English is the hardest language to learn
"They're not exactly the same as Spanish, but it has the same number."
Josh Lalonde
Well, I haven't thought about this deeply. Wiki indicates that Japanese vowels are similar to Italian and Spanish, but then digs into the sounds more thoroughly.
This is where I have to step aside if linguists want to argue the point. I may be fine when I speak, but I'll have to analyze if I ever teach Japanese to Spanish speakers.
To the person who thought only American Geeks learned Japanese. Yeah, I am becoming kind of a language geek, but I met other language geeks in Japan and yes, some were Spanish-speaking....lol. I probably would not have learned Japanese if I hadn't lived there. I'd rather be a "geek" than someone who wasn't able to function in society because of silly notions about what makes a person a geek.
Japanese vowels are slightly different from those in Spanish, because it has an unrounded vowel [M] where Spanish has [u], and it very frequently has devoiced high vowels [i_0] and [M_0] between voiceless consonants (something which has no analogue n Spanish). Aside from that, though, the two have similar monophthongs in realization.
english is the hardest language to learn...well maybe the 2nd but no less then that... there are so many exceptions in english language and so many homonyms that you would go crazy over. there is also a lot of slang
KT,
"I can't agree or disagree about waiting it out on a language and listening first. In my case, I didn't have the luxury to do this. I HAD to learn the languages in the countries where I lived. People who are learning a language on their own or if they have a butler like Chibi Maruko Chan's rich friend can probably get the time in to do this. Perhaps it works, but I usually only learn languages for practical reasons: I need them to communicate, and I need them fast!"
Didn't the Antimoon people already have an answer to this? I believe they do:
http://www.antimoon.com/how/pronuncwhy.htm
'Almost all English learners say "I don't need to study pronunciation. I just want to communicate in English."'
I've learned that ESL students have to get over their frustration that the letters in English aren't always pronounced as they are in their own language (if they use a latin alphabet)...
For some people, matching sounds is a BIG issue.
For me, that usually hasn't been an issue. (My biggest problem was being lazy about grammar points that probably only required a few minutes of study.) HOWEVER, I always want to sound like a native speaker because (as the creators of this site know) having even a slight accent can be distracting, so I do LISTEN, and I do model (which works, just as Jasper says).
I'm trying to listen to a certain language without speaking much and sure enough, I hear the sounds of the language throughout the day, but I won't use that approach only. Like Barry Farber, I like variety and a mixed approach. I found that no matter the approach, as long as the material is presented and I have a good model for pronunciation, I can learn. I can even learn with immersion, but I sure do NOT like this approach.
Are you learning another language or just concentrating on Japanese now?
beneficii,
That message was for you.
K. T.
Mikey, I don't wish to be rude, but I don't understand your post. Do you think I am posing as a native speaker?
Whoever here is saying English is extremely easy is very wrong. Your sentences have many mistakes. You still have a lot to learn.
Your mother is a Cockney speaker? or a Geordie speaker?
The Navajo language is the hardest language in the world.Y? Because, I, for one am Navajo, and it is quite difficult to learn, when especially it is my own language. But still, I speak it, and it comes to my decision that the Native American language of the Navajo(Diné) is by far the most hardest language in the world, following the Japenese language!
Navajo is supposed to be the hardest language on the Earth for an English-speaking person--much more difficult than Japanese.
I don't know if this would apply for speakers of other tongues.
I heard that Navajo verbs can take some 900 different forms. The mind boggles!
I can speak, english, spanish, portuguese, italian, german and greek,(fluently now) i can say that the hardest language for me to learn was portuguese, i grew up in the u.s. so english wasnt a problem plus my parents are mexican, then i learned portuguese italian german and greek, i learn languages quickly, im 17 years old, for me for sure portuguese was a problem
I can speak, english, spanish, portuguese, italian, german and greek
yessssss.... and I'm Superman