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Post by Plainsman on Mar 23, 2022 9:33:57 GMT -5
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Post by Legend Lover on Mar 23, 2022 12:04:08 GMT -5
Funny, according to that article, Chinese vocabulary is the most difficult for an English-speaking person to learn, but Chinese grammar is easiest.
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rastewart
Junior Member
Posts: 334
First Name: Rich
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Post by rastewart on Mar 23, 2022 13:09:28 GMT -5
Funny, according to that article, Chinese vocabulary is the most difficult for an English-speaking person to learn, but Chinese grammar is easiest. |
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rastewart
Junior Member
Posts: 334
First Name: Rich
Favorite Pipe: Freehands, bent bulldogs, and the incomparable Peterson 303
Favorite Tobacco: Mac Baren's Scottish Blend (Mixture), C&D Mountain Camp, C&D Bayou Morning
Location:
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Post by rastewart on Mar 23, 2022 13:35:55 GMT -5
Really interesting article. I like how the author breaks the rankings out in terms of vocabulary and grammar as well as total difficulty.
This spurred me to look for some similar resources I stumbled on in the past. There's a paper declassified by the NSA that looks as if it dates from the mid to late 70s that comes to similar conclusions: Foreign Language Learning: A Comparative Analysis of Relative Difficulty. The Foreign Service Institute also has a ranking on its website.
I don't see Native American languages in any of these lists; of course with several thousands of languages spoken in the world, you can't expect them to be exhaustive. I heard one older Cherokee gentleman on a YouTube video claim his language is so difficult that if you didn't grow up speaking it, you'll never be able to learn it. That's probably an exaggeration, but I would imagine just about all those languages would fall into the most difficult category for English speakers.
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Post by Plainsman on Mar 23, 2022 13:43:45 GMT -5
One of the things I found so interesting about studying languages is learning the different ways in which languages view the world. A very good Japanese friend visited me years ago, with his family. At that time I lived near a pond and as we walked the path around it he asked how I would describe the path. I said “The path goes around the pond.” He thought for minute and said “We would say— concerning point in center of pond, pathness equidistant.” Wow.
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Post by Ronv69 on Mar 23, 2022 15:53:40 GMT -5
I've always had a problem with languages. 4 years of Spanish and a year of immersion and I still can't begin to carry a conversation. Bought a Gaelic course and couldn't understand a word. It took me a month to be able to understand my relatives in south Louisiana and I never could understand my FIL. I've had a friend from India for 15 years and we can only communicate in writing. I believe that I have the wrong kind of brain for language. I have big problems with higher math concepts too.
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Post by Plainsman on Mar 23, 2022 16:58:07 GMT -5
Brains really are different. Not better/worse. Just different.
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msokeefe
Junior Member
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First Name: Mark
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Post by msokeefe on Mar 23, 2022 19:37:21 GMT -5
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Post by Ronv69 on Mar 23, 2022 21:28:41 GMT -5
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Post by trailboss on Mar 24, 2022 0:50:12 GMT -5
It’s all Greek to me.
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Post by dervis on Mar 24, 2022 8:25:22 GMT -5
That was very fun to read. Glad you posted it.
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Post by Plainsman on Mar 24, 2022 15:21:26 GMT -5
“Kids in France muct be REALLY smart! Even the very young ones can speak French!”
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