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Is English the hardest language you've ever had to learn?
7 years agoDo you think English is one of the most difficult languages to learn in the world? Is your native language on this list of the hardest languages to learn?
What other languages should be included on that list? I speak Urdu as well and it is definitely a more difficult language to master as compared to English, especially when it comes to grammar!
Share your experiences learning other languages with us.
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Comments (6)
From my experience, I have two thoughts:
1. Irish. It is easy to become a proficient speaker, but it is EXTREMELY difficult to become a proficient writer. The grammar rules are so very, very specific, and so unlike any other non-Celtic language, that I can't begin to explain. Spoken Irish is much more casual and forgiving because most of the mutations are silent, but they change the spelling of the words in so many different ways when you write.
2. Russian. I did try briefly to learn Russian, but my reading was so slow because of the Cyrillic alphabet. I didn't enjoy that verbs respond to gender, so I eventually had to stop. It's a wonderful language, though!
Irish is an interesting language to bring up, I've never really thought about Ireland speaking any language other than English. Wikipedia tells me Gaelic is one of the official languages of Ireland!
I have had the honour to practice Finnish language and it was so tough when I started. Then, thanks to passionate teachers I began to appreciate it and that appreciation pushed me forward! Great article.
I just created the Verbling discussion "Stimuli Vs. Hindrances", related, since I am so intrigued by what can help or hinder anyone in their language explorations! A great day to you, from a sunny & cold Italy! Best, Andrea
Thanks for your warm reply Andrea, greetings to you from gloomy Canada!
Hina, happy Canadian moments! Here it is sunny and so crispy cold air. My favorite weather. A presto! Andrea
I lived in Hong Kong for 4 years and learning Cantonese was tough. I actually gave up in the first year because was too much for me. For me, the most difficult thing was that for each vowel, they have 8 different tones. One word can have many meanings depending on the tone you use and it make me afraid of mistake.
Cantonese and Mandarin scripts look quite difficult to learn as well, the slightest difference in stroke can have a completely different meaning.
