Join the best erotica focused adult social network now
Login

Why English is so hard to learn

last reply
7 replies
1.3k views
0 watchers
0 likes
Unknown User
0 likes
I'm married to an immigrant whose first language is Chinese (she speaks three different Chinese languages) and English still drives her nuts at times even after living in Canada for 25 years and having me as a partner for 23 of them. We have way too many screwball exceptions (as that poem points out). It doesn't help that the Chinese (at least in Mandarin and Shanghainese, can't speak for all of the languages in that family) don't have the concept of masculine and feminine third person pronouns so that she's always messing up "he" and "she".
lambdavi
Active Ink Slinger
0 likes
Hello Seeker4.

Don't worry, you are in good company! Please consider that many languages have masculine, feminine and neuter genders, and that others have singular, dual and plural.
What is dual? It's the kind of "almost plural" you use when addressing or referring to two people; plural will consider only three or more.
And... what about cultural or historical differences ? Why is cooked meat called "beef" and a pig cutlet called "pork"?
It all comes down to history through the ages and the evolution of the language.
Simply consider that every language in the world will have its own individual word to refer to the Moon, but everybody will say "television" smile
Unknown User
0 likes
Quote by lambdavi
Hello Seeker4.

Don't worry, you are in good company! Please consider that many languages have masculine, feminine and neuter genders, and that others have singular, dual and plural.
What is dual? It's the kind of "almost plural" you use when addressing or referring to two people; plural will consider only three or more.
And... what about cultural or historical differences ? Why is cooked meat called "beef" and a pig cutlet called "pork"?
It all comes down to history through the ages and the evolution of the language.
Simply consider that every language in the world will have its own individual word to refer to the Moon, but everybody will say "television" smile


I know French (mandatory in school from grade 5 or so until first year or two of high school since Canada is officially bilingual but I kept it up right through high school) so I'm well acquainted with gendered nouns. I've heard of dual but don't know any languages myself that use it.
JamieW
Active Ink Slinger
0 likes
English Grammar is the hardest to learn because we make everything complicated..... For instance "I know" Silent K......... Stupid luckily I grew up with it so I except it now....
WellMadeMale
Constant Gardener
0 likes
Quote by JamieW
English Grammar is the hardest to learn because we make everything complicated..... For instance "I know" Silent K......... Stupid luckily I grew up with it so I except it now....


Funny how your use of the word except, instead of accept - can also make some sense too, when used here and now.

We need a Grammar NAZI to rule on lack of punctuation, however...or overuse of ellipses. Where's that mean old bastard at when we need him?
The same GQP demanding we move on from January 6th, 2021 is still doing audits of the November 3rd, 2020 election.
RumpleForeskin
The Right Rev of Lush
0 likes
Did someone call for a mean old bastard? Oh, it's about grammar?Never mind.

My favorite example of what drives non-English speakers nuts is, awfully.

For no reason I've ever heard of, it is used in both a negative and positive sense.

She's an awfully bad girl, but her bad is awfully good.
RUMPLATIONS: AwesomeHonky Tonk and Cyber Bar
Home of the Lush "IN" crowd: indecent, intoxicated, and insolvent
a place to gossip, share news, talk sports, pimp a story, piss & moan, or just grab a drink. Check it out.

Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwords. -- ROBERT HEINLEIN
DanielleX
Head Penguin
0 likes
Is English hard to learn? I think that's a myth. I have a lot of friends in Europe who don't have English as their first language but speak English fluently. I agree that English is hard to pronounce correctly but to learn to at least to competent level is quite straight forward.

Have a go at Finnish or Hungarian and then come back and say English is hard to learn!

Danielle x

A First Class Service Ch.5

A steamy lesbian three way