Easiest language to learn

carrier   Tue Apr 08, 2008 6:39 pm GMT
What do you think is the easiest language to learn? I don't mean easiest because of similarity (eg., Dutch for Germans, or Russian for Ukranians). I mean inherently easiest to learn, because of simplicity in grammar, pronuciation, orthography, etc.

The ones that come to mind are Indonesian, Afrikaans, and Esperanto.

Any opinions?
Guest   Tue Apr 08, 2008 8:03 pm GMT
English is easy to learn.
Guest13   Tue Apr 08, 2008 8:23 pm GMT
English, Spanish, Esperanto and Indonesian.
Cahota   Tue Apr 08, 2008 8:33 pm GMT
For me I think Spanish is pretty easy to learn.
Guest   Tue Apr 08, 2008 8:58 pm GMT
English has got to be the world's easiest in absolute terms, or at least come darned close (excluding languages like Esperanto, interlingua, pidgins/creoles, and certain languages that are designed for international communication).

Right on this forum, some folks have claimed that English is pidgin-like in its simplicity, perhaps even to the point of lacking expressive powers, especially when it comes to complex and subtle ideas. Acording to them, it's only good for things like explaining how to install a faucet (something I'd not like to try, BTW), and it's not up to the task of expressing Freud's ideas, for example.
Guest   Wed Apr 09, 2008 12:48 am GMT
"Right on this forum, some folks have claimed that English is pidgin-like in its simplicity"

...and they usually make these claims in bad english. I think this forum, is a great example of how easy english is not.
Guest   Wed Apr 09, 2008 1:07 am GMT
Obviously Spanish, but Anglophones will never admit it.
Metiche   Wed Apr 09, 2008 2:49 am GMT
English is very easy to learn. It doesn't have the different "shades" that other languages have, especially Romance languages.
SJF   Wed Apr 09, 2008 4:39 am GMT
Bengali. Much easier than English
Guest   Wed Apr 09, 2008 4:48 am GMT
<<Obviously Spanish, but Anglophones will never admit it. >>

On another thread, it was shown that Spanish is about 1.6 times more complex morphologically than English. I suppose English might me a tad more complex in other areas (spelling, for example), but I still think English wins out overall for total simplicity.

<<It doesn't have the different "shades" that other languages have>>

Another reason why English is simpler than other languages, although I suppose this lack of "shades" in English could hinder the expression of subtleties and nuances that are so easy to express in those other langauges.
Earle   Wed Apr 09, 2008 4:59 am GMT
It seems that the most popular threads here are the most simplistic - easiest, hardest, sexiest, most beautiful. IOW, all the subjective standards which can't be quantified and basically boil down to predjudice. Much heat is generated and almost no light. (Now, why did I click on this stupid thread?)
Guest   Wed Apr 09, 2008 12:17 pm GMT
>>Another reason why English is simpler than other languages, although I suppose this lack of "shades" in English could hinder the expression of subtleties and nuances that are so easy to express in those other langauges<<

I think you must be a troll. Please explain in what ways English lacks shades, subtleties and nuances?
Guest   Wed Apr 09, 2008 12:52 pm GMT
Deacuerdo a mis cálculos el español es e^-1/2 veces mas sencillo sintácticamente que el inglés.
Guest   Wed Apr 09, 2008 1:01 pm GMT
English AND Spanish, otherwise there would not be any other reason explaining they are so widespread. This is the proof.
Difficult languages are NOT wiidespread.
guest2   Wed Apr 09, 2008 2:01 pm GMT
"Difficult languages are NOT widespread."

The most widespread language in the western world for centuries was Latin. The most widespread language before that in the Mediterranean was Greek. The most widespread language in the Muslim world is Arabic. And written classical Chinese (with its tens of thousands of characters) was the most widespread in East Asia.

Hardly the simplist languages in the world.