English is the hardest language to learn

Tiffany   Tue Sep 26, 2006 4:55 pm GMT
Pluto, yours is understandable, just non-native sounding, that is all she is trying to point out. I think it's hilarious that you'd claim people in England thought you spoke English better than them. Maybe they were not native speakers?

I like to encourage people, but there is a huge difference between encouraging a person and outright lying. I'd encourage you to continue learning English, you can make yourself understood right now. This is a good sign. However, I would never lie and tell you that you sound native, or speak English well, let alone better than I do. Where are you from?

Corrections from a native speaker:
<<But what is different on your one? Just you have wrote in bit different style. How this make my one is wrong?>>

But what is different in yours? You've just written it in a different style. How does this make mine incorrect?
Tiffany   Tue Sep 26, 2006 4:57 pm GMT
Pluto, yours is understandable, just non-native sounding, that is all she is trying to point out. I think it's hilarious that you'd claim people in England thought you spoke English better than them. Maybe they were not native speakers?

I like to encourage people, but there is a huge difference between encouraging a person and outright lying. I'd encourage you to continue learning English, you can make yourself understood right now. This is a good sign. However, I would never lie and tell you that you sound native, or speak English well, let alone better than I do. Where are you from?

Corrections from a native speaker:
<<But what is different on your one? Just you have wrote in bit different style. How this make my one is wrong?>>

But what is different in yours? You've just written it in a different style. How does this make mine incorrect?
Tiffany   Tue Sep 26, 2006 4:58 pm GMT
Excuse my double post. (Reminder to self: do not use back button)
Jason   Tue Sep 26, 2006 6:47 pm GMT
There really is no way to unequivocally state which language is harder or easier. Personally, when I first started learning German, I had difficulty with the cases, adjective declinations, and word order (word order is still difficult sometimes), but acquiring a vocabulary has been very easy for me.

By the same token, English doesn't have the declination (anymore) but it's spelling is illogical, so someone who's native language is grammatically more complex can still have a hard time learning it.
Pluto   Tue Sep 26, 2006 8:00 pm GMT
Thank you for the 'corrections' but actually still I don't understood why my one is wrong. I can admit it I make sometimes the error but the native speakers they are making much more, and this is why I am helping them improving their own language skills because actually is true the english learners of other countrys they are studying the grammar, but the native ones they not doing this, so that is why I do this more well with grammar. So it's not true brimming with ungrammaticality because really there only is a couple error and the rest is just the choice of style.
Tiffany   Tue Sep 26, 2006 8:51 pm GMT
Really, I don't want to discourage you, but none of the sentences you've written thus far have been grammatically correct. I don't see how you can claim to help people with grammar when you don't have a good grasp on it yourself.

Here's some information to get you started: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_grammar

Let's take snippets of your sentences so maybe I can help you understand why they are incorrect grammatically.

<<this is why I am helping them improving their own language skills>>

English requires the infinitive where you wrote "improving". It should be "to improve"

<<and actually is true the english learners of other countrys they are studying the grammar>>

There is no subject in this independent clause. It should be "this is true". There was no need to repeat "english learners" by saying "they" again in your dependent clause. As for spelling, "countrys" is spelled "countries".

<<Thank you for the 'corrections' but actually still I don't understood why my one is wrong>>

Besides just sounding non-native, as natives would say "I actually still" or "Actually I still", never "Actually still I", "my one" should be "my own".

<<so that is why I do this more well with grammar>>

"more well" does not exist in English. The term is "better". And this entire sentence doesn't make sense - what is this? And how do you do it better with grammar? Perhaps you meant to say, "This is why I know how to use grammar better"?

<<So it's not true brimming with ungrammaticality because really there only is a couple error and the rest is just the choice of style. >>

What is "true brimming" - you mean "true, it's not brimming". "is a couple error" - "couple" signifies two so that menas this should be plural "are only a couple of errors"

Your "style" is decidedly ungrammatical and non-native.
Benjamin   Tue Sep 26, 2006 8:54 pm GMT
« Thank you for the 'corrections' but actually still I don't understood why my one is wrong. »

Pluto,

It is wrong because it is not the way in which native English speakers would speak. Simple.

« I can admit it I make sometimes the error but the native speakers they are making much more »

Native speakers cannot be 'wrong' in their own language, in my opinion.

