HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT ENGLISH IS THE EASIEST LANGUAGE WHEN PEOPLE DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO SPELL, IT FOLLOWS NO RULES OR LOGIC WHAT SO EVER, SPANISH IS 97% PHONETICAL, THE CLOSEST ONE TO PERFECTION THERE IS.
Most complex IE language (Morphologically)
For example:
hau can yu sei dat english is de isiest lenguich wen pipol dont iven now hau tu spel, it folous nou ruls or logic wot sou ever, spanish is 97 fonetical, de closest uan tu perfecshion der is.
That is a good example, why English is NOT so easy, as you want to convince us. You need to study twice a world: written and pronounced.
hau can yu sei dat english is de isiest lenguich wen pipol dont iven now hau tu spel, it folous nou ruls or logic wot sou ever, spanish is 97 fonetical, de closest uan tu perfecshion der is.
That is a good example, why English is NOT so easy, as you want to convince us. You need to study twice a world: written and pronounced.
<<HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT ENGLISH IS THE EASIEST LANGUAGE WHEN PEOPLE DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO SPELL, IT FOLLOWS NO RULES OR LOGIC WHAT SO EVER, SPANISH IS 97% PHONETICAL, THE CLOSEST ONE TO PERFECTION THERE IS.>>
In the context of this thread, English is remarkably simple when it comes to morphology. There's a theory that all languages are equally complex. If this is true, and given that English spelling is difficult, this implies that English must be simple in other ways. If Spanish spelling is simple, the language itself must be difficult in other ways. :)
In the context of this thread, English is remarkably simple when it comes to morphology. There's a theory that all languages are equally complex. If this is true, and given that English spelling is difficult, this implies that English must be simple in other ways. If Spanish spelling is simple, the language itself must be difficult in other ways. :)
<< There's a theory that all languages are equally complex. If this is true, and given that English spelling is difficult, this implies that English must be simple in other ways. >>
No, that theory only applies to grammar. There's no question that Chinese and Japanese are more difficult than just about any other language spoken today, and their writing systems are why.
- Kef
No, that theory only applies to grammar. There's no question that Chinese and Japanese are more difficult than just about any other language spoken today, and their writing systems are why.
- Kef
Yeah, but you just can't say:
"I speak English, I just don't know how to write or read it." XD.
"I speak English, I just don't know how to write or read it." XD.
Yes you can. Children who were raised by Russian parents may be able to speak Russian but unable to write it... I had a friend who spoke Serbian fluently but was in the process of teaching himself Cyrillic.
This is even true for many who speak Latin alphabet languages... I had a friend who spoke Polish and another who spoke German but neither could write them (and had never bothered to read them).
This is even true for many who speak Latin alphabet languages... I had a friend who spoke Polish and another who spoke German but neither could write them (and had never bothered to read them).
It's also true for any child and many illiterate people.
People, what's the point in discussing which language is more complex than the other? It all depends on the point of view... isn't it a matter of opinion, really?
I'm Portuguese and, personally, I find English spelling easier than Spanish spelling; maybe because Spanish's too similar to Portuguese and just feels wrong, one never knows when the spelling is the same or not, if it follows the same rules or not. The English spelling is easier because it's different and I like the language.
I'm sure many people, even many Portuguese, don't agree with me on this.
**That said, please don't flame me^^' I meant it's easier for me, not that my English is any good.**
People, what's the point in discussing which language is more complex than the other? It all depends on the point of view... isn't it a matter of opinion, really?
I'm Portuguese and, personally, I find English spelling easier than Spanish spelling; maybe because Spanish's too similar to Portuguese and just feels wrong, one never knows when the spelling is the same or not, if it follows the same rules or not. The English spelling is easier because it's different and I like the language.
I'm sure many people, even many Portuguese, don't agree with me on this.
**That said, please don't flame me^^' I meant it's easier for me, not that my English is any good.**
Hi Zatsu,
>Spanish's too similar to Portuguese and just feels wrong, one never knows when the spelling is the same or not, if it follows the same rules or not.
I completely agree with you here. I am Mexican and I like other Romanic languages a lot, but I wouldn't feel so confident in speaking or writting them because of precisely what you just wrote above.
Funny, how tricky similarity amongst languages can be sometimes, don't you think?
