non-native english speakers?

Question

ive always wondered what other non-native english speakers thought about the english language. im a native english speaker, and i hear that it is a very difficult language to learn....is this true? if so why?

also, do Americans have an accent?? see, since i live in america, i always thought our 'accent' was boring when compared to spanish or russian or even english accents. i know we have different accents (like southern / northern/ western accents) within our country but i found it the same. so do you think american accents are boring? do we even have an accent....



oh, and i know im really curious, but i've always wondered this...how did your english teacher teach you when you can cut out part of a word and put an apostrophe ' ? like i've, i'll, could've, we'll.

yes, i know i ask alot of questions but i am really curious :-D i find languages facinating!

Answer 1

I find English to be the easiest language, compared with all others, that I've studied (I know 3 other languages). I think its a convenient language. Besides these advantages, I've a special liking for the language, and that is the reason for me to do my major in English Language and Literature. Its more objective, but I feel its better to use English, if you want to get a formal and impersonal style.


As a non-native user, the biggest trouble I had to get through, was the pronunciation. The spelling, grammar and sentence construction are not much a problem for me. Our native language is phonetic, it is read as it is written. But its not the case with English. It is not a phonetic language and it was a little difficult for me to study phonetics separately, as we had no concept of certain diphthongs, stress, pitch, intonation.


Yes, Americans do have accent. Even, in countries where English is used as a second language, have their own accents. Eg: Indian English accent. This is because, their pronunciation will be influenced by their mother-tongue, and this is known as "mother-tongue interference". I think American accent is more casual and impersonal, but I like it. On the other hand, I find English accent to be more classy and elegant, but its more difficult to make out. Both accents have their own advantages and disadvantages.


Yes, I like English and me too find languages fascinating! :-)

Answer 2

OK.. let's start at the beginning..:-)

I didn't find English especially difficult. It does have some difficulties, especially the spelling (which is crazy), and the phrasal verbs which I think make no sense at all sometimes.

Of course Americans have an accent. And a very strong one, by the way. There are so many accents in the US as there are States.

The accent let's say in Mississippi is totally different from the one in South Dakota. But you can always tell whether someone is American or British, or even Australian. There's a big difference!.

I wouldn't say accents are boring. They are actually very interesting, but some of them are very difficult to understand for a foreigner.

I really cannot tell you how I learned to write things like I've, we'll, etc. I guess the teacher just said that was something that could be done.. I didn't find it particularly difficult.
Writing it is not the difficult part. Pronouncing it is, because that's something we are not used to do in our native language. I imagine you've noticed that most foreigners have a tendency to say "I would" instead of "I'd" or "he will" instead of "he'll".

I hope I answered your questions..:-)

Answer 3

First of all, every language could be difficult or not depending on the learner`s first language or any other language already acquired. Imagine a Korean and a Mexican student trying to study english. I think it is much more difficult for the Korean student (who only speaks Korean) to learn the language. He/she has to learn the alphabet, a whole new set of visual symbols, new pronunciations, etc. However in Spanish there is an alphabet, with some variations. I also noticed that is easier to understand a native Spanish speaker`s accent than an Asian accent. By the way, I speak Korean and Spanish, hence the comparison. So, the difficulty level is relative.

I will have to agree that the spelling system is complicated. Other difficulties are phrasal verbs, idioms, false cognates or false friends...

Now, regarding the accent question, that depends... Suppose you are from New York. No one will say you an accent in New York but if you move to Texas, Texans will tell you you have an accent. In my opinion, we all have accents. Depends on how you see it. What kind of American accent are you talking about? I guess there are lots of it. Unless you are talking about standard American... Personally, I like listening to different dialects... They make people so unique.

I don`t understand the apostrophe question. I guess we learned it the same way you did. : D

Answer 4

Since English is such a widely spoken language, people find it normal that non-native speakers bring their own accent into it. The thing is, Americans hardly ever learn a foreign language enough to speak it and they never really try to pronounce properly. They just take it for granted, the fact that everyone should speak English. And then there's the old stereotype about Americans being well... not very intelligent.... Another reason could be massive emmigration from all over the world towards the US and people coming back to thier native country after a few years and having a ridiculous accent and pretending to have forgotten their own language.

Answer 5

I don't think English is very difficult. Actually, when I attended graduate school here in the U.S. to go for my MBA I thought it would be really hard for me, but it wasn't. Now, the accent part is different. I have been here since 1999 and I have not been able to get rid of my Latin accent. I gave up, I will just die with this accent. Which English accent do I prefer?. Not surprisingly, I find some British accent really charming. I do like some American accents. Houstonians have a nice accent in spite of the southern accent. I also find Scottish accent hilarious.

Answer 6

Hello, I'm from Argentina, I speak Spanish, and I'm learning English. There are many differencies between the grammar structure of both languages. Then it's difficult to speak fluently without have grammar mistakes. Pronunciation it's very difficult too for those who are learning.
American English doesn`t sound boring to me. But for me it isn't as clear as British English, specially to hear it.
In the case of the words with apostrophe, they teach them as the contractive form of the verbs. As we learn a bit more we know that using or not the contractive form we can make the difference between formal and informal English.

Answer 7

No it isn't a very difficult language to lern, because if u want u can, I'm native spanish speaker and let me tell u that i think that is more difficult than the english because in our language there are many conjugations than in english, in english u use the same words in some conjugations although in spanish u can tell many words with differents words not always the same words.
Let me give u an example
I played
you played
he/she/it/ played
we played
they played

it's always the same but now see in spanish
i think that for me it's simple because is my native language but others friends have told me that for they it's difficult
see
yo jugué
tu jugaste
el/ella/eso/ jugó
nosotros jugamos
ellos jugaron
did u see?
and ur accent isn't boring but for me is difficult hear american people because they speak so fast !!!
also i have some problems but iam ok
bye-bye see u then
stephanie*

Answer 8

It's difficult, because when you think you know almost every thing, you find somthing new, and about accent it's really different, as I live in Brazil, a country that has a lot of different accents, we can understand it very well. But there are differences, especially when we listen to songs from different U.S. or canada areas' singers.

Answer 9

English spelling is really easy for a french speaker 'cause you pronounce all the letters.
In french, you can have different spellings for the same sound, for example :
-en = -em = -an = -am
or... -ein = -ain = -in = -un = -aim

I understand american accent more easily than british one because I watch a mot of american movies... so i'm more used ! American accent is very nasal to us, british accent sounds more... disdainful but really hot !!! lol :)

For the apostrophe thing... they just explain "I am = I'm" : end of the story !
If you wanna ask me more questions, you can email me, it will be my pleasure to share my "knowledges" with you.

Answer 10

English is not difficult...i pretty much enjoy speaking listening and writing it...
and i do find American accent interesting...i try to speak in that accent and i really enjoy it...and it sure makes the serials like 70's show, Friends etc. interesting...