Well, I wouldn't say that I dislike French..but it's une Liaison dangereuse. I find it one of the most elegant languages I came across, but it lacks the elemantary, simple beauty of Italian. But that's just my opinion.
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Was English hard for you to learn?
- Thread starter wordoflife
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Well, I wouldn't say that I dislike French..but it's une Liaison dangereuse. I find it one of the most elegant languages I came across, but it lacks the elemantary, simple beauty of Italian. But that's just my opinion.
I always jump at the chance to post this:
Prisecolinensinenciousol ollraight
...or what English sounds like to a non-speaker. I'd say it works fairly well, because to me, it sounds like they're speaking English, but I'm not quite catching the words.
I'm a native French and Spanish speaker. I also understand Italian and Portuguese. I took six years of English in school/high school, and ended with a very average (read: bad) level. After high school (at 17) I couldn't afford traveling or taking courses, so I decided to learn on my own watching TV shows, and I quickly saw pretty good results. In a matter of months watching Friends, I quickly got much better than what any of my former teachers would have thought possible.
The first time I went to an English speaking country (the US), I was 24, and I was pretty much fluent. After that, I spent a year in Australia, which also helped a lot.
The other day I took this test, and got a 22000 words result: http://testyourvocab.com/.
Of course, it comes at the price of some serious effort: I had to watch a lot of TV!
Try to get used to different accents. At first, I focused on US English, and for years, the UK accents were mostly unintelligible (and I still have trouble in a few cases)
Compared to German (I took one year of it in HS) I'd say it's very easy (again, in HS, the teacher was very grammar-oriented, and I didn't pay much attention). Considering I can barely figure out simple things like a verb in a sentence, grammar and rules aren't the best way to make me learn.
i took that test. got 30,900
What the hell was that?!
Sry...
I think that sounds too nasal for English, though. Even German is more rounded than English - in some ways it can seem similar to a harsh French.
What the hell was that?!
Sry...
Eh, I can't claim expertise on what English sounds like to an untrained ear since I've been speaking it my entire life and all. It's always been words to me.
...but based on the way I think it would sound, I thought that video above was pretty close. I imagine English as a very staccato language, with tons of vowel sounds. Kinda like Finnish, but with less German influence.
Eh, I can't claim expertise on what English sounds like to an untrained ear since I've been speaking it my entire life and all. It's always been words to me.
...but based on the way I think it would sound, I thought that video above was pretty close. I imagine English as a very staccato language, with tons of vowel sounds. Kinda like Finnish, but with less German influence.
I agree, I would think English sounds very staccato as you say. German rounds the Rs more, and also uses Z-sounding Ss whereas English has harsher pronunciations of both.
And I never thought of it, but I guess we do have more vowel sounds..
Veering OT just a little -- here's a fascinating site.
You'll hear people whose native language is not English speaking the same English sentences.
http://accent.gmu.edu/browse_language.php
You'll hear people whose native language is not English speaking the same English sentences.
http://accent.gmu.edu/browse_language.php
Was English hard for you to learn?
Yes, but by dint of hard work I am finally putting a dent in it.
Yes, but by dint of hard work I am finally putting a dent in it.
Yes, but by dint of hard work I am finally putting a dent in it.
Any chance English is your only language?
Any chance English is your only language?
I answer in the affirmative, but some might argue that I have no language, only moods.
I answer in the affirmative, but some might argue that I have no language, only moods.
LOL that's what I thought. I thought there might have been a chance at French seeing that you're Canadian.
72 years and you're barely grasping English, comical.
A baby? I suppose compared to you everyone is a baby in this forum. Though I am probably average age here or slightly above average. I am in my 30's.
So, you got that did you?
I deleted that part well within the time limit allowed for an un-noted edit.
You must have E-mail notification on for all your threads, lest you miss anything juicy.
I respectfully suggest that you get outside, and get some fresh air.
Hence why I can read and speak Bosnian, I just don't understand 99% of it
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I would have never guessed you were a non-native speaker judging by your writing.
I lived in 4 different european countries and i speak fluently their language (english, italian, german and french), but i still think in russian (my native language).
