Woodward:

English is hard to learn because...

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all.

We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?

Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.

If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth ‘beeth’?

One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 ‘meese’?

Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one ‘amend’.

If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?

If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?

In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are

invisible.

Reasons why the English language is so hard to learn:

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.

2) The farm was used to produce produce.

3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

4) We must polish the Polish furniture.

5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.

6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.

8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

10) I did not object to the object.

11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

13) They were too close to the door to close it.

14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.

15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

18) After a number of injections my jaw got number.

19) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

20) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

Woodward.

I forget where I got this from. Though I do remember chopping and adding bits to it. It's one of those things that has been floating around forgotten in the darkest corners of my hard drive. If anyone knows the original source of this, please let me know.

Anonymous:

English is a difficult language to adopt as a second language for so many reasons. Your point about learning Japanese is irrelevant to this 'why English is difficult' conversation. In places like Canada, did you know the reason for having so many different newspapers is because of the reading level that each one has adopted? The lowest reading level being that of a fourth grader. English has tenses, which in turn, all have subtenses (past, past continuous, past perfect etc.) Like the first quote, if two words have the same spelling, it depends if it is a verb or a noun for how it is pronounced. And yes, it does matter how coherent and fluent you are in English because when you don't have your prepositions, conjunctions, articles and you use the incorrect tenses and/or verbs then guess what.... I have no freaking clue what you just said to me. With communicating in any language, the point is to get a message across, and to do it in English is difficult. Idioms are the hardest to understand because you can't even look in a dictionary to find out what it means. Also, different people pronounce the same word differently. Example, aluminium can be pronouned with 5 syllables or 4, both putting the stress somewhere different in the word. I can spell a word as center or centre, meter or metre, humor or humour, favor or favour and guess what.... it's the same word. I can write about this stuff all day because you know what, I am a native English speaker and growing up I used to ask the same questions and sometimes your answer will be, 'It just is' and there is no logical answer behind it.

Des

Anonymous:

All I can say is if English is so tough, what about Japanese? Most people can't even read the newspaper till they're in high school let alone understand the quirks of the language.

Ahmedali111:

No offence, but as Maharishi said the grammar of the language doesnt help the coherence of mind, that is why it is hard to use this languge as a tool for expresing ideas by those whose languages well up from deep levels of meditation as eastern languages ( Arabic , Sanskrit...). English language is a product of a practical mind.

nonymous:

I find it very hard to learn English, but I have not ben learn it for much time so that maybe why.

But the television helped as well me as well listening to English music, which is very good music actually!

I did not understand most sentences in the post although. Read and tear and desert and stuff--fugh! You pronounce it different when speaking but in writing it all the same! Very confusing.

If person learns young then I predict they will better understand it more? That is just my opinion. I learned Polish when I was little and were fluent by age 5! I also learn Latin in school long ago, and that helps with English, though most of it I have forgotten. German was very hard, and I had to quit French. I think there's a total that someperson can learn language?

In some aspekts English is much easier than Polish though! My English friends can barely speak it correct and it is a funny thing to listen to!

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