>Spanish's too similar to Portuguese and just feels wrong, one never knows when the spelling is the same or not, if it follows the same rules or not.
I completely agree with you here. I am Mexican and I like other Romanic languages a lot, but I wouldn't feel so confident in speaking or writting them because of precisely what you just wrote above.
Funny, how tricky similarity amongst languages can be sometimes, don't you think?
I can speak French Italian Spanish and Portuguese and I rarely mix them. I love to emphasize their similarities and differences. A portuguse can't write a good Spanish?? How come? You should just learn some simple basic rules. It's a passion of mine to distinguish Spanish and Portuguese: two "brothers" languages with their own peculiarities and features.
to a certain point you're all right it is true that spanish is probably the one that has the most easy spelling( almost perfect!) of all languages( at least most study, spoken and international languages) but thats just the spelling cause when you get into grammar stuff then that's another story, i've been learning spanish for almost 5 years and living most of the time in a spanish-speaking nation and did't learn all of i've been wishing to learn, interesting cause i have friends whos native language is spanish, they now live in the united states, they have been in the u.s. for about 2 years and they already speak it like natives, i don't know if thats because they are smarter than the rest or what? but the truth is that they are now fluent in english, for my side as i said i have been trying to learn spanish for a long time now and it just won't come fluent on it, and i'm smart cause i always get As and Bs on each of my regular classes!! once you get to the spanish grammar then it gets tough, specially the verb system oh my godness! its a headache cause there are 195 possible endings for each spanish verb and on, but thats what makes spanish beautiful i love the language and i hope one day i reach fluency on it
They're probably smarter, then how about all the inmigrants that have been living all their live in the US and still have an accent? which are the big majority.
<<Funny, how tricky similarity amongst languages can be sometimes, don't you think?>>
Yes Sergio, I think so. But at the same time, it might be something more psychological than any real difficulty. I don't seem to have the same issues with French or Italian... They are different enough. What about you?
<<I can speak French Italian Spanish and Portuguese and I rarely mix them. I love to emphasize their similarities and differences. A portuguse can't write a good Spanish?? How come? You should just learn some simple basic rules. It's a passion of mine to distinguish Spanish and Portuguese: two "brothers" languages with their own peculiarities and features.>>
Well, yeah, it is also true that I never really *studied* Spanish in my life (neither Italian), all I know is from listening to music, watching TV and reading for essays and stuff.
What do you think are the main differences between Portuguese and Spanish?
Yes Sergio, I think so. But at the same time, it might be something more psychological than any real difficulty. I don't seem to have the same issues with French or Italian... They are different enough. What about you?
<<I can speak French Italian Spanish and Portuguese and I rarely mix them. I love to emphasize their similarities and differences. A portuguse can't write a good Spanish?? How come? You should just learn some simple basic rules. It's a passion of mine to distinguish Spanish and Portuguese: two "brothers" languages with their own peculiarities and features.>>
Well, yeah, it is also true that I never really *studied* Spanish in my life (neither Italian), all I know is from listening to music, watching TV and reading for essays and stuff.
What do you think are the main differences between Portuguese and Spanish?
>>In the context of this thread, English is remarkably simple when it comes to morphology. There's a theory that all languages are equally complex. If this is true, and given that English spelling is difficult, this implies that English must be simple in other ways. If Spanish spelling is simple, the language itself must be difficult in other ways. :)<<
Not really. English is about on par with (or has slightly less morphology than) Standard Swedish, Standard Danish, Bokmål, Nynorsk, and Standard Dutch as it comes to morphological complexity. It probably still has a bit more morphology than Afrikaans, on that note. All things considered, it has *far* more complex morphology than, say, SInitic languages or very many creoles, which are much better examples of languages without much morphological complexity.
Not really. English is about on par with (or has slightly less morphology than) Standard Swedish, Standard Danish, Bokmål, Nynorsk, and Standard Dutch as it comes to morphological complexity. It probably still has a bit more morphology than Afrikaans, on that note. All things considered, it has *far* more complex morphology than, say, SInitic languages or very many creoles, which are much better examples of languages without much morphological complexity.
