As a native English speaker, I hear things like “this” language is hard/easy to learn. Does this mean it is only hard/easy to learn coming from an English background, or would someone who speaks Spanish also find it similarly harder/easier to learn as well?
In: Other
Speaking only about other languages with Latin alphabet (characters that you are already familiar with):
* Having the spelling and pronunciation far from each other. In German, Dutch, Spanish and Italian, you can spend 30 minutes learning how the written words are pronounced, and you are good to go! French and English only have exceptions.
* Having tones on some parts of the word. Frickin’ Swedish, yes I am looking at you. You can pronounce all the letters, but damn you! They won’t understand if you get the tone wrong.
* Articles. Romance languages have two, but German has three. You need to memorise the correct one for each noun.
* Conjugation. You need to memorise the categories of regular verbs and all the irregular one. Dutch, for example, has less than 100 irregular verbs. English has twice as much.
* Singular and plurals. English mostly adds an “S” at the end. In Italian and Swedish it depends on the article and the last letter of the word.
* How different are phrase structures from your native language. In some languages of the Germanic group, you put the verb at the end of a question.
* Different number system. French has its own tens. Such as the Gaul base 20 for 80 (4 x 20) and +10 (60+10, 4×20+10). Danish has like the Imperial version of some numbers.
Overall, some languages have a lot of stuff to remember when trying to build sentences. But don’t fret. Jump with both feet.
Latest Answers