At university and most of the students suck at speaking it! It's so weird; I took Italian before and most could speak it pretty well. But with French, most of the students are making mistakes right and left. French is not *that* difficult is it?
I'm Taking A French Class...
it depends, my native tongue is a romance language and French is much easier than English.
À mon avis, le français n'est pas très difficile. Je l'apprends depuis 4 ans à l'école, et après 4 ans, c'est assez facile pour moi. Alors, à l'université, pour la plupart de gens, on apprends le français déjà depuis longtemps, et si on à choisi d'étudier le français à l'université, je penserais qu'on le trouverait facile, et amusant!
Mais je comprends ce que tu écris; à mon école, la plupart de gens sont très, très ignorants, et oui, quelques ces gens ont choisi le français pour apprendre à GCSE, mais ils le parlent sans accent, sans intonation, sans grammaire - comme ils vraiment ne veulent pas apprendre!
Au contraire, j'aime apprendre le français - je le trouve amusant et satisfaisant, et oui, occasionnellement, je fais une erreur de la grammaire, mais j'essaie.
Mais je comprends ce que tu écris; à mon école, la plupart de gens sont très, très ignorants, et oui, quelques ces gens ont choisi le français pour apprendre à GCSE, mais ils le parlent sans accent, sans intonation, sans grammaire - comme ils vraiment ne veulent pas apprendre!
Au contraire, j'aime apprendre le français - je le trouve amusant et satisfaisant, et oui, occasionnellement, je fais une erreur de la grammaire, mais j'essaie.
Let's put it like this:
Spanish (really easy to pronounce)
Italian (also easy, slightly harder)
English (not easy but not extremely hard)
French (really complicated but there are worst)
Spanish (really easy to pronounce)
Italian (also easy, slightly harder)
English (not easy but not extremely hard)
French (really complicated but there are worst)
How can you say that any language is easy / hard to pronounce? It depends on the point of view. For me, Berlin is quite a long way away, and Sydney is even further - but only because I'm in England.
In my opinion (native English speaker), Italian is easier than Spanish to pronounce, English is easier than both of them, and I'd say French is up with Italian and Spanish. French isn't hard to pronounce at all.
In my opinion (native English speaker), Italian is easier than Spanish to pronounce, English is easier than both of them, and I'd say French is up with Italian and Spanish. French isn't hard to pronounce at all.
I'm a native Chinese speaker and I think Chinese is the easiest one to pronounce.
Perhaps it's the final letters that make French more difficult. Italian and Spanish are pronounced the way they are spelled more or less. But English and French have many exceptions.
For instance: bough and rough are pronounced differently in English. One would not pronounce the "T" in Avant but would pronounce the "C" in Avec.
For instance: bough and rough are pronounced differently in English. One would not pronounce the "T" in Avant but would pronounce the "C" in Avec.
French is NOT that difficult, but as English speakers we are spoiled when it comes to grammar (for the most part). In my experience it just seems like the methods for teaching foreign languages in America allow for a lot of cramming before tests and forgetting it after, which doesn't work in language classes.
"Perhaps it's the final letters that make French more difficult [...] One would not pronounce the "T" in Avant but would pronounce the "C" in Avec."
Actually, there is a very simple rule to help you overcome that problem.
In French, the final consonant is, 99% of the time, not pronounced unless it was a "C", "R", "F", or "L".
To help you memorize those letters, it's easier to just remember the English word "Careful", or "Crfl".
That is NOT an excuse to justify saying that French pronounciation is hard. Anyone with a half brain can get over that problem.
French maybe easier than Spanish and Italian but it is sooo much easier than English. English doesn't make sense AT ALL!!!
"In my opinion (native English speaker), Italian is easier than Spanish to pronounce, English is easier than both of them"
Are you fucking kidding me?
Door, Nor, Four, Sore, Boar ---> same sound!
Quai, Key, Beer, Tier, Fear, Mere, Weird ---> same sound!
House, Power, Sauer ---> same sound!
... etc.
House, Houston ---> different sound!
Door, Poor --------> different sound!
Four, Pour --------> different sound!
... etc.
Shall I continue?
English is morphologically FUCKED UP!!!
Actually, there is a very simple rule to help you overcome that problem.
In French, the final consonant is, 99% of the time, not pronounced unless it was a "C", "R", "F", or "L".
To help you memorize those letters, it's easier to just remember the English word "Careful", or "Crfl".
That is NOT an excuse to justify saying that French pronounciation is hard. Anyone with a half brain can get over that problem.
French maybe easier than Spanish and Italian but it is sooo much easier than English. English doesn't make sense AT ALL!!!
"In my opinion (native English speaker), Italian is easier than Spanish to pronounce, English is easier than both of them"
Are you fucking kidding me?
Door, Nor, Four, Sore, Boar ---> same sound!
Quai, Key, Beer, Tier, Fear, Mere, Weird ---> same sound!
House, Power, Sauer ---> same sound!
... etc.
House, Houston ---> different sound!
Door, Poor --------> different sound!
Four, Pour --------> different sound!
... etc.
Shall I continue?
English is morphologically FUCKED UP!!!
That should say:
French maybe HARDER than Spanish and Italian but it is sooo much easier than English. English doesn't make sense AT ALL!!!
French maybe HARDER than Spanish and Italian but it is sooo much easier than English. English doesn't make sense AT ALL!!!
French is only "hard" because French teachers I've had NEVER bothered to explain how to pronounce it. Finally, with the help of a phrasebook and a class on French phonics, I figured it out and it was like winning the lottery.
I feel sorry for most people who study French, they have to struggle unless their teacher can show them the way.
I feel sorry for most people who study French, they have to struggle unless their teacher can show them the way.
<<Why would you waste your money on a French class?>>
Because it's one of my majors and thus necessary.
Because it's one of my majors and thus necessary.
K.T., I completely identify. I took French classes since I was a small child and through high school (grew up in Ontario) and never once were we taught proper pronunciation. It started with a rough attempt to imitate the teacher, and in later years it was simply assumed that we already knew.
I later borrowed an old book on French phonetics from the library and it was a real eye-opener. La voyelle est de toute importance! :)
I later borrowed an old book on French phonetics from the library and it was a real eye-opener. La voyelle est de toute importance! :)