Is English (the language) spoiled?

[pbjdude91]

This year at our school, we were able to take the foreign language classes, out of 4 classes. I took German and noticed that it has a lot of things that I think are kind of meticulous (sp?). I noticed that English doesn't really have these and wondered if this language is a little bit spoiled.

 

 

 

1.Verb conjugations

 

 

 

2. Noun genders

 

 

 

3.No definite way of making a noun plural

 

 

 

4.Accusitive and Dative cases (Dative is kind of tough for me to figure out)

 

 

 

Those are all that I can think of right now, there are probably other reasons from other languages that I dont speak. So if you were given the choice, would you take English over any other language?

[tzone92]

No. If English had all those, then it would be extremely hard to learn. It already isn't the easiest language to master...

[deloriagod]

No. If English had all those, then it would be extremely hard to learn. It already isn't the easiest language to master...

 

 

 

I've actually heard English is one of the most difficult langauges to learn due to use having so many meaning for a word (eg: there, their, they're) and using apostraphes for possession.

 

 

 

I took spanish when I was first given the choice of which foreign language to take (of course we were only offered spanish or french). Spanish has those first 3 things but I don't have a clue what the fourth is. I've taken 3 levels of spanish and I'm taking french next year (oh the joys of being trilingual).

[tzone92]

 

 

 

I've actually heard English is one of the most difficult langauges to learn due to use having so many meaning for a word (eg: there, their, they're) and using apostraphes for possession.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My point exactly. English is extremely confusing, heck, it seems half the kids at my school can't speak it correctly. :lol:

[Stilev]

english is the easiest languge to grab the basics and have conversations with people with, but truly mastering the skills is quite diffcult.

[Rebdragon]

It seems with most other languages (especially the language I'm learning, Latin) have a well built structure with minimal exceptions and concrete rules for tense, mood, number, etc. English... it's like it pretends to have rules, when all it really is is a pile of exceptions and a heap of linking verbs :-k .

[No_OnE]

If I were foreign, I would definitely learn English because of its importance in society. As for its difficulty, I wouldn't say it's easy at all. We have so many homophones and our ways of doing things are a lot different than most other languages. Verb conjugation in German and French are very similar whereas in English, it's completely different. For a foreigner learning English, I would guess that it would be very hard.

[Catbert]

This year at our school, we were able to take the foreign language classes, out of 4 classes. I took German and noticed that it has a lot of things that I think are kind of meticulous (sp?). I noticed that English doesn't really have these and wondered if this language is a little bit spoiled.

 

 

 

1.Verb conjugations

 

 

 

2. Noun genders

 

 

 

3.No definite way of making a noun plural

 

 

 

4.Accusitive and Dative cases (Dative is kind of tough for me to figure out)

 

 

 

Those are all that I can think of right now, there are probably other reasons from other languages that I dont speak. So if you were given the choice, would you take English over any other language?

You do know that noone actually talks like that,right?

 

 

 

I've been to Mexico a number of times, and noone talks like how they taught us in spanish class.

[darkforaster]

 

1.Verb conjugations

 

 

 

2. Noun genders

 

 

 

3.No definite way of making a noun plural

 

 

 

4.Accusitive and Dative cases (Dative is kind of tough for me to figure out)

 

 

 

1) No comment

 

 

 

2) I prefer english without the noun genders. I think it's a bit silly really. They all mean the same thing, but they say it differently. In german it goes einen (m), ein (n) and eine (f). They all mean 'the' so why can't it just be ein? The noun is 'masculine' etc. It gets sort of annoying.

 

 

 

3) There are many ways to make a noun plural. All depending on the word. e.g:

 

 

 

leaf- leaves

 

street - streets

 

radius - radii

 

beef - beef

 

bus- buses.

 

 

 

Those 5 different ways of making a noun plural depends on the spelling. The things in bold are the main culprits of these changes. if there are any changes. (like beef).

 

 

 

The French have stranger nouns. they go to ent etc. There are ir verbs, er verbs and other verbs. Each type with a different plural form. very similar to English.

 

 

 

4) no comment.

 

 

 

english is fine as it is.

[hellbellz]

Catbert, exactly. No one in English restates the damn question when someone asks them a question. :roll:

 

 

 

And no it's not spoiled. Our language doesn't have those things, big deal.

[Viktorkrum77]

It also lacks:

 

 

 

Categorized plural endings as opposed to simple "s", 'es", etc, based on the noun.

 

 

 

"The" as an ending, which is based on noun categories that are hard to decipher what noun belongs to which.

 

 

 

Accented characters.

 

 

 

Those I got from Swedish.

 

 

 

English is fairly easy to learn, but hard to become fluent in. However, unlike languages such as Swedish with its En/Ett rule, and Dutch with its 't" rule, we don't have a lot of undefined, totally impossible grammar.

[hellbellz]

Vik, I'm wondering what's bad about lacking accented characters? I praise God, English doesn't have them.

[Viktorkrum77]

Vik, I'm wondering what's bad about lacking accented characters? I praise God, English doesn't have them.

 

 

 

They're kinda cool to write, kinda unique. It's the reason I write my name ÃÆââ¬Â¡Ãâürik as opposed to Eric. They also help, especially with "I, A, E, U", to give you a definite idea of the sound that that letter represents.

 

 

 

BTW if you know the definite sound made by the character "ÃÆââ¬Â¡Ãâü", I'll love you forever!

