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From: breuel@h-sc1.UUCP (thomas breuel)
Newsgroups: net.nlang
Subject: Re: Learn Japanese or bust.
Message-ID: <849@h-sc1.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 22-Dec-85 01:57:40 EST
Article-I.D.: h-sc1.849
Posted: Sun Dec 22 01:57:40 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 25-Dec-85 00:28:37 EST
References: <1791@uwmacc.UUCP> <839@h-sc1.UUCP> <1809@uwmacc.UUCP> <842@h-sc1.UUCP> <418@bcsaic.UUCP>
Organization: Harvard Univ. Science Center
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> In article <842@h-sc1.UUCP> breuel@h-sc1.UUCP (thomas breuel) writes:
> >Seriously. The English language, which is considered one of the easiest
> >languages in the world...
> Says who???  Seriously, how can you quantify that?  By making studies of lots 
> of native speakers of languages X1, X2, X3... trying to learn languages Y1,

I was not trying to make a quantitative statement. In talking to quite a
number of foreigners, I frequently heard it said that English is one of
the easier languages to learn. The reasons cited were numerous: opportunity
for frequent use (active or passive) of the language, its lack of
complicated grammatical constructs, the large number of non-native speakers
and the tolerance of the native speakers, and the fact that it combines
the Germanic and Romance vocabularies.

If you followed my argument, you should have noticed that I was arguing
against the validity of such assessments. I believe that English appears
to be easier because a student familiar with another European language
is likely to have some vague notion of the grammar and to be able to
derive the approximate meanings of unfamiliar words. Ultimately, however,
if you want to speak the language fluently and if you want to be able
to express yourself clearly in writing, you must spend as much effort
on studying English as you must on studying any other foreign language,
since these abilities require speed and precision, not just a vague
understanding. If all a foreign student is aiming for is some basic
ability to communicate, then I would personally agree, though, that
English is easier than, for example, Japanese or German. But 'basic
ability to communicate' can hardly be called 'learning a laguage',
can it.

						Thomas.