Ookla the Absent Posted April 16, 2016 Report Share Posted April 16, 2016 English isn't *the* hardest. It's up there, and most of it's problems stem from being a hybrid of at least three different languages, with loanwords thrown in for good measure, etc. But it's probably not *the* hardest. Japanese is honestly probably worse, and Russian, Arabic, and Khoisan may be as well (though I have less experiance with those, and can't say for sure). So English is really freakin' hard. The only reason it makes sense to native speakers is 'cause that's what they grew up with. My pet peeve: When my English speaking friends say that Spanish is hard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oversleep Posted April 16, 2016 Report Share Posted April 16, 2016 English isn't *the* hardest. It's up there, and most of it's problems stem from being a hybrid of at least three different languages, with loanwords thrown in for good measure, etc. But it's probably not *the* hardest. Japanese is honestly probably worse, and Russian, Arabic, and Khoisan may be as well (though I have less experiance with those, and can't say for sure). So English is really freakin' hard. The only reason it makes sense to native speakers is 'cause that's what they grew up with. English is one of the easiest. Japanese is not really hard (not counting the writing; everything apart from the writing isn't complicated). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunbird Posted April 17, 2016 Report Share Posted April 17, 2016 Me being a native English speaker, I can't comment knowledgeably on how hard it is to learn as a second language, but I definitely agree with Gargoyle about many of English's quirks being because of how it evolved. Large portions of modern English vocabulary share history with German or are direct borrowings from French, Latin, or Greek, and we've adopted occasional words from many other languages. When we adopt foreign words, we usually keep their original spellings, so that explains some of English's weird spellings. But I also think the mishmash of borrowed words gives the language an amazing ability to create beautiful writing because there are different words for the same thing, or slight nuances of meaning that can be expressed by different words, or homophones that you can pun on, etc. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Honor Spren Posted April 17, 2016 Report Share Posted April 17, 2016 Japanese isn't as hard as you think. I really want to start learning it this year. As for the hardest language, I place my bets on catanese. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purelake Earthquake Posted April 18, 2016 Report Share Posted April 18, 2016 How could I have forgotten about the hardest language of them all? The Incarna language. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ookla the Absent Posted April 18, 2016 Report Share Posted April 18, 2016 @Oversleep: ??? How? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zathoth Posted April 18, 2016 Report Share Posted April 18, 2016 How about Ithkuil? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistrunner Posted April 18, 2016 Report Share Posted April 18, 2016 How could I have forgotten about the hardest language of them all? The Incarna language.Sure, it's hard to speak, but I can write it real well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oversleep Posted April 18, 2016 Report Share Posted April 18, 2016 @Oversleep: ??? How? How Japanese can be an easy language? Well, little tenses (2 IIRC), logical grammar, little to no inflection and so on... Of course, writing is hard. But the language itself isn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ookla the Absent Posted April 19, 2016 Report Share Posted April 19, 2016 Hm, I'll have to think about that more. How about English? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ookla the Absent Posted April 20, 2016 Report Share Posted April 20, 2016 (edited) People who dislike things just because they're popular People who like things just because they're popular People who think I dislike everything popular for that reason No, I really just do happen to dislike 95% of pop culture. At least. Hypocrites edit: Just remembered this one... People who think I'm a rebel just because I form my own opinions, that generally go against the mainstream ideas. and mostly unrelated... When parents try to hide/keep their children away from me. It's super hurtful and a bit offensive, and do I really look that scary? Edited April 20, 2016 by Gargoyle 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orlion Blight Posted April 20, 2016 Report Share Posted April 20, 2016 and mostly unrelated... When parents try to hide/keep their children away from me. It's super hurtful and a bit offensive, and do I really look that scary? Well, you are a gargoyle... My peeve is actually the opposite: people somehow TRUST me with their children no matter how much I scowl! If it were possible, I'd switch our issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunbird Posted April 20, 2016 Report Share Posted April 20, 2016 Well, you are a gargoyle... My peeve is actually the opposite: people somehow TRUST me with their children no matter how much I scowl! If it were possible, I'd switch our issues. Now I really want to know what you two look like. What is it about your appearances that causes people to react to you in such different ways? On a related note, my dad is 6 foot 2 and sometimes sports a beard. When he has the beard, little kids are often scared of him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ookla the Absent Posted April 20, 2016 Report Share Posted April 20, 2016 (edited) IDK, I'm built like a twig... I am about 6 foot, but is it just because I'm taller than the average mother? Also, I've been told I look like a mouse before... are mice that threatening? Edited April 21, 2016 by Gargoyle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delightful Posted April 21, 2016 Report Share Posted April 21, 2016 IDK, I'm built like a twig... I am about 6 foot, but is it just