English is the hardest language to learn

Fredrik from Norway   Fri Oct 13, 2006 12:31 pm GMT
Bruno wrote:
"I believes English is hardest language to learn. I am German but how is it that Germans is always saying how English is so easy..."

He should have written:
"I believes English is THE hardest language to learn. I am German but how is it that Germans ARE always saying how English is so easy..."

Are you really German, Bruno? Because the mistakes you make here are very unnatural for a native German speaker, as English corresponds very well with German in these cases.
Benjamin   Fri Oct 13, 2006 1:21 pm GMT
<< He should have written:
"I believes English is THE hardest language to learn. I am German but how is it that Germans ARE always saying how English is so easy..." >>

Or even 'I believe English is...' (yes, I know you knew that ^_-)
Adam   Fri Oct 13, 2006 6:55 pm GMT
"Are you really German, Bruno? Because the mistakes you make here are very unnatural for a native German speaker, as English corresponds very well with German in these cases. "
-------

He's bound to make mistakes. He thinks English is the hardest language to learn.
Paul   Mon Oct 16, 2006 8:22 am GMT
English has a lot of idioms and many strange phrasal verbs which are very common in common speech. They are very difficult to learn.
But there are so many verbs in English you can avoid Phrasal verbs.

It also uses a lot of illogical Abbreviations.

And the spelling is very inconsistent in English.

Other than those problems, English is much easier than many other Non-European Languages.

Unfortunately, Romance Languages and Germanic Languages and Nordic Languages except Finnish are all much easier than English.
So English is much harder than most common European Languages.
Fredrik from Norway   Mon Oct 16, 2006 9:07 am GMT
lol, yes, you're right, Benjamin!
Perhaps he really is German and just omits features of grammar that he thinks is solely German.
I've experienced the same thing with a German who wanted to learn Norwegian and incorrectly used features of English syntax because she thought that German syntax was solely German.
Horst   Mon Oct 16, 2006 3:42 pm GMT
I see that Bruno is very correct with his claim. I have been learning German for a very many numbers of years and still have many problems in learning this very difficult language. I say that I am fluent in conversational English yet I know I'm not perfect by any straining of the imagination. Just look at some of the terrible errors in this post from people claiming that English is not hard to learn!
Guest   Mon Oct 16, 2006 4:21 pm GMT
Ach komm Horst, was behauptest du denn? Jeder Deutsche kann Englisch ganz ohne Probleme erlernen. Und wieso fügst du in deinen Posts soviele unnötige 'S's hinzu? Du spinnst wohl!
Benjamin   Mon Oct 16, 2006 4:45 pm GMT
« Perhaps he really is German and just omits features of grammar that he thinks is solely German.
I've experienced the same thing with a German who wanted to learn Norwegian and incorrectly used features of English syntax because she thought that German syntax was solely German. »

Lol, that's like how I sometimes accidentally say the adjective *after* the noun in German (like in French) because I sort of go into 'foreign language mode'.
Thordaak   Tue Oct 17, 2006 10:40 am GMT
Dear Guest, I thinking Horst's English is still very good. You shouldn't be writing in German, otherwise he will not improve. I'm also thinking that actually you (Horst) meant that you have been learning English for many years, not German which is your mother tongue. Lol, my sides are rolling at the thought!
Guest   Tue Oct 17, 2006 10:57 am GMT
Thordaak

Mit seinem schrecklichen Englisch ist Horst wirklich eine Ausnahme unter den Deutschen, da fast alle super Englisch können.
Thordaak   Tue Oct 17, 2006 11:16 am GMT
Guest,

I don't think that is true. I think in fact that the reverse is true, in that English are better German speakers than Germans are English speakers.

Thord
Damian aus London E16   Tue Oct 17, 2006 12:00 pm GMT
*** ....the.....English are better German speakers than Germans are English speakers....***

Guten tag. Wie geht es Ihnen? Das ist gut!

I'd love to see concrete proof that that is really true. Forgive me for doubting that statement as the (comparatively few) Germans I've personally encountered have all spoken (for the most part) word perfect English (accent discounted). I can't recall ever having met an English (ok....to be fair, a British) person equally conversant in German. Maybe I need to get out more ( but I do, I do! - it's just I've never met up with a Brit who was fluent in German. Perhaps I have, but s/he never dazzled me with her/his skills linguistic skills in that Language.

Please bear in mind that there is a steady decline in the learning of foreign Languages in Britain. Wie schade!

Aufwiedersehen
Guest   Tue Oct 17, 2006 12:34 pm GMT
Damian

While Germans usually speak English well, I disagree that they tend to be word perfect (although of course the ones you met might well have been). There seem to be certain typical errors that they find hard to iron out, the most obvious being incorrect use of the tenses. I don't think they are as renowned for speaking extremely good English in the way that the Dutch and Scandinavians are.
Fredrik from Norway   Tue Oct 17, 2006 6:11 pm GMT
Damian wrote:
<<Maybe I need to get out more ( but I do, I do! - it's just I've never met up with a Brit who was fluent in German.>>
I'm sure you do, mate! It's not very often that a Briton, enjoying a pint together with a fellow Briton in a public ale house asks:
- Did I mention that I speak wonderful German? Shouldn't we just continue our conversation about rainy weather, Mr Blair and Sheffield Wednesday's in German, oder was denkst du, Kumpel?
lol...
Benjamin   Wed Oct 18, 2006 10:35 pm GMT
« Did I mention that I speak wonderful German? Shouldn't we just continue our conversation about rainy weather, Mr Blair and Sheffield Wednesday's in German, oder was denkst du, Kumpel?
lol... »

Lol, that sounds like me — randomly saying phrases in German that I assume English speakers can understand. It seems to really annoy some people, for some reason.