English is the easiest language in pronounciation?

South Korean   Sat Nov 14, 2009 3:34 pm GMT
Japanese is arguably the easiest to pronounce, as far as I know. Most of the letters are open syllables, no guttural sounds, almost no irregulars, and all the consonants in Japanese exist in almost every other language. (Maybe except for tsu and tsi.)

English is not easy to pronounce.
"How is the father?"
French: Ow iz ze fazer?
Japanese: Ha-u isu za- fa-za-?
Korean: Ha-u isu deo fader?
Amabo   Sat Nov 14, 2009 3:53 pm GMT
"English is the easiest language in pronounciation?"

It certainly is!

(If you're a native speaker of course.)
Amabo   Sat Nov 14, 2009 3:55 pm GMT
"Spanish, Greek, Japanese, Italian or even German and Russian are more phonetic than English."

Why? Do they have more sounds?

(All [spoken] languages are phonetic. How can they not be?)
Antimooner K. T.   Sat Nov 14, 2009 4:08 pm GMT
Tsu: Yes, some Japanese say that foreigners often can't pronounce this.
I don't find it difficult at all.

Tsi? Not sure what sound you mean here. Perhaps you use the alternate system for Romaji. Could you give an example of a word with the hiragana?
tsi   Sat Nov 14, 2009 4:32 pm GMT
ツィ
Uriel   Sat Nov 14, 2009 5:44 pm GMT
<<I heard that the Japanese are struggling miserably with the sound /r/. I don't know why that can be the case! >>

Use "how", not "why", and "could", not "can" -- "I don't know how that could be the case!"

Actually, it's easy to see why the Japanese have difficulty with R's and L's -- their R is more of a tapped R, and they really don't have much of an equivalent to either an English R or an English L.
Shuimo   Sun Nov 15, 2009 3:40 am GMT
Uriel Sat Nov 14, 2009 5:44 pm GMT
<<I heard that the Japanese are struggling miserably with the sound /r/. I don't know why that can be the case! >>

Use "how", not "why", and "could", not "can" -- "I don't know how that could be the case!"

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Well, you are always welcome to pick mistakes Shuimo make!
BUt I think you aren't right in yr judgment of the two places that need corrected in the sentence : I don't know why that can be the case Shuimo wrote! You surely didn't fail to get what I meant?
Adam   Sun Nov 15, 2009 7:56 pm GMT
English is supposed to be one of the hardest languages for pronounciation. It's no coincidence that dyslexia is more common in English-speaking countries than elsewhere.

In 2001, scientists found that this is because of the English language's complexity.
---------------------------

Scientists find cause of dyslexia

Friday, 16th March, 2001

The study looked at why dyslexia is more common among English or French-speakers than Italians.

The English language is made up of just 40 sounds, but these can be spelt in more than 1000 different ways, say the researchers.

In Italian, the language's 25 sounds are made up in just 33 ways.

Brain activity

The scientists behind the study used a body scanner to monitor brain activity in adults while they read.

They found that people with symptoms of dyslexia showed less neural activity in parts of the brain that are vital to reading (in the temporal lobe).

Comparing dyslexics in various countries, they found that English-speaking dyslexics experienced far more problems with reading and writing than the others.

And they say this is because it is so difficult in English to tell how a word is pronounced from the way it is written.

For example, there are different ways of sounding the letter combination "int".

It could sound like mint or pint.

Likewise, clove and love sound very different even though their last three letters are the same.

The same is true of French, where the same sound can be spelt in various ways.

For example: au temps sounds like autant.

It seems the Italian language is one of the most logical and simplest to master.

The researchers say in Italian, letter groups almost always represent the same unique sound from word to word.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/1225119.stm
reeeer   Sun Nov 15, 2009 8:56 pm GMT
Dyslexia is a PC excuse for people who have faulty brains. The reason it's so common in the English speaking world is not anything to do with the language, but rather the fact that English speaking countries are the most PC. In English speaking countries there's no such thing as a stupid person so they invent "disorders" to explain their apparent inadequacy.
realidad   Sun Nov 15, 2009 9:05 pm GMT
Mexican Spanish is the easiest language to pronounce: It's got about 26-27 phonemes. European Spanish 28. English has 44-45 phonemes.
Amabo   Mon Nov 16, 2009 5:56 pm GMT
Some funny and completely mistaken notions about language here.

The number of phonemes a language has is irrelevant. A speaker's native language is always easier to pronounce because (duh) it's their native language.

Also, don't conflate spelling with language. It is the Italian spelling system which is "simpler" than the English one. This does not make the Italian language itself "simpler" or more "logical".
LadyViolet   Mon Nov 16, 2009 7:25 pm GMT
It seems the Italian language is one of the most logical and simplest to master.

The researchers say in Italian, letter groups almost always represent the same unique sound from word to word.

/

This is not true


venti (with open e) means ''winds'' in Standard Italian

venti (with close e) means ''twenty'' in Standard Italian


---


corso (with 1st o closed) means ''course'' in Standard Italian
corso (with 1st o open) means ''Corsican'' in Standard Italian


Standard Italian has 7 vowels, graphems e and o
have open sound in some words, and closed sound in some words,
unlike Spanish in which 5 graphic vowels correspond to 5 phonetic vowels.
LadyViolet   Mon Nov 16, 2009 7:28 pm GMT
Also, double consonants can be such a pain in Italian:

anno ''year''
ano ''anus''

in this opposition vowel difference is more important, at least in fast paced Standard Italian:


cappèlli ''hair(s)''
capéllo ''hats''
sorry   Mon Nov 16, 2009 8:31 pm GMT
The researchers say in Italian, letter groups almost always represent the same unique sound from word to word.

Not at all:
cazzo = kattzo
razzo = raddzo
cielo = chèlo
cera = chéra
c'è = chè
ce =ché
zio = tzio
zero = dzero
chilo = kilo
questo =kuesto
scuola = skuola
quota =kuota
a casa = akkasa/akkaza
più forte = piufforte

and so on......