because I'm taller than the average mother? Also, I've been told I look like a mouse before... are mice that threatening? I have a clear memory of holding our kindergarten pet mouse. Some woman saw me and ran shrieking. So.....sometimes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunbird Posted April 21, 2016 Report Share Posted April 21, 2016 (edited) IDK, I'm built like a twig... I am about 6 foot, but is it just because I'm taller than the average mother? Also, I've been told I look like a mouse before... are mice that threatening? From that description you don't sound threatening at all... Sometimes people are scared by tattoos. I don't suppose you have any of those in a visible place? Not saying it's a valid reason to be scared of you (plenty of nice people have tattoos), but it's a common one. I have a clear memory of holding our kindergarten pet mouse. Some woman saw me and ran shrieking. So.....sometimes? This amuses me, since I have been known to pick up frogs, toads, praying mantises, grasshoppers, and snakes when I find them outdoors. People flip out about the weirdest things. Edited April 21, 2016 by Sunbird Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delightful Posted April 21, 2016 Report Share Posted April 21, 2016 I was like four, and I remember just standing there thinking "what? What is she scared of? I'm just holding a mouse" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arrae Posted April 21, 2016 Report Share Posted April 21, 2016 English has homonyms. Sometimes words that are spelled similarly use different suffixes, (taught, preached; boxes, oxen) And maybe other similar things I can't think of right now. Now this is where I'm confused. I don't know a lot about linguistics and languages, so maybe someone can correct me here, but these hardly sound like unique problems to English (homonyms, really?). It's possible that a lot of these people just mean to be poking fun at language in general, but a lot of them cite it as the worst language, using these things as evidence. ... I know there are studies and stuff about how it's supposed to be harder to learn than others, but I'm at the point where my brain just automatically edits out whenever I see someone mention a study, I just have so little faith in them. Again, I could be wrong here, but if you google "English worst language" all you get are lists of these quirks, which I assume are not uncommon in other languages as well. Anyway, I'm glad to get this off my chest, now I can stop harboring my annoyance and get on with my life. The homonyms in Chinese... Everything sounds so similar. I'm lucky, because I partially grew up with it, but it must be horrible to people who are learning the language as adults. One short syllable can mean many different things. Something with the pronounciation of "yi" can mean the number one. Pair the same sound with another and you can have "yi fu", which means clothing. Tweak the tone of "yi" and change the second syllable. Now you have "yi wei" which means to assume (usually wrongly). Or "yi qi", which means together. And that's just Mandarin. Other dialects sound different but have the same written words. So the sounds are similar, but vary depending on dialect. At least the writing is the same, right? Nope! There's simplified and traditional Chinese, which are different versions of written Chinese. Understanding one does not always grant understanding of the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ookla the Absent Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 From that description you don't sound threatening at all... Sometimes people are scared by tattoos. I don't suppose you have any of those in a visible place? Not saying it's a valid reason to be scared of you (plenty of nice people have tattoos), but it's a common one. Nope... I have a clear memory of holding our kindergarten pet mouse. Some woman saw me and ran shrieking. So.....sometimes? Well, no one's exactly run from me shrieking, although that would be pretty funny... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mestiv Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 The word "immediately"... how does one know how to spell it without looking it up? Every time I try to write it from memory I end up with something like: immidietly or some other twisted version of this word :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThirdGen Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 The word "immediately"... how does one know how to spell it without looking it up? Every time I try to write it from memory I end up with something like: immidietly or some other twisted version of this word :/ Immediately - quick, without anything to mediate it. Mediate - Latin middle, media. Use any haphazard combination of mnemonics, associations, jokes, etc. that works for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiLyghtSansSparkles Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 This really only causes me mild annoyance, but I still roll my eyes whenever someone says "for all intensive purposes" when they mean "for all intents and purposes." 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kobold King Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 This really only causes me mild annoyance, but I still roll my eyes whenever someone says "for all intensive purposes" when they mean "for all intents and purposes." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Slowswift Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 And it's not "visa versa". It's just not. Please stop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwiLyghtSansSparkles Posted April 22, 2016 Report Share Posted April 22, 2016 The ninjas have been saying it? That said…it's more annoying in writing than when it's spoken. When it's spoken, it's easier to dismiss it as a slip of the tongue—because it could've been one—but when it's written, you can tell. And it's not "visa versa". It's just not. Please stop. THANK YOU Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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