The Hardest Language

[Michaelangelica]

I found learning Esperanto rather difficult (I did give up after a year or two) because my Esperanto was constantly "corrupted" by other languages I had learned, like English, French or German.

The only person who ever learnt it (aparently) was Leonard Nimoy (Dr Spock) for an early episode of Twilight Zone

(All now available on DVD!!)

[eric l]

The only person who ever learnt it (aparently) was Leonard Nimoy (Dr Spock) for an early episode of Twilight Zone

(All now available on DVD!!)

 

That must be the reason ! I lack the pointed ears !

[Eclogite]

I rate language difficulties on the basis of how much alcohol must be consumed before I think I can speak a language I have some knowledge of.

 

Thus, Indonesian or Malay are two beer languages. Spanish comes in at three beers and a brandy. French a little higher, at a bottle of wine and an Irish Coffee. (Red wine and French of course, preferably a Nuits St. George.:) )

 

On this basis the most difficult language on the planet is undoubteldy Chinese (Mandarin) which I only managed to speak fluently once, after inadvertently drinking two bottles of Jack Daniels in twenty four hours.

(Note to all budding linguists: this is not a good idea.B) )

[Racoon]

I rate language difficulties on the basis of how much alcohol must be consumed before I think I can speak a language I have some knowledge of.

 

:eek2:

Theres quite a bit of truth in that.

 

I speak Spanish a bit better after a few beers also. I wonder if the lessening of inhibitions due to alcohol is related to an ability to flow and speak more comfortably with a foreign language.

 

My imperical data from repeated experiments indicates Yes.

 

:naughty:

[Michaelangelica]

How about Navajo? I've heard that even Navajo children have a hard time learning it.....

Quirky history fact-Navajo

This was the code language used by the USA during WW2. The Japanese etc never broke it.

 

How did the army find that many native speaking Indians left alive?

I thought the cowboys got them all?

[Fatstep]

You all say that chinese is so hard to learn, but what about english? There are so many different dialects and idioms that it makes it almost impossible, not to mention nearly 300,000 words.

 

I found spanish a bit difficult because there are more than 100 forms for each verb, and concidering there is over 10,000 verbs it adds up extremely fast.

[Mercedes Benzene]

How did the army find that many native speaking Indians left alive?

I thought the cowboys got them all?

 

Of course not silly!

There are many Native Americans left today (although they shouldn't be called Native Americans). Anyway, it's unfortunate, but most Native Americans live on Reservations, although Native American "blood" can be found intermingled amongst the general population. I believe I'm a little bit Native American somewhere along the lines.

 

But you're right. The Americans were very clever in using the Navajo language. It's not to say that it's hard to learn, but rather the Japanese had never heard of it before.

[Fatstep]

 

 

Then Languages were badly taught when I was a kid. No language labs etc. They were grammar based. There was no conversation.

 

That is how we are still taught Spanish, French, and Latin at our school.

[lindagarrette]

I agree, Mandarin Chinese has no irregular verbs or noun plurals to learn. Words have only a single form, with no suffixes for tense, number, or case.

 

You all say that chinese is so hard to learn, but what about english? There are so many different dialects and idioms that it makes it almost impossible, not to mention nearly 300,000 words.

 

I found spanish a bit difficult because there are more than 100 forms for each verb, and concidering there is over 10,000 verbs it adds up extremely fast.

[Tormod]

(although they shouldn't be called Native Americans)

 

Why not? The continent was named America long before the first settlers arrived in North America.

 

Anyways, I voted Chinese. English is peanuts. Why? Because when I was in the States' even small kids spoke English. But nobody spoke Chinese (that I knew of). :naughty:

[Fatstep]

Why not? The continent was named America long before the first settlers arrived in North America.

 

Anyways, I voted Chinese. English is peanuts. Why? Because when I was in the States' even small kids spoke English. But nobody spoke Chinese (that I knew of). :)

Why would they speak Chinese in a country thats native language is English.

[Hypothetical]With that logic I could say Chinese is the easiest because when I was in China little kids spoke Chinese, but did not speak English.[/Hypothetical]

 

Not good logic.

[Qfwfq]

Good Golly, how could Tormod not have thought of that! I just can't believe it!

 

[alexander]

so this has been going for a while now... Here are some thoughts on the results so far:

 

I am really surprised that there is not a single vote for Hebrew or Numee, nor any discussion on how hard they actually are to learn. Hebrew is in the top 3 list of hardest languages to learn and hardest languages to teach, that is ofcourse needless to say as to how old it is.

 

I purposely didnt put any dead languages in the list, figuring that someone is bound to ask about at least one or two (like gothic or berber) and here i am surprised that nobody actually did.

 

And there is no single laguage that is spoken by Native American people, there are a great great many, some of which died with tribes, some are still alive and around, but not that many.

 

P.S. French have also contributed to the slaughter of innocent Native Americans and so did the British and the legions of American northern and southern armies. So don't give all the credit to the midwestern rednecks.

[Pyrotex]

I didn't vote.

 

You don't have the really hardest language on the list.

 

It's COBOL.

[maikeru]

Quirky history fact-Navajo

This was the code language used by the USA during WW2. The Japanese etc never broke it.

 

How did the army find that many native speaking Indians left alive?

I thought the cowboys got them all?

 

Navajo people - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

300,000 members and growing. While all that are left of many tribes in America are ghosts and lost memories, the Navajo have done much to preserve their language and spiritual heritage.

 

Overall, I'd say the cowboys had little to do with the destruction of the Native Americans. The greater causes were the loss of lands, military, disease, destruction of the great American bison herds (which once were estimated at possibly 50-60 million individuals or more, running on the Great Plains, and provided for whole societies and cultures), and death by neglect and starvation on the reservations (where the American government "agreed" to take care of the Indians). Even after defeating native peoples, it was worse that settlers, the government, and missionaries thought it necessary to make them into "civilized peoples" by forcibly educating them in poor schools, deriding their religions, and forbidding the use of their native languages.

 

I hope this is not too off-topic, but it does touch a sensitive area, and more so than normal because I've been reading historical books and sites about the American West.

[LJP07]

Why isn't Irish on the list, difficult enough language?

 

I think this poll is flawed. This is because people don't know all the languages or have never learned all of them, there are many other languages which may constitute being more difficult to learn, the poll should be titled " Out of this shortlist of common languages, which do you think is the most difficult?"

[sanctus]

Personal experience, the first language I spoke was german, then I learned italian, when I was 10 years old so it was still easy because I was young, then I learned some basic french (while still learning italian) and then english came and then I went for year to australia (without a àdictionnary, that much for the difficulty of learning english for one who speaks german and italian) and then I moved to the french part of switzerland and learned better french. So italian was eas easy because I was young, english was easy because I knew german and italian (and only some french at that stage) and french was easy because I already learned other 3 languages and it is close to italian. So I can't really say which on is the hardest, but I can say whicch one is the easiest: definitely english...almost no grammar to learn, there only three forms of declining any verb, there is no politness form, no difference between masculin femminin and neutral words, etc.

 

Now, just about hearsay, as I agree how can I judge something I didn't try, what about vietnamian (don't know the proper name) where same words pronounced at different tonalities mean completely different things.

 

Also until no one seemed to consider the philosophy of a language, for example there are languages (don't say which as it is hearsay or better I read it just somewhere) where you say the opposite of what you mean, ie:"how you speak well" meaning you speak very bad...this would also increase the difficulty.