Why is English so hard to learn?

Comments

@You, how do i get this picture to be centered?

 

It sounds unnecessary for there not to be consistent rules for these words. Did you know that there's more words which do not all in the "i before e except after c" rule than words that all within it? I learnt that off QI. And whilst we're on this subject I don't feel like I've been taught grammar properly Sad

"How many people find fault in what they're reading and the fault is in their own understanding" Al Mutanabbi

Really? I'm trying to think of words that have c followed by i and then e and I can't think of any lol.

What makes you think you haven't learnt grammar properly?

 

I wanted to use the word sistren somewhere a few days ago... but now if I remember where I wanted to it will seem like it was ... inspired by this blog.

"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.

receive. i before e except with c doesnt fit here.

 

English wasnt actually hard to learn. not a basic english to live day to day life anyway.

 

and yes, Grammar has been downgraded a lot in schools. guess its the British spirit, whats the point of learning something totally unnecessary to a fluent English speaker?

people of other languages though, depending on their mother tongue, will or will not appreciate grammar rules and being given pattern such as

subject+ is + verb-ing + object

 

the thing with English is that it really cant be taken literally a lot of the time. time up/time off. keep up keep out. all those basic verbs and just adding a preposition (is that even the correct word) changes the WHOLE meaning. it can hard to grasp for learners.

Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?

Any language is much harder to learn after puberty. The brain uses a different regions for languages learnt during childhood and those learnt later.

"How many people find fault in what they're reading and the fault is in their own understanding" Al Mutanabbi

english was learnt "later" for me. that's why i still count in french and cant answer basic timetable questions as fast in english then in french. (but actualy i didnt know about the different brain part. very interesting)

also, probably english was simpler for me because my mind was "activated" when it came to languages. my parents spoke a bit of english amongst themselves so we wouldnt understand, we spoke french and there was also creole, arabic was being studied. much language activation.

Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?

This is not anonymous, but written by Richard Lederer "is taken directly from the introduction to my book CRAZY ENGLISH (Pocket Books, 1989)." Richard Lederer Please correct the image so it no longer displays “anonymous”

This is not anonymous, but written by Richard Lederer "is taken directly from the introduction to my book CRAZY ENGLISH (Pocket Books, 1989)." Richard Lederer (link is external) Please correct the image so it no longer displays “anonymous”

Hi Chrissie don’t get too prissy, or is it prissie?

Whether or not the original post came from the book “Crazy English.” The subject matter is not new. The BBC world service had a series called “Anguish by Radio,” way back in the middle 70’s. [which predates your book] aimed at helping people to understand the idiosyncrasies of the English language. Was this the basis for your book? The same with, Anguished English by Richard Lederer published in 1989 If so did you copy the idea from the BBC? Not to mention when I learnt my English way back in 1950’s [I am still learning] we played around with English words Oh! Dear, oh deer or, where oh were, oh wear and what watt can the matter be even then. So did you copy my ideas?

Looking at Richard Lederer’s webb site it is not a bad read and if you take a closer look he [Richard Lederer] borrows a lot of ideas for his site, not to mention his books. So I don’t think he will get too upset?

The main thing is these youngsters are trying to learn English and are passing around things that they have seen to other people [which is not a new idea] to help them in this quest. Bearing in mind English may, or may not be their [or is it there] first language. So they have to read English, understand it in their own Language [or brain] and then write it [or is it rite, or maybe right it] in English? Not an easy task for non-English speakers.

So Chrissie, give them a chance don’t be petty of pedantic. If you don’t understand the words petty and pedantic look it up in the Oxford English Dictionary. Or would that be plagiarism? But by who, or is it whom? Writers, or the Oxford Dictionary publishers, who update [add to] the dictionary whenever new words enter the English language?

 

As i see it wrote:

This is not anonymous, but written by Richard Lederer "is taken directly from the introduction to my book CRAZY ENGLISH (Pocket Books, 1989)." Richard Lederer (link is external) Please correct the image so it no longer displays “anonymous”

Hi Chrissie don’t get too prissy, or is it prissie?

Whether or not the original post came from the book “Crazy English.” The subject matter is not new. The BBC world service had a series called “Anguish by Radio,” way back in the middle 70’s. [which predates your book] aimed at helping people to understand the idiosyncrasies of the English language. Was this the basis for your book? The same with, Anguished English by Richard Lederer published in 1989 If so did you copy the idea from the BBC? Not to mention when I learnt my English way back in 1950’s [I am still learning] we played around with English words Oh! Dear, oh deer or, where oh were, oh wear and what watt can the matter be even then. So did you copy my ideas?

Looking at Richard Lederer’s webb site it is not a bad read and if you take a closer look he [Richard Lederer] borrows a lot of ideas for his site, not to mention his books. So I don’t think he will get too upset?

The main thing is these youngsters are trying to learn English and are passing around things that they have seen to other people [which is not a new idea] to help them in this quest. Bearing in mind English may, or may not be their [or is it there] first language. So they have to read English, understand it in their own Language [or brain] and then write it [or is it rite, or maybe right it] in English? Not an easy task for non-English speakers.

So Chrissie, give them a chance don’t be petty of pedantic. If you don’t understand the words petty and pedantic look it up in the Oxford English Dictionary. Or would that be plagiarism? But by who, or is it whom? Writers, or the Oxford Dictionary publishers, who update [add to] the dictionary whenever new words enter the English language?

 

This was such a great post (although I'm all for giving proper attribution for work )

"How many people find fault in what they're reading and the fault is in their own understanding" Al Mutanabbi