Now for a corrected version of your passage:

Thank you for the corrections but I actually still don't understand why what I'd written was wrong. I can admit that I sometimes make errors, but the native speakers are making much more, and this is why I am helping them improve their own language skills. It is actually true that English learners from other countries study grammar, but native speakers don't, which is why I am better at grammar than them. So it's not really brimming with ungrammaticality, because there are really only a couple of errors and the rest is just the choice of style.
Pluto   Tue Sep 26, 2006 8:54 pm GMT
<<Thank you for the 'corrections' but actually still I don't understood why my one is wrong>>

Well, that's something. I don't even understand what "your one" means.

<<I can admit it I make sometimes the error but the native speakers they are making much more>>

Hell yeah! Native speakers make mistakes "much more". That's why we may think you can pass for a Native speaker, indeed...

<<I am helping them improving their own language skills>>

Oh my god...

<<the english learners of other countrys they are studying the grammar, but the native ones they not doing this, so that is why I do this more well with grammar.>>

I not understanding this one. Perhaps be cause I not study the grammar. I be needin your instruction, Pluto.

<<because really there only is a couple error and the rest is just the choice of style.>>

Yeah... Tony Blair thinks the same about himself.
Pete   Tue Sep 26, 2006 8:57 pm GMT
Sorry, guys. The above Pluto was me.
I just.. hehe y'know...
Pete   Tue Sep 26, 2006 8:58 pm GMT
I mean I posted this one: Pluto Tue Sep 26, 2006 8:54 pm GMT
Pete   Tue Sep 26, 2006 9:03 pm GMT
<<Native speakers cannot be 'wrong' in their own language, in my opinion. >>

Oh yes, they can...
Benjamin   Tue Sep 26, 2006 9:15 pm GMT
Pete,

« Oh yes, they can... »

How can they? You learn to speak your native language from the people around you. In many cases, the language they speak naturally will not conform to any standard as prescribed by individuals and organisations which like to control how people speak, for some reason.

For example, in parts of West Yorkshire, it is perfectly normal for people to say 'us books' instead of 'our books'. They are not 'wrong' — that is simply how they were brought up to speak.
Pete   Tue Sep 26, 2006 9:28 pm GMT
<<They are not 'wrong' — that is simply how they were brought up to speak.>>

They were taught to speak like that. I'm sorry but... Is that an excuse??

According to English grammar how should it be? "us books" or "our books"?
Anything which is contrary or different from what grammar states, is then "grammatically wrong".

BTW, grammar is only a way to organise and make a consistent system of a certain language. It does NOT intend to control anyone's speech. You're free to speak the way you like, as long as other native speakers like you can understand you, and as long as your speech doesn't sound weird enough like to label you as a non-native speaker, it's all right. My question is:

If a pirate says: "AHOY, ME HARTY! IT BE A GREAT DAY TO SAIL THE SEAS... HOW BE YOU??"

Is that grammatically correct because this pirate was brought up among other pirates who spoke like this??

Anyway, I'm not really trying to convince anyone. Our opinions may be different because we are just different. That's it.

Pete
Pete   Tue Sep 26, 2006 9:38 pm GMT
<<as long as other native speakers like you can understand you>>

I think the "like you" bit there, sounds a bit odd. Imagine it's not there...

You might as well pretend I'm a native speaker, so everything I say can't be grammatically wrong...

Pete
Benjamin   Tue Sep 26, 2006 10:01 pm GMT
« They were taught to speak like that. I'm sorry but... Is that an excuse?? »

If that is how they naturally speak, it is fine. There is no rational reason for why the first person plural possessive adjective in English should be 'our', and not 'us' (like in parts of West Yorkshire) or 'wor' (like in Northumberland).

« According to English grammar how should it be? "us books" or "our books"?
Anything which is contrary or different from what grammar states, is then "grammatically wrong". »

According to Oxford, it would be 'our books'. But that's only because that's how the people who wrote the Oxford grammar guides have traditionally spoken. I see no reason why people hundreds of miles away in West Yorkshire or Northumberland should be perceived as 'wrong' simply because they speak differently.

« If a pirate says: "AHOY, ME HARTY! IT BE A GREAT DAY TO SAIL THE SEAS... HOW BE YOU??"

Is that grammatically correct because this pirate was brought up among other pirates who spoke like this?? »

It would be perfectly 'right' for him, in my opinion. Stereotypical pirate speech is largely based on the traditional dialects from Southwest England.