SanadaShadow Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 I think English is used as a common language now because it's easy to learn. French and Spanish are so much harder for me. Especially because I'm taking French as a second language when it's actually my fourth lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darklord Rooke Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 I think English is used as a common language now because it's easy to learn. It's because England ruled the world, and therefore most people know English. It used to be French I think. In the future it'll probably be Chinese Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenshin_sama Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 Also, all these American states and cities I know nothing about. Oh, except some, like Chicago. That city's famous. There's only a few things you want to know about Florida. Disney World is probably the only thing we have going for us. Late Fall, early Winter is the only time of the year where the weather is nice. Do not ever live here if you plan on enrolling your kids in school (we're the worst state in the U.S. in terms of education). I wanna go to Chicago one day. I don't get to travel that much, so I've never had the chance to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satsuki Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 It's because England ruled the world, and therefore most people know English. It used to be French I think. In the future it'll probably be Chinese Please no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darklord Rooke Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 Please no. It'll be like Firefly. What a prophet Joss Whedon is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanadaShadow Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 Really? But it really did feel very easy to learn when I tried it... I mean, it took me only a year compared to French, where I haven't mastered adjectives and verbs in over 6 years... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darklord Rooke Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 Really? Yeah. In the early 20th Century, the British Empire was the largest empire the world had ever seen. It covered more than a quarter of the globe and consisted of more than 500 million people. In each and every one of these places, english was taught to the citizens. Furthermore you had the richest countries in the world speaking english as its primary language. So you combine the sheer quantity of english speakers with the power of english speaking nations, and English is the obvious first choice for a second language because of the number of doors it opens. If Latin had been the national language of England, everyone would be learning to speak Latin by now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanadaShadow Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 Yeah. In the early 20th Century, the British Empire was the largest empire the world had ever seen. It covered more than a quarter of the globe and consisted of more than 500 million people. In each and every one of these places, english was taught to the citizens. Furthermore you had the richest countries in the world speaking english as its primary language. So you combine the sheer quantity of english speakers with the power of english speaking nations, and English is the obvious first choice for a second language because of the number of doors it opens. If Latin had been the national language of England, everyone would be learning to speak Latin by now. No, I wasn't talking about history. For that matter I've had the entire process of Britain's takeover and subsequent withdrawal beaten into my head. I was just saying that it feels easier to learn English than French. Though, I guess maybe it's because I learnt that as my first language. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoon-kami Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 Georgia, U.S. It seems I'm the only one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quark Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 Stray Cat 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yeah Way Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 No, I wasn't talking about history. For that matter I've had the entire process of Britain's takeover and subsequent withdrawal beaten into my head. I was just saying that it feels easier to learn English than French. Though, I guess maybe it's because I learnt that as my first language. English is often regarded as one of the hardest languages to learn in the world (though rarely THE hardest). This is mostly down to its incredible irregularity in grammar and spelling, which is due to its mixed origin as a germanic-latin hybrid monstrosity. It also has one of the greatest phonemic inventories (variety of sounds) amongst world-languages, even if one discounts dialectical variations. There are plenty more reasons as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Funyarinpa Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 English is often regarded as one of the hardest languages to learn in the world (though rarely THE hardest). This is mostly down to its incredible irregularity in grammar and spelling, which is due to its mixed origin as a germanic-latin hybrid monstrosity. It also has one of the greatest phonemic inventories (variety of sounds) amongst world-languages, even if one discounts dialectical variations. There are plenty more reasons as well. At least it does not have Adjektivendungen (*glares at German* ) Yeah Way 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nosebleed Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 No need to provoke each other guys. Pls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zalor Posted April 3, 2015 Author Share Posted April 3, 2015 Also, all these American states and cities I know nothing about. Oh, except some, like Chicago. That city's famous. You know of Chicago but not New York? I feel really sad now *sniff sniff*. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satsuki Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 English is often regarded as one of the hardest languages to learn in the world (though rarely THE hardest). SanadaShadow 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deep Blue Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 I don't know you guys but for me is really hard to understand someone who is speaking british english, for example when I watch game of thrones sometimes I need subs because I don't understand a shit but if it is american english I can even listen to podcast, play with friends on steam, watch a movie or a series no problem at all. Maybe it's because normally(99% of the time) I hear american english and not british one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nosebleed Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 Ugh nope, never heard anyone say that before. Maybe people in countries that don't use Latin alphabet will find it difficult, otherwise, it's like the easiest language to learn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satsuki Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 Fact: My language is originally from French, use Latin alphabet, and pretty easy to learn writing/reading (I think so). However, speaking/pronunciation is a nightmare for most foreigner (or Western-er, to be precisely) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yeah Way Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 Ugh nope, never heard anyone say that before. Maybe people in countries that don't use Latin alphabet will find it difficult, otherwise, it's like the easiest language to learn. It depends on the level of fluency the learner wants to achieve, and of course, what their native language is; but English is not the easiest language to learn, for the reasons I mentioned before. Obviously, people learn English all the time; but there are just easier languages out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satsuki Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 It depends on the level of fluency the learner wants to achieve, and of course, what their native language is; but English is not the easiest language to learn, for the reasons I mentioned before. Obviously, people learn English all the time; but there are just easier languages out there. Then, what's easier than English, in your opinion? And I mean in general, not that kind of "Chinese people find Japanese super easy" or something like that. And I actually don't see any problem with grammar and spelling in English. Or maybe I'm just too familiar with complicated grammar/spelling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Getsuya Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 I live in Japan, though I'm originally from Washington in the US. No not THAT Washington. The other one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yeah Way Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 Then, what's easier than English, in your opinion? And I mean in general, not that kind of "Chinese people find Japanese super easy" or something like that. And I actually don't see any problem with grammar and spelling in English. Or maybe I'm just too familiar with complicated grammar/spelling. Romance languages like the ever-popular Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese. Swedish and Norwegian are also said to be much more regular than English, though I don't know much about those two in particualr myself. Whilst I did say "English is often regarded as one of the hardest languages", now that I go back over my materials, there are about as many people saying the opposite. ^^b For example, here's a post which used a study by the US Army School of Languages: https://robertlindsay.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/more-on-the-hardest-languages-to-learn/ It features a ranking system from 1-6 to represent difficulty of learning for English speakers. It also gave English a score, based on 'English-learners'. (Native countries/languages not mentioned) The study is highly contested, but it's the ony real academic source I could ever find on this subject that includes English itself. There are also countless surveys like this one: http://www.lexiophiles.com/featured-articles/results-of-the-hardest-languages-to-learn-poll It asked readers to select the hardest languages to speak properly, to write properly, and to learn overall. English made the top 10 all three times. However, this is all ignoring more obscure, ridiculously hard languages. For example read the paragraph for Tsez in this article: https://robertlindsay.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/more-on-the-hardest-languages-to-learn-non-indo-european-languages/ So yeah, I think I'll be more careful next time with my wording when I talk about this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yeah Way Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 At least it does not have Adjektivendungen (*glares at German* ) At least German doesn't have xłp̓x̣ʷłtłpłłskʷc̓ . (I'm looking at you, Nuxálk) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanadaShadow Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 ...I can't believe we started an international discussion of the difficulty of speaking English using English itself. Kimossab 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satsuki Posted April 3, 2015 Share Posted April 3, 2015 ...I can't believe we started an international discussion of the difficulty of speaking English using English itself. SanadaShadow and Yeah Way 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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