I know Italian and Spanish ( Portuguese and other languages as well) and I'd say that the two languages are quite similar but from a grammatical point of view they possess some basic and peculiar differences. On the whole, it seems to me that the Italian grammar is a bit more complicated but it's just an opinion that I'll try to explain:
ITALIAN
Both definite articles and indefinite articles are a bit trickier in Italian than in Spanish. Besides Italian has got a partitive article like French.
Plurals are more complicated in Italian even though they're rather regular compared to other languages. Italian has some irregular plurals and some of them come from the Latin neuter (uovo - uovA / dito- ditA) egg, eggs / finger fingers.
The Italian language has two sets of prepositions: simple and contracted, that is, joined with articles. Moreover, the use of the prepositions is in Italian a bit more illogical than in Spanish.
Italian has some tricky pronominal particles such as : ci, vi, ve, ce, ne. These particles don't exist neither in Spanish nor in Portuguese.
As for the verbal system, the main difference is that Italian makes use of two different auxiliary verbs to form all compound tenses. Sometimes, the choice of the right auxiliary verb may be hard, even for an Italian.
Past tenses are much more irregular in Italian. I'm referring to the past participle and Simple past. I've got to say that the simple past is much more widespread in Spanish but in the centre and in the south of Italy it's commonly used in Italian as well. For instance I normally use the two tenses.
Last but not least, Italian can use the apostrophe and apocopation: some words can drop their last vowel, according to the position in the sentence, for example: bene/ben, migliore/miglior, fare/ far; vuole/ vuol, mare/ mar. and so on.
SPANISH
It's got two verbs to translate the English verb to be ( estar and ser) Italian also has the verb "stare", but its use is easier than in Spanish.
Another feature of Spanish is the neuter article LO. It's used mainly with adjectives and some adverbs.
The neuter pronouns esto, eso, aquello can be a bit tricky sometimes.
Spanish makes use of the preposition A for the personal accusative : I love my mother: Amo A mi madre.
As for the verbal System:
Spanish has lots of irregular verbs in the present tense with a characteristic diphthongization of many verbs: ex. perder (to lose) yo pIErdo, jugar (to play) yo jUEgo and so on.
The imperative is harder than in Italian
The imperfect of the subjunctive has two distinct series of endings
-ase -ara ex yo cantase/ yo cantara .
Sorry if this post’s too long .
Bye
ITALIAN
Both definite articles and indefinite articles are a bit trickier in Italian than in Spanish. Besides Italian has got a partitive article like French.
Plurals are more complicated in Italian even though they're rather regular compared to other languages. Italian has some irregular plurals and some of them come from the Latin neuter (uovo - uovA / dito- ditA) egg, eggs / finger fingers.
The Italian language has two sets of prepositions: simple and contracted, that is, joined with articles. Moreover, the use of the prepositions is in Italian a bit more illogical than in Spanish.
Italian has some tricky pronominal particles such as : ci, vi, ve, ce, ne. These particles don't exist neither in Spanish nor in Portuguese.
As for the verbal system, the main difference is that Italian makes use of two different auxiliary verbs to form all compound tenses. Sometimes, the choice of the right auxiliary verb may be hard, even for an Italian.
Past tenses are much more irregular in Italian. I'm referring to the past participle and Simple past. I've got to say that the simple past is much more widespread in Spanish but in the centre and in the south of Italy it's commonly used in Italian as well. For instance I normally use the two tenses.
Last but not least, Italian can use the apostrophe and apocopation: some words can drop their last vowel, according to the position in the sentence, for example: bene/ben, migliore/miglior, fare/ far; vuole/ vuol, mare/ mar. and so on.
SPANISH
It's got two verbs to translate the English verb to be ( estar and ser) Italian also has the verb "stare", but its use is easier than in Spanish.
Another feature of Spanish is the neuter article LO. It's used mainly with adjectives and some adverbs.
The neuter pronouns esto, eso, aquello can be a bit tricky sometimes.
Spanish makes use of the preposition A for the personal accusative : I love my mother: Amo A mi madre.
As for the verbal System:
Spanish has lots of irregular verbs in the present tense with a characteristic diphthongization of many verbs: ex. perder (to lose) yo pIErdo, jugar (to play) yo jUEgo and so on.
The imperative is harder than in Italian
The imperfect of the subjunctive has two distinct series of endings
-ase -ara ex yo cantase/ yo cantara .
Sorry if this post’s too long .
Bye