English is the hardest language to learn

<<The popularisation of English might be more to do with the essential conquering of the world by the English - migrating to America and Australia, the UK's former Empire, etc... People expected the locals to learn English because they were arses. (I hate my ancestry sometimes...)>>

That happened with Spanish and Portuguese as well, and with many other "conquerors". They didn't expect the locals to learn the language, they imposed the language; it was a way not only of controlling the territory but also of knowing what was going on, revolutions, betrayals...


Think one more reason that explains the English "popularity" as to do with globalization and internet: you have to know something of English to be able to access the internet and keep up with the "modern world", even for using a computer you should have some basic English knowledge.

Sorry if all of this is off topic!

Pluto, I'm not trying to discourage you from learning English, but Liz is right--your grammar leaves a lot to be desired.

>>So schade. Warum sind die Moderatoren so ganz übel? Oder vielleicht schlimm? Welches ist das bessere Wort? Ich möchte wissen, was die Moderatoren gegen die Deutsch Sprache haben. Bist du Deutsche Guest? Wie ist mein Grammatik? Ganz hässlich? <<

Ich weiss nicht, was sie gegen Deutsch haben. Vielleicht geht es einfach darum, dass sie kein Deutsch können und deshalb die Posts nicht richtig moderieren können.

Ich bin Englischmuttersprachler, lerne aber seit Jahren Deutsch. Soweit ich sehen kann, ist deine Grammatik sehr gut. Ich habe nur zwei kleine grammatsiche Fehler bemerkt.

Es sollte heissen: 'Die deutsche Sprache' und 'meine Grammatik'.

Aber mein Deutsch ist auch gar nicht perfekt!

Was die Moderatoren betrifft, will ich nicht zuviel gegen sie sagen. Aber ich schlage dir vor, dass du ins Wörterbuch kucken solltest, um die Bedeutungen der Wörter 'gemein' und 'böse' zu sehen.

is this correct
"This will be the last time that I want to see you"
"This is the last time I will want to see yup"

Guest: Du bist sehr Lustig! Ich danke dir für die Berichtigung. Ich hab vergessen, dass des Artikel der Grammatiks "die" ist. Meine schulde. Geht es immer einfacher?

Xla: This sounds best: "This is the last time I want to see you."

I'm a native English speaker and I have to agree with Liz, Its hard to see how you could speak it so fluently when your grammar needs improvement.

>> I don't know German, but I can use Babelfish. I have nothing against German, and I don't think any of the other moderators do either. I don't know where that idea comes from <<

I probably should have just said one of the moderators, who I don't think moderates the English threads anyway.

Still I don't suppose we should really write in another language on this thread.

Eric

In my opinion German seems very difficult at first, at least for someone who only knows English, because the grammatical structure is much more complicated. However at the same time the rules are pretty logical, so once you have got your head round things like the cases and endings, I believe it does start to get easier. Not easy of course, there will still be lots to learn, but at least you will have the basic structure under your belt. Gender and plurals remain a pain though lol

If you want to practise German, go to the following website. There's not much actual discussionon on that one, but if you register and tell me your username on here, I will send you a private message, with a link to another German group which has been set up, where you can just chat with others in german

www.langcafe2.myfreeforum.org

I notice many people here use stuffy English; some of you may want to trim the wordage down a bit. Intellectual Arrogance is not a virtue ;)

I really hate this way of thinking. I try to write in a simple style, but I don't mind if people write in another way. I can always learn. I don't think they are being arrogant. Some people just THINK that way.

I live in a southern state and I hate the way some people probably keep their children down by stigmatizing education and educated speech.

"Uncle Ernie never went to college and he's the richest man in the county."

If you want to be a barbarian, fine. Call Jeff Foxworthy and write some sketches for his show.

True formal literary English tends to be rather stuffy by its very nature, you must remember, and that is what one is likely to write in here if one is not merely trying to transcribe semiformal speech.

Guest: One of the rules that we learn in communication is this: if you use more than two-syllable words, you lose your audience. It's hard to follow big words. The exception is, of course, in print; you can use bigger words and not worry about losing the reader.

Thanks very much Guest for the link!

Guest: One of the rules that we learn in communication is this: if you use more than two-syllable words, you lose your audience. It's hard to follow big words. The exception is, of course, in print; you can use bigger words and not worry about losing the reader.

And you want to practice German? LOL!

I used four big words in one of the last posts. My point is this: from a journalistic standpoint, we strive to write at a tenth grade reading level. Our goal is to write in the active voice, not the passive voice. Avoid using more than 20 words per sentence as well. This is what many writers, journalists, and scholars consider "good writing."

The web is also an informal medium; we tend to use contracted words and personal pronouns. No third person.

"Communication" has more than two syllables! Eric, you are being ridiculous! Wait, no, YOU DIDN'T READ THAT? Und jetzt auf Deutsch aber nur mit_________________WAIT! I CAN'T FINISH BECAUSE OF THOSE LONG WORDS IN GERMAN!