[Catbert]

Ok, now I'm going to say that every other language have unnecessary grammar

 

 

 

It's like saying that the equation "x5=10" isn't an equation because it is simple

[assassin_696]

I think it depends what you're talking about.

 

 

 

I actually thought you were referring to the decline in Queen's English and the increase in slang, regional accents and sayings. To be honest I don't have much a of problem with that. Languages evolve and change over time.

 

 

 

Compare English today to Shakespearean english and there's a massive difference. I don't know what it will look like in 500 years.

[Guest]

This year at our school, we were able to take the foreign language classes, out of 4 classes. I took German and noticed that it has a lot of things that I think are kind of meticulous (sp?). I noticed that English doesn't really have these and wondered if this language is a little bit spoiled.

 

 

 

1.Verb conjugations

 

 

 

2. Noun genders

 

 

 

3.No definite way of making a noun plural

 

 

 

4.Accusitive and Dative cases (Dative is kind of tough for me to figure out)

 

 

 

Those are all that I can think of right now, there are probably other reasons from other languages that I dont speak. So if you were given the choice, would you take English over any other language?

 

 

 

I've been learning german for the last 4 years at school and I'm just glad that we don't have all that stuff in english. By the way, Dative is just changing the "the" case to [dem for der and das] and [der for die] when talking about "location" rather than "movement" for accusative. Such as Die Post ist auf dem rechten seite.

 

 

 

Oh and noun genders are a pain in the backside. I'm so glad english don't have them. :) But that's what makes German an interesting language to learn. :wink:

[____]

Noun genders can DIAF; they never made sense to me when I learnt German.

 

 

 

 

 

@assassin_696: Text speak. There's some stuff on the internet somewhere about some English schools, i think it was English anyways, who were allowing the use of text speak in English Exams of all places :uhh: With exceptions like that, it's all going downhill.

 

 

 

 

 

As for English, I personally believe that the only particulary hard thing about it is the use of commas and semi-colons.

[Guest]

Noun genders can DIAF; they never made sense to me when I learnt German.

 

 

 

 

 

@assassin_696: Text speak. There's some stuff on the internet somewhere about some English schools, i think it was English anyways, who were allowing the use of text speak in English Exams of all places :uhh: With exceptions like that, it's all going downhill.

 

 

 

 

 

As for English, I personally believe that the only particulary hard thing about it is the use of commas and semi-colons.

 

 

 

How are the commas and semi-colons hard to use? Semi colons are just for times where you want the sentence to still flow but not stop and start a new subject so to speak. I'm curious? :?

[Lovelydude]

Vik, I'm wondering what's bad about lacking accented characters? I praise God, English doesn't have them.

 

 

 

They're kinda cool to write, kinda unique. It's the reason I write my name ÃÆââ¬Â¡Ãâürik as opposed to Eric. They also help, especially with "I, A, E, U", to give you a definite idea of the sound that that letter represents.

 

 

 

BTW if you know the definite sound made by the character "ÃÆââ¬Â¡Ãâü", I'll love you forever!

 

 

 

Almost an 'er' sound (like air) but with a more prominent a. Similar to ai in pain or nail. Hard to explain, Vik. D:

[Fortress2000]

No. If English had all those, then it would be extremely hard to learn. It already isn't the easiest language to master...

 

 

 

I've actually heard English is one of the most difficult langauges to learn due to use having so many meaning for a word (eg: there, their, they're) and using apostraphes for possession.

 

 

 

I took spanish when I was first given the choice of which foreign language to take (of course we were only offered spanish or french). Spanish has those first 3 things but I don't have a clue what the fourth is. I've taken 3 levels of spanish and I'm taking french next year (oh the joys of being trilingual).

 

 

 

English is hard to learn, yes, but it's one of the easiest to use, whereas in other languages, their grammar is a little more complicated.

[____]

How are the commas and semi-colons hard to use? Semi colons are just for times where you want the sentence to still flow but not stop and start a new subject so to speak. I'm curious? :?

 

It's a lot easier if you just read this.

 

English taught in schools fails to actually teach practical application of punctuation to a point where people end up using whatever they think is the correct mark #-o

[warri0r45]

How are the commas and semi-colons hard to use? Semi colons are just for times where you want the sentence to still flow but not stop and start a new subject so to speak. I'm curious? :?

 

It's a lot easier if you just read this.

 

English taught in schools fails to actually teach practical application of punctuation to a point where people end up using whatever they think is the correct mark #-o

 

 

 

This is a tad embarassing, but I only learnt how to use semi-colons and colons correctly in year 12. #-o

[Viktorkrum77]

I have no idea how to use semi-colons, and I rarely use colons because I forgot. I usually go comma happy; I use way to many commas.

 

 

 

^There, did I use a semicolon right?

[MyPurpleCrayon]

I have no idea how to use semi-colons, and I rarely use colons because I forgot. I usually go comma happy; I use way to many commas.

 

It basically breaks a sentence up into two separate parts with little, but some relevance to one another.

[superson]

1.Verb conjugations

 

 

 

English does have verb conjugation, although less pronounced then other languages.

 

 

 

Take for example: To be

 

 

 

I am

 

You are

 

He is

 

We are

 

They are

 

 

 

that's 3 different forms, which isn't much for other languages but a lot for english.