 22:28:45 · answer #4 · answered by dulagluft 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Japanese is without question the most daunting language for a native English speaker to tackle.
According to Richard Brecht
Deputy Director, National Foreign Language Center.
2006-06-15 23:30:03 · answer #5 · answered by Muinghan Life During Wartime 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's Mandarin Chinese, spoken in northern China. It's especially difficult when you're learning in America because without the Chinese accent, the language itself is slightly distorted.
2006-06-15 22:29:55 · answer #6 · answered by sliu10 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Latin and Japanese are pretty hard to learn. i know 5 languages not including English. Spanish, french, German, Japanese, and Latin. the last two were the hardest.
2006-06-16 06:14:15 · answer #7 · answered by shadowedfreedomflyers 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Japenesse. Man I cant even spell the language type. Oh snap.
2006-06-16 00:15:35 · answer #8 · answered by InNamorato 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i think french, i mean i h ave books that are suppose to teach me french but how the hell am i supposed to pronounce these words?
2006-06-15 22:27:51 · answer #9 · answered by Krissy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i would say any of the asian languages- specifically Japaneese
2006-06-15 22:27:21 · answer #10 · answered by tara t 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