Topic by blindncool 2017-01-08 16:47:00

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Hello.
I've wanted to learn a second language for some time now.So, what do you think would be a good language for an English speaker to learn as a second language?

“Can we be casual in the work of God — casual when the house is on fire, and people are in danger of being burned?” — Duncan Campbell
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Reply by afrim 2017-01-08 22:28:21 (edited by afrim 2017-01-09 08:45:02)

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Though I have always up to now considered French a very difficult Latin-based language, I have begun to think about taking up courses in French. It is a language of culture, melody, art, and it sounds musical and melodious too. I recommend it to you if you want to enrich your vocabulary and pronunciation. Note, though, French has a diverse linguistic source, so its vocabulary is prosperous. In pronunciation it is perhaps the most difficult language in the group of Latin-based languages, or those that have a Latin influence, as it is the case of English. English is originally a Germanic language, but if you give a piece of writing to a person who does not have a particular knowledge in English, he/she will distinguish it as a Latin language rather than a Germanic one.
Anyway, another language I'd recommend is Italian. Italian's vocabulary is not a stressful difficulty for you as a native English speaker, but if we are talking about its grammar, well... perhaps.... maybe... it is.
I've been studying English for eleven years, and this one is the twelfth. English feels to me the easiest language in the World because so it is. While about Italian, I've been studying it for about 5 years, but very sadly, Ive not been able to master it as I've done with English which I study in my faculty academically.
Cheers!

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Reply by Slender 2017-01-08 22:38:14

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Actually, with English, I think it depends on how you look at it. It may be easy when it comes to pronunciation, but it's probably very difficult with things like grammar and spelling, with all the odd rules and exceptions. But then again, while English is technically my second language, I learned it at a very young age, so it's difficult for me to say.

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Reply by Ghost 2017-01-09 01:05:43

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hi,
Probably another germanic language would be best for you. Languages like italian, german and french are apparently easiest for english native speakers to master.

A learning experience is one of those things that say, "You know that thing you just did? Don't do that."

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Reply by mastodont 2017-01-09 09:47:10

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I would suggest german or dutch. Dutch is very similar to english in some ways but the grammar will give you some trouble.
English is very easy compared to other languages because you don't have that many endings to the verb and the tenses are easy to master. Just for comparison think that in romanian we have a different ending for the verb for each person, the endings aren't the same for all verbs and the plural is irregular unlike the english one where you add an s almost all the time.

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Reply by afrim 2017-01-09 10:03:28 (edited by afrim 2017-01-09 10:07:13)

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Well, I would say exceptions exist in almost every language, so this might not be considered a big asset. Remember that English is an analytic language, in that it doesn't make use of inflections as much as other languages do. For example, if we try to conjugate a verb in English and compare it to Italian, you will notice a number of differences in terms of inflecting.
Now look.
Verb "to be" in both English and Italian conjugated:
English - Italian
I am - Io sono
you are - Tu sei
he/she/it is - Lui/lei è
We are - Noi siamo
You are - Voi siete
They are - Loro sono
So, can you see how it differs from English? In Italian there are only two instances of the same verb in terms of word formation, respectively first-person singular (Io sono) and third-person plural (loro sono). While in English, there are four identical instances of the same verb (you singular, we, you plural, and they are). Now this happens with all the common verbs we use daily, except for modal verbs which have exceptions in both these two languages. Remember that this is what in English you call present tense, or present simple. What about other tenses? We had better not start.

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Reply by nightshade 2017-01-09 11:56:00

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I would say Spanish because its most used next to English.

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