Why is it that English seems to offer a more difficult read than other languages? I speak English and Spanish equally well, and whenever I read a book written originally in a language I don't understand and am presented with the choice of two translations,.. well, Spanish always wins... Why? Because it is just so much more clear what is being said, whereas English appears incredibly long-winded and overly complicated. For example, the same sentence in, say, a Russian classic can look like some 19th century philosophical rambling of a philology professor in English and yet in Spanish it is clear and concise and instantly understandably. Often one of the main problems with English is the use of complex rare words, just for the hell of it it sometimes seems, because the Spanish versions just use more common everyday words, even if more literary variants exist, or maybe it's just bad translating. Anyway, I couldn't accept this because it doesn't seem logical that one language could just be more difficult to understand, just like that, but I can't think of any other reason. It's not my ability that's at fault, for I even received a higher proportion of my education in English than Spanish. So, I want expert opinion on this matter.
English - overly complicated?
<<or maybe it's just bad translating>>
I'm no expert, but it sounds like you need to look for better and simpler translations.
I'm no expert, but it sounds like you need to look for better and simpler translations.
I've heard that English has very rich vocabulary (some 1 million words); for that reason I gave up learning this language from space opera books, I often needed to check words that I saw for the first time and probably I'd never encounter in a conversation
But I think richness may be attributed to the topics it can cover. In which fields do I use English? Education, economics, finance, sexology, psychology, military, language learning, literature, politics, animations...........every subject, academic, trivial, pseudo-scientific, and even swear words, may be expressed in whichever English you could understand. That hugely adds color to the language, and makes it no longer confined to the Anglosphere.
I'm no expert, either, but I'm afraid you might be thinking too much lol. If English is a liquid consisting of many chemicals and minerals (like other languages), then I think it must be one with the most foreign content, or to be more precise, most international content. That any speech of our non-English native languages may be fused into the English discourse might have made English that complicated to you.
I'm no expert, either, but I'm afraid you might be thinking too much lol. If English is a liquid consisting of many chemicals and minerals (like other languages), then I think it must be one with the most foreign content, or to be more precise, most international content. That any speech of our non-English native languages may be fused into the English discourse might have made English that complicated to you.
Supplement: and I think it may not have anything to do with the inherent flexibility of English, either. I don't know what speakers of Romance languages (many verb conjugations) and Slavic ones (many declensions) are thinking. Let me take Chinese as an example. If Chinese were like what English is today, even with many "inflexibilities" you perceive of it TODAY, as long as it stood as a global language, every CSL (not ESL) student would be able to put their thoughts in Chinese, creating a new-Chinese-speak that I wouldn't even be able to understand without tuning my mind a bit, i.e. from a native discourse to the international discourse.
So, likewise, that I said I couldn't sometimes translate my thoughts back from English to Chinese may not be a result of my declining proficiency even in my native language - I may want to preserve a chunk of my discourse in English as it is, for the sake of its originality, or, like writing in this forum, I suppose virtually no one would read my native language, and so I would only think in the international discourse of English. Then, that discourse would fuse with my other languages, forming my own idiolect, and I'd get lost in translations.
So, likewise, that I said I couldn't sometimes translate my thoughts back from English to Chinese may not be a result of my declining proficiency even in my native language - I may want to preserve a chunk of my discourse in English as it is, for the sake of its originality, or, like writing in this forum, I suppose virtually no one would read my native language, and so I would only think in the international discourse of English. Then, that discourse would fuse with my other languages, forming my own idiolect, and I'd get lost in translations.
Guest, I feel you, not to mention that everytime you encounter a new/weird word in English you kinda have to figure out how to pronounce it, that would never happen with Spanish, also Spanish sounds are way simpler than the English ones which also makes it easier to read/speak.
Just for example, almost all Spanish words are consonant followed by one of the 5 vowels, and that makes really simple sounds like: tu, ca, do, re, la, ne, mu, etc. "Que idioma tan hermoso"
Just for example, almost all Spanish words are consonant followed by one of the 5 vowels, and that makes really simple sounds like: tu, ca, do, re, la, ne, mu, etc. "Que idioma tan hermoso"
I doubt that Spanish is clearer and more concise. In fact, I have noticed that translations in Spanish are pages longer than the equivalent in English.
Probably because the very lack of a strict and systematic grammatical structure make it more ambiguous than some other languages. German, although much more complicated, has a very clear, rigid structure, which in my opinion makes it more precise and the meaning easier to grasp.
Rigid grammar structures lead to mental rigidities which make people unable to adapt to a changing world. For this reason I think that Spanish is the language of the XXI century.
<<For this reason I think that Spanish is the language of the XXI century. >>
But spanish has a pending task which is to be present in the scientific-technological arena and for the time being i don't see this possible for differente reasons.
But spanish has a pending task which is to be present in the scientific-technological arena and for the time being i don't see this possible for differente reasons.
It is already, not to the same level than English of course. For example recently Spanish researchers discovered a planet whose mass is 100 times that of Jupiter making use of a new method.
For example, I don't know the original word, but in one place in the English version it says 'countenance' and in Spanish it is 'cara'. Countenance sounds very old-fashioned and pompous where as cara is a common everyday word.
<< Rigid grammar structures lead to mental rigidities which make people unable to adapt to a changing world. >>
Uh-huh, and Japan, with its own rigid grammar in the Japanese language, has shown a complete inability to adapt after World War II, which is why they're one of the world's poorest countr -- oh, wait. Japan is rich. I do believe they have shown a very strong ability to adapt.
- Kef
Uh-huh, and Japan, with its own rigid grammar in the Japanese language, has shown a complete inability to adapt after World War II, which is why they're one of the world's poorest countr -- oh, wait. Japan is rich. I do believe they have shown a very strong ability to adapt.
- Kef