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Óscar Recio
10th July 2003, 16:48
WHY ENGLISH IS SO HARD TO LEARN????
* The bandage was wound around the wound.
* The farm was used to produce produce.
* The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
* We must polish the Polish furniture.
* He could lead if he would get the lead out.
* The soldier decided to desrt his dessert in the desert.
* Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to presnt the present.
* I did not object to the object.
* There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
* They were too close to the door to close it.
* How can i intimate this to my most intimate friend?


* Letīs face it; English is a crazy language:
Thereīs is no egg in eggplant; neither apple or pine in pineapple.
* English muffins werenīt invented in England nor French fries in France.
* Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, wich arenīt sweet, are meat.


* We take english for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes we find that:
Quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from guinea nor it is a pig.
* And WHY is it that writers write but fingers donīt fing, grocers donīt groce and hammers donīt ham?
* one goose, two geese. So one moose, 2 meese?
* if teacher taught, why didnīt preacher praught?
* If vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
* In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?
* We ship by truck and send cargo by ship? have noses that run and feet that smell?
* How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man a wise guy are opposites?

And finally,
*How about when you want to shut down your computer: you have to hit START!!!


Oh man, and i always thought that spanish or german were complicated.
regards,
óscar :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
PS: with all my love to the language that granted me so many friends all around the world.

Shitoryu Dude
10th July 2003, 17:17
English is the conglomeration of several languages which borrows words freely (including their spelling), and uses Germanic sentence construction.

When you consider that even those who are native speakers of the language commonly have trouble using it properly, is it any wonder that those who learn it as a second language screw it up so horribly?

:beer:

Marc Renouf
10th July 2003, 20:44
Actually English doesn't use German sentence construction. German (like Japanese) uses a Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) language construction. English (along with the Romance languages) uses a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) construction. Speaking in SOV in English makes you sound like Yoda.

That said, German and English have a lot of grammatical similarities in terms of case and tense. For instance, I didn't understand the whole "who vs. whom" thing until I learned the proper conjugation of the interrogative "wer" (who) in German. Then suddenly it all made sense to me. German is much more precise about its conjugation than English (or at least the rules are broken less frequently), but if you can get over the SOV vs. SVO barrier, some of the same ideas apply.

Shitoryu Dude
10th July 2003, 21:13
I was basing my assertation on how English sentence structure far more resembles German than Spanish or French. To me, both of those languages are "backwards". I assume Italian is constructed the same way.

To me, a language that has reversed subject/verb construction and assignes a gender to all nouns is very confusing. Things that are quite simple to say in English may take several times as long in another language or may even be impossible. If I remember correctly, possesives are very tricky in Spanish.

:beer:

Steve Williams
10th July 2003, 23:00
:nw: :nw: :nw: to Oscar........


Some of the better grammatisists (is that a word :eek: ) are not english, of those here.....


I am English and I don't have a clue what I am writing most of the time ;)

Vapour
11th July 2003, 00:08
English is classified as a germanic language in linguistc field. Given anglo saxon were germanic tribes, it's not suprising at all. 80% of commonly used words in English trace its origin to germanic language. French, spanish, italian come under category of Latin/romanic laguage though french has quite bit of celtic influence to it.

mech
11th July 2003, 04:36
Originally posted by Shitoryu Dude
I was basing my assertation on how English sentence structure far more resembles German than Spanish or French. To me, both of those languages are "backwards". I assume Italian is constructed the same way.
To me, a language that has reversed subject/verb construction and assignes a gender to all nouns is very confusing. Things that are quite simple to say in English may take several times as long in another language or may even be impossible. If I remember correctly, possesives are very tricky in Spanish.
:beer: Moul

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Backwards?? who here is backwards? native english speakers people of course, a verb here.. a subject over there, all changed! up side down..

And all that hermafrodites way to call thing is weird you know?
but I enjoy inmensely hear english native trying some spanish... oh yes! most of you didint get to much what learned in high school doesnt it?
When I hear all that null gender I think or that you doesnt care about and thats why your women dominates you and do what ever they want to, shame.

If I dare to say to my friends something like: a girl gave some head to me...carajo Id better run they will go after me tickling my balls and grabbing my buttocks for a while..!

Yes english is shorter and this is a good point
Try some spanish once in a while, the difference is that hispanic people will understand you every time no matter how horrible your mistakes are.

MECH
Manuel E.Ch. A.

Kennesten
11th July 2003, 07:49
Middle English makes a lot more sense to speak, and is easier to learn than modern English. Everything went crazy after the great vowel shift after Chaucer's time (roughly 15th century), and people started dropping the "k" in knife and the "gh" in light (among other things). The pronunciation of a word like "knight" nowadays is nearly unrecognizable compared to its pronunciation six hundred years ago. The things that happen on islands ... My sympathies. =)


Nicholas Lauridsen

Óscar Recio
11th July 2003, 18:54
Thank you!!! iīve just posted the thread like a kind of joke and you are getting serious:eek::eek:
Guys,
How can you be so funny with some serious posts and be so serious with a funny one???:rolleyes:
Anyway,
Thank you again.
Slainté :beer:
Óscar

william northcote
11th July 2003, 19:57
If TV ever decides to show "Mongrel Nation" around the world, you will see the cross dresser comedian Eddie Izzard telling you that the UK is nothing more than a scruffy dog.

