1
   

English is Crazy

Forums: English
Email this Topic • Print this Page
 
 
Einherjar
 
  1  
Reply Fri 24 Dec, 2004 01:55 am
I've had both languages, and found german a lot harder.
0 Replies
 
Levi
 
  1  
Reply Fri 24 Dec, 2004 05:54 am
Quote:
Every foreign-language teacher I've had as well as a few English teachers.


Quote:
I do believe that the difficult languages in order are:...


That's claptrap. Difficulty just depends on how closely the foreign language relates to your native language. A speaker of a Germanic IE language will find English much easier than an Austroasiatic or Niger-Congo language.
0 Replies
 
Einherjar
 
  1  
Reply Fri 24 Dec, 2004 05:57 am
Levi wrote:
That's claptrap. Difficulty just depends on how closely the foreign language relates to your native language. A speaker of a Germanic IE language will find English much easier than an Austroasiatic or Niger-Congo language.


Exelent point, only Norwegian is a germanic language, and I'm Norwegian.
0 Replies
 
Levi
 
  1  
Reply Fri 24 Dec, 2004 06:03 am
Oopsky. What I was referring to has been put into quotes for clarity. :wink:
0 Replies
 
McTag
 
  1  
Reply Fri 24 Dec, 2004 06:56 am
How come "shifty" and "shiftless" mean much the same thing? (very approx)
0 Replies
 
Francis
 
  1  
Reply Fri 24 Dec, 2004 07:28 am
I think I know McTag! There's an error on this thread title, it must be : English "are" crazy! :wink:
0 Replies
 
ForeverYoung
 
  1  
Reply Fri 24 Dec, 2004 07:34 am
Yes, Francis, since McTag already dissed us 'muricans, I would like to tweak your post to read, "Englishmen are crazy" ...... also mad dogs. Cool
0 Replies
 
ForeverYoung
 
  1  
Reply Fri 24 Dec, 2004 07:35 am
McTag wrote:
Yeah, definitely English, because the Americans haven't mastered it yet!

AAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAA!


Francis, please see his post, above. Twisted Evil
0 Replies
 
Letty
 
  1  
Reply Fri 24 Dec, 2004 07:45 am
For Wy. Sorry, I got winded from wending my way home. Very Happy
0 Replies
 
crucifixation
 
  1  
Reply Fri 24 Dec, 2004 08:05 am
Re: English is Crazy
moxiac wrote:
My fren post this in another forums.... to prove english is crazy see this


goods carried by cars are called shipment
goods carried by ship are called cargo

and we say they have the most developed literature



So english is Crazy??? Razz


who is that fren of urs ? l ol

its me??
0 Replies
 
Merry Andrew
 
  1  
Reply Fri 24 Dec, 2004 08:28 am
As a person for whom English is a second language (didn't learn it til age 11), I think I can speak with some authority. It is one of the easiest languages on earth. What's hard about English, except the absurd spelling? It's certainly the easiest of all the Indo-European languages. No noun declensions, no verb conjugations. No gender distinctions for non-animate objects; if it ain't male or female, it's neuter. Some people complain about the huge vocabulary. So what? Most native speakers aren't familiar with one-tenth of the words in the dictionary. All you need is a vocabulary of a couple of thousand words to sound like you're truly fluent. You only need a couple of hundred 'survival words' to get by. English is a snap. That's one of the reasons it's become the lingua franca throughout the industrialized world. German is difficult. French is hell for a non-Frenchman to pronounce. Russian, you have to learn a whole new alphabet. Same with Greek. English rocks.
0 Replies
 
Francis
 
  1  
Reply Fri 24 Dec, 2004 08:54 am
MA, I would say same as you.
0 Replies
 
oristarA
 
  1  
Reply Fri 24 Dec, 2004 10:00 am
Wow, you guys have barked up the wrong tree. (except the one who said Chinese is most difficult)

Chinese is crazy, English not. Very Happy

Because Chinese is crazy so you guys cannot even type out a character of it!
0 Replies
 
moxiac
 
  1  
Reply Fri 24 Dec, 2004 11:17 am
Re: English is Crazy
crucifixation wrote:
moxiac wrote:
My fren post this in another forums.... to prove english is crazy see this


goods carried by cars are called shipment
goods carried by ship are called cargo

and we say they have the most developed literature



So english is Crazy??? Razz


who is that fren of urs ? l ol
its me??
yeah LOL!
0 Replies
 
Merry Andrew
 
  1  
Reply Fri 24 Dec, 2004 12:10 pm
Of course, English is sort of crazy. For example, if a vegetarian eats only vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? And is Congress the opposite of progress?
0 Replies
 
Acquiunk
 
  1  
Reply Fri 24 Dec, 2004 12:29 pm
English is now considered a fully developed language, but originally it was a creole that combined five sources, Keltic, Old German, French, Latin and various Scandinavian dialects. Between 500 and 1100 AD the various groups speaking these languages crammed into Britain and found they had to communicate with each other. The basic underlying grammar is mostly a stripped down German (glossed by persnickety academics) with major portions of the vocabulary contributed by the other speakers.
0 Replies
 
McTag
 
  1  
Reply Fri 24 Dec, 2004 12:33 pm
These are good questions, but silly. I like silly things. Smile

What can go up a chimney down, but can't come down a chimney up?

It's not Santa Claus!

It's ......









an umbrella!
0 Replies
 
Wy
 
  1  
Reply Fri 24 Dec, 2004 09:40 pm
Oristar, we could of course type a character of Chinese, given the right computer... What I couldn't do, though, is tell you what it meant! Smile

I think any tonal language would be difficult for a Westerner to learn. The differences in inflection that change meaning would be difficult for us to hear, I think.
0 Replies
 
moxiac
 
  1  
Reply Sat 25 Dec, 2004 12:36 am
McTag wrote:
These are good questions, but silly. I like silly things. Smile

What can go up a chimney down, but can't come down a chimney up?

It's not Santa Claus!

It's ......









an umbrella!
hahahahahaha ... LOL
0 Replies
 
Letty
 
  1  
Reply Sat 25 Dec, 2004 07:59 pm
one bows before an audience and opens packages all tied up in a bow. An American dogs goes bow wow and a French dog goes le bark. I don't know what the bloody British dogs say. Razz

What about latvian dogs, Andy?
0 Replies
 
 

Related Topics

deal - Question by WBYeats
Expert help needed: pronoun form following main verb before a gerund - Question by adavis444
Let pupils abandon spelling rules, says academic - Discussion by Robert Gentel
Please, I need help. - Question by imsak
Do you understand what "Transition overground" means? - Question by Alexander7
Is this sentence grammatically correct? - Question by Sydney-Strock
"come from" - Question by mcook
Is this paragraph incomprehensible? Would you suggest an edit? - Question by tamara123454
Does this sentence make any sense in English? - Question by estherara
Could someone review my assignment? - Question by kair0s
concentrated - Question by WBYeats
 
  1. Forums
  2. » English is Crazy
  3. » Page 2
Copyright © 2025 MadLab, LLC :: Terms of Service :: Privacy Policy :: Page generated in 0.06 seconds on 05/02/2025 at 08:37:23
▲ ▼