Russian, 6 cases of noun
Latin, only 5 cases of noun
I really think Latin is easier than Russian
How do u think?
Latin, only 5 cases of noun
I really think Latin is easier than Russian
How do u think?
Which is more difficult? Russian or Latin?
You must be extremely foolish if you judge a language's difficulty by the number of cases. A language could have 1000 cases and be even easier than English, or a language could have no cases and be more difficult than Sanskrit. It's the subtleties unique to each language which determine its difficulty.
>>It's the subtleties unique to each language which determine its difficulty.<<
So is English actually easy if you judge it by that criteria?
So is English actually easy if you judge it by that criteria?
<<So is English actually easy if you judge it by that criteria? >>
I think English is generally considered the easiest major language to learn. Of course, when determining the "easiest" language, you need to exclude:
1. "Artificial" languages designed for ease of learning
2. Languages very close to one you already know (like Spanish -> Portuguese).
I think English is generally considered the easiest major language to learn. Of course, when determining the "easiest" language, you need to exclude:
1. "Artificial" languages designed for ease of learning
2. Languages very close to one you already know (like Spanish -> Portuguese).
>>> So English has fewer subtleties than other languages?
Just enough to make it really hard to master it at a native level. Which is true for any language, I believe.
Just enough to make it really hard to master it at a native level. Which is true for any language, I believe.
Latin. Because it's a dead language. Otherwise, Russian would generally be harder for us westerners. In fact, Latin wouldn't be that hard if it were still spoken.
Also, cases are not a difficult concept. I don't get why people think that inflecting languages are hard to learn. It's so ignorant.
The thing with English, is that for a language that seemingly has so few rules, there seems to be am almost infinite variety of mistakes that learners manage to make.
<<Also, cases are not a difficult concept. I don't get why people think that inflecting languages are hard to learn. It's so ignorant. >>
I think the problem is when each noun, adjective, verb, etc. has thousands of different forms (8 genders/classes times 5 numbers times 28 cases times 5 degrees of comparison, etc.), and there are dozens of different inflection patterns, context-dependent inflections, along with lots of irregularities.
I think the problem is when each noun, adjective, verb, etc. has thousands of different forms (8 genders/classes times 5 numbers times 28 cases times 5 degrees of comparison, etc.), and there are dozens of different inflection patterns, context-dependent inflections, along with lots of irregularities.
""The thing with English, is that for a language that seemingly has so few rules, there seems to be am almost infinite variety of mistakes that learners manage to make. ""
Just imagine how many more mistakes learners of other, more complex languages make.
Just imagine how many more mistakes learners of other, more complex languages make.
>>Just imagine how many more mistakes learners of other, more complex languages make<<
Well I don't need to imagine, because I have learnt German and am told that I do not make many mistakes. It seems that although the rules in German are complex, if you follow them, you can produce relatively error-free language.
Well I don't need to imagine, because I have learnt German and am told that I do not make many mistakes. It seems that although the rules in German are complex, if you follow them, you can produce relatively error-free language.
"I think the problem is when each noun, adjective, verb, etc. has thousands of different forms (8 genders/classes times 5 numbers times 28 cases times 5 degrees of comparison, etc.), and there are dozens of different inflection patterns, context-dependent inflections, along with lots of irregularities."
That doesn't mean these inflections don't have some regularity to them, aside from the exceptions. Learning such a language trains your insight; very unlike English were a lot of construction seem to make sense, while in the end it doesn't.
I find it absurd to label analytic languages easier than synthetic ones. Word order is not an easy concept to grasp.
That doesn't mean these inflections don't have some regularity to them, aside from the exceptions. Learning such a language trains your insight; very unlike English were a lot of construction seem to make sense, while in the end it doesn't.
I find it absurd to label analytic languages easier than synthetic ones. Word order is not an easy concept to grasp.
Also, German doesn't have that complex rules IMO. :p It isn't more complex than English is. The problems is people only seem to notice the basic grammar of inflections and ignore all the rest.
Deutsch ist gleichzeitig schwer und einfach! Zum ersten Blick sieht es sehr kompliziert aus, da man sich an der komplexen Grammatik gewoehnen muss, aber sobald man diese bloeden Regeln versteht, wird alles relativ leicht. Deutsch ist eigentlich logisch und systematisch, sogar fuer die Englischmuttersprachler, die angeblich keine Ahnung der Grammatik haben. Lol, das ist Quatsch, sobald die Englischmuttersprachler die Konzepte der Grammatik verstehen, koennen sie mit Fremdsprachen sehr grosse Fortschritte machen. Na, ich habe ein paar Glaeser Wein getrunken, hab also vielleicht mehr Fehler gemacht als wenn ich gar nichts getrunken haette. Aber...wenn ein Deutscher/eine Deutsche meine Message gelesen hat, bitte korrigieren! Ich bin neugierig, wieviele Fehler es gibt! And I'm English of course, with no other language under my belt.