Yep, all are right in saying that English is Germanic in origin, mostly spoken like German/Dutch. The programme (yes the word is spelt correctly America dropped the 'me') got Izzard to learn the rudiments of old English and went to the borders of Holland and Germany to ask a farmer to sell a cow. It worked.

The northern parts of England have viking names like Edale. Dale is a viking word. So even still, Germanic/Dutch speech is a sort of English, but it also has some viking as well.

But if you wish to blame the originator of written world, blame the creator of the printing press. He standardised the modern written language to verb, context ETC to his ideals.

Mind you, he was never one for a good shin kicking contest.

Shitoryu Dude
11th July 2003, 20:19
Oscar - English is a hard language to learn, though I suspect Mandarin Chinese is the hardest. Gets painful to listen to as well - must be the most annoying language on the planet if you aren't a native speaker.

:beer:

mews
11th July 2003, 21:40
you see, it's all the fault of Billy the Bastard OOPS, we call him William the Conqueror now, don't we? :p

there is a marvelous quote, i forget by whom, that says
"english is the result of norman men-at-arms trying to chat up the anglo-saxon barmaids." only, some of the bargirls spoke danish, or norse instead...

so, all the infections dropped off, except for those that didn't, and the verbs changed how they ended, except for those that didn't, and, and...

therefore - 1 cat, 2 catS, but no matter how many sheep there are, it's all just sheep.

i teach college level ESL, and i have great respect for anyone trying to get to the level of reasonable academic english.

mew

Vapour
11th July 2003, 22:15
Viking(Nordic) is another variation of Germanic language. Norman were mainly Danish (another germanic tribe) who picked up French. Anyway, French were spoken as inter-European language all over Europe for centuries so there there must be other reason for English to be such mixed/confusing language.

william northcote
12th July 2003, 00:31
Their there, there is nowt wrong wi' the way we speak ladd. Yerz needing to relax an' relax yer noggin a whiles.

The see, English ladd, is complex. Aye it is too. Naa take Zomerzet. Down be Zomerzet they use the Z instead of the S. While ower in ol London tahn, they talk loike Dick Van Dyke bur mores the better.

But if thees go to Burley, theese 'as a reet goings on wi the speech an English, thiz Lancishurr aaccent is nowt like that Oasis band talk like.

And if thi' think I am gunna talk like a Geordie... way aye man, thiy as another think comin laddie for the little fishie.

Elf Tengu
12th July 2003, 09:59
It's all too much,

I'm going off to concentrate on my career as a courier in Korea for a large carrier company.

Carrie R.

mews
12th July 2003, 22:08
And if thi' think I am gunna talk like a Geordie... way aye man, thiy as another think comin laddie for the little fishie.

--
Newfie jokes (dialog)

MR FISH
MR NOT FISH
MR FISH FISH - CDBD IIIIII ?
WHALE OIL B FOOKED MR FISH FISH

-
MR PUPPIES
MR NOT PUPPIES
MR PUPPIES PUPPIES - CMPN ON DFLUR ?
WHALE OIL B FOOKED MR PUPPIES PUPPIES


mew

mews
12th July 2003, 22:15
Anyway, French were spoken as inter-European language all over Europe for centuries so there there must be *** other reason *** for English to be such mixed/confusing language.
--

pick one:

a) 'cuz we're silly :)
b) 'cuz we're mean :p
c) 'cuz we're easily bored, and having a confusing
language is entertaining. :D
d) all of the above :eek:

I shall propose this as a question on the TOEFL for next year!

mew

Jack B
14th July 2003, 17:40
The Foreign Service Institute of the US Government, where diplomats and presumably spies are trained, classifies three languages as "Super-Hard" for English speakers to learn. These are Chinese, Japanese and Arabic. All three are high-context, Chinese includes tones and pictographic writing, Japanese is another mongrel fusion. Especially the writing system is rather complex. Students of Chinese that I know have been horrified to learn that each kanji may have several different readings depending on context.

Historically, English has several whole layers of vocabulary. French kings ruled England (from 1066 to 1485), and Romance words were added for areas like commerce (mortgage, fiscal), law (legislature, jurisprudence), and foods (beef, mutton, pork, poultry). To the farmer it was cow, sheep, pig, chicken, but the courtiers and merchants who ate the produce spoke French. It makes for a very rich language, since each layer has its own nuances. Also we feel free to generate new words from greek (telephone) whenever we need.