Why do people think their own language is the most difficult

Why?   Sun Mar 07, 2010 6:31 pm GMT
How English native speaker can think English is sooo hard? It makes me always laugh when I am hearing them to say that. Why they don't understand that English don't have hardly grammar at all. Seriously, I am learning this language just since one year, and already I am speaking and writing total fluent. The only thing for improving now is learn more advanced vocabulary. But this is only for reason of interest, as already I know every necessary words for communicate in every day, just actually I want know more words for reading high literature. And of course I already master the grammar in completion, but again of course that is because of there is not really much grammar complexity at all. Seriously, imagine yourselfs you would be trying learning my language, you cannot have a chance at all for do so!
English   Sun Mar 07, 2010 6:34 pm GMT
You are crazy to say English is an *easy* language.

I'm a native English speaker myself, so I didn't really have to try to learn it.

The reason English is a difficult language is because there are so many irregulars! The English language doesn't have many of the patterns that the other languages have. Also, we have so much slang. We literally use slang in every sentence we speak.
Baldewin   Sun Mar 07, 2010 6:45 pm GMT
Still, the non-Anglophones speak a perfectly logical and easy-to-learn watered-down variant of it. The 'koine' English, as I like to call it, isn't difficult at all. People love to brag about the 'complexity' of their language, because it's still linked to sophistication. Still, speakers of simple languages, like the Scandinavians, the Anglo-Saxons or the Dutch have a relative successful society.
This isn't the case for non-Czech Slavs and neither for Greek (4% is still illiterate wtf?), even though Slavic languages are very inflective, as well is Greek (which is very elegant as well in my personal opinion).

It's makes me very worried. Catholic Europe for instance which was aimed at an inflective language like Latin for a longer time than Protestant Europe is still less successful. Orthodox Europe is even poorer and their liturgical languages are even more complex. Muslims are the poorest of all, and hardly anyone understands Classical Arabic. The 'boring' and 'unelegant' Protestants who used the language of the people since the beginning of their existence have the most successful societies.
Information   Sun Mar 07, 2010 7:36 pm GMT
<<How English native speaker can think English is sooo hard? It makes me always laugh when I am hearing them to say that. Why they don't understand that English don't have hardly grammar at all. Seriously, I am learning this language just since one year, and already I am speaking and writing total fluent. The only thing for improving now is learn more advanced vocabulary. But this is only for reason of interest, as already I know every necessary words for communicate in every day, just actually I want know more words for reading high literature. And of course I already master the grammar in completion, but again of course that is because of there is not really much grammar complexity at all. Seriously, imagine yourselfs you would be trying learning my language, you cannot have a chance at all for do so! >>


I think you're being ironic, but just in case you're not:

How CAN NATIVE English _ speakerS _ think English is sooo hard? It AlWAYS makes me laugh when HEAR them _say that. Why DON"T THEY understand that English DOESN'T have hardly ANY grammar at all. Seriously, I am learning this language _ since JUST one year AGO, and _ I am ALREADY speaking and writing total fluentLY. The only thing for improving now is TO learn more advanced vocabulary. But this is only for reasonS of interest, as I ALREADY know every necessary word_ for EVERYDAY COMMUNICATION, I ACTUALLY JUST want TO know more words for reading high literature. And of course I HAVE already MASTERED the grammar COMPLETELY, but _ of course, that is AGAIN because THERE is not really much grammaTICAL complexity at all. Seriously, imagine YOURSELVES TRYING TO LEARN my language, you WOULD NOT have THE SLIGHTEST chance TO DO SO!


Again, surely those mistakes were intentional. But it is educational and explains a lot. A lot of non-native speakers DO write like that and think they're fluent. Either they are thick or they think that because no one ever corrects them then they must be doing everything right.
Baldewin   Sun Mar 07, 2010 7:43 pm GMT
If you can communicate and understand others, you are fluent, no matter how many mistakes you make. Still, it's not recommendable being satisfied with this primitive English.
PARISIEN   Sun Mar 07, 2010 8:06 pm GMT
<< The 'boring' and 'unelegant' Protestants who used the language of the people since the beginning of their existence have the most successful societies. >>

-- Do not overlook the fact that the founding texts of Protestant faiths were written In French (Jean Calvin) and German (Martin Luther), two languages that never were the easiest available in Western Europe.
Baldewin   Sun Mar 07, 2010 8:26 pm GMT
French and German can be tricky ones, not due to their inflective nature, but due to their richness of idioms often linked to high culture. There's still an elite who stands on its language, whilst even many a high-schooled Dutch speaker often reduces his native language to a mere mode of communication.
The erudites and speakers of a rich variant of Dutch are very well-hidden. Still, I also can say this with Belgian French. Brusseler French is often an 'inefficient' very inelegant variant of French compared to that of France. Not all Belgian French is bad, but less Belgians respect their own native language than French do (like for instance mixing the 'vous' with 'tu' toward the same person). Also Flemings have this syndrome when compared with Dutch (despite some Dutch speaking a very harsh variant, structurally they pay more attention to their language).