Not sure what's with that attitude, and please don't worry about me getting fresh air. I was out all last night and I have been out with daughter playing the in the yard a couple of times today. I'd say 85% of my post are while I am at work. While I am not at work I usually don't bother coming on here, unless I get something interesting in my email. So, yes I have email notification on for threads I subscribe too.
i started learning english in school around age 9 / 10.. can't remember
before that i was mostly watching english tv programs ("TCC" was the cartoon channel of choice) and also mtv was running all the time, along with the x-files and such. all while growing up
i consider myself pretty good at english.. MOSTLY I've learned it from playing computer and console games though. I don't have a huge vocabulary like an english-native speaker would.. however i guess thats pretty normal
Im just 27 currently, and i can still learn a lot. My gf is studying english at the university and i hope i can convince her to move to an english speaking country for a couple of years, in the future.
but overall.. no. english was extremely easy to understand.. It's not as advanced as german, which is also know a tiny bit of
before that i was mostly watching english tv programs ("TCC" was the cartoon channel of choice) and also mtv was running all the time, along with the x-files and such. all while growing up
i consider myself pretty good at english.. MOSTLY I've learned it from playing computer and console games though. I don't have a huge vocabulary like an english-native speaker would.. however i guess thats pretty normal
Im just 27 currently, and i can still learn a lot. My gf is studying english at the university and i hope i can convince her to move to an english speaking country for a couple of years, in the future.
but overall.. no. english was extremely easy to understand.. It's not as advanced as german, which is also know a tiny bit of
English is difficult since the same word meaning different things depending on context. For example...
The accountant at the music store records records of the records.
Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
English = hard. Engrish = easy. Me speaky both.
The accountant at the music store records records of the records.
Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
English = hard. Engrish = easy. Me speaky both.
Learning English was a piece of cake! It's super easy. All I had to do is listen closely to the movies, read the conversations and watch video games cutscenes.
English was an easy to learn language until that darn Prepositions, Gerunds and all that English BS came along.
English was an easy to learn language until that darn Prepositions, Gerunds and all that English BS came along.
The good part is that it doesn't really matter that much. The main part is that you can be understood by the other person.
私は日本語を勉強しています (I'm studying Japanese) and as a native English speaker I'm finding it simultaneously challenging and logical (e.g. the word for socks, くつ下, is literally "under shoes").
I didn't have any difficulty learning English. I started at school when I was 10 and I now consider myself fully bilingual (well, except for the accent ). TOEIC score 990/990, if that means anything.
It was just a matter of listening to a lot of English TV shows (thanks Discovery Channel) and reading a lot of English material (gotta love the internet). For the first few years (maybe three or four) I learned stuff at school, but after that I just went to the classes to get points on my report card. English classes were utterly boring past the age of 14 and I had them until last year (when I was 19).
I'll be starting German this fall. We'll see if it will be a greater challenge, but so far, it didn't seem that hard (except noun genders which are different than those in French, I bet it will be a major PITA) based on the online courses I have taken.
). TOEIC score 990/990, if that means anything.It was just a matter of listening to a lot of English TV shows (thanks Discovery Channel) and reading a lot of English material (gotta love the internet). For the first few years (maybe three or four) I learned stuff at school, but after that I just went to the classes to get points on my report card. English classes were utterly boring past the age of 14 and I had them until last year (when I was 19).
I'll be starting German this fall. We'll see if it will be a greater challenge, but so far, it didn't seem that hard (except noun genders which are different than those in French, I bet it will be a major PITA) based on the online courses I have taken.
I might not be right, but your native language always is said how it looks. It's just that every language has different pronunciation.
And by the way English is not that hard compared to other languages. If I compare it with my native language, then English is really really easy.
English, much like the game of Go, is easy to learn, difficult to master. The grammar system is needlessly convoluted with at least one exception for every rule.
"I" before "e," except after "c" and on every first monday of a full week of the month.Of course, it's being dumbed down. There was once a time when "shall" was singular and "will" was plural. ie. "I shall blah blah blah" "Thou shall blah blah blah." Nowadays, "shall" has been killed off because kids were to stupid to use proper grammar.
Why back when I was in school, kids who used poor grammar had to sit in the corner with a dunce hat on. I always pretended to be a wizard back then...eh hem...anyways.
English easy to learn, hard to master.