Hardest language (to learn)

Discussion in 'Discussion' started by Bond of Flame, Jul 13, 2008.

?

Hardest language?

  1. Korean

    1 vote(s)
    2.2%
  2. Dutch

    2 vote(s)
    4.3%
  3. Portugese

    2 vote(s)
    4.3%
  4. Norway

    1 vote(s)
    2.2%
  5. Italian

    2 vote(s)
    4.3%
  6. Swedish

    5 vote(s)
    10.9%
  7. Danish

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  8. Mandarin

    9 vote(s)
    19.6%
  9. Japanese

    22 vote(s)
    47.8%
  10. Finnish

    2 vote(s)
    4.3%
  1. Diamond Angel Merlin's Housekeeper

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    Dude, ur poll doesn't have Greek. Whats up with that???

    But of the options definitely Jap
     
  2. Mirai King's Apprentice

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    ... There are no intonations in Japanese. Well, there are different ways to put accent on the syllables to distinguish a few words, but it's not difficult at all, and not even necessary.
     
  3. Repliku Chaser

    353
    Japanese is about as hard as English to learn but for different reasons. I don't find it that bad really so far. I'm enjoying it. I will say it's harder than any European language but in the end the actual speaking part is not that hard at all. There really aren't that many accent marks etc.
     
  4. Mirai King's Apprentice

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    Yeah, agreed. If you have a grasp of good logic, it shouldn't be that hard. (lol Firefox doesn't recognize contractions)

    Though, I do admit, speaking in different situations would be rather difficult, as the language changes as formality increase or decreases. Also, Japanese contains concepts that can only be revealed by context in English, and vice-versa.

    For example, the phrase "I will go to school" can be said in a number of ways, depending on context, gender, age and formality.

    I'll break it down:

    I will go to school.

    ore-wa gakkou-ni iku. (spoken by a male, very informal, can be considered rude)
    boku-wa gakkou-ni iki-masu. (spoken by a male, polite)
    watashi-wa gakkou-ni iku-wa. (spoken by a girl, casual, the "-wa" at the end gives more emphasis)
    ore-ga gakkou-ni iku-n-da. (same as first, but the "-n-da" implies that the last sentence spoken indirectly asks what is he doing/why is he packed/etc.. For example, this sentence would appropriate if someone said "Looks like you're all packed up for something")

    There are a LOT more though. ^^
     
  5. Hakurei Reimu Take my hand. And then I'll fly with you right up

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    Definately Mandarin.

    Korean and Japanese are pretty hard as well. There are some basic things which at first are seemingly hard. But once you learn those, learning about other words and such are a lot easier. Also, most Korean and Japanese characters are simplier to learn/write than those of Mandarin. (though they're all pretty difficult at first =/)

    As for the other languages, writing is fairly similar and several words/phrases are almost identical. (Italian-Portuguese, Danish-Swedish, etc.) So if you know English, these languages aren't AS hard as most of the Asian ones since the conjunctions are alike in at least ONE way.

    And yes, I'm speaking through experience. (slightly...I can speak Mandarin, Spanish, a bit of Japanese, a very small bit of Finnish and Swedish so...yea)
     
  6. EraserRain Banned

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    I think its japanese!
     
  7. MadDoctorMaddie I'm a doctor, not a custom title!

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    I speak Finnish and English fluently, plus I study French and Swedish. Out of them, Swedish is definitely the hardest for me, I started it last, and all of the languages I study are quite different... I can pronounce Finnish-Swedish quite well, but my vocabulary and grammar skills suck... Why does it have to be compulsory?!?! (rhetorical question) But this is only my own opinion, I can't comment on the other languages, since I don't know about them...
     
  8. In explicit Angst Gummi Ship Junkie

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    I don't really know...
    Suomi ei ole vaikeata!!!!!
     
  9. 00Roxas00 剛情のロクサス

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    Japanese.....XDDD
     
  10. Soraoscuro Kingdom Keeper

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    Probably, Mandarin, Japanese it's not that hard.
     
  11. RoxaSora2010 Nulla è reale. Tutto è lecito.

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    Many people have said Italian, well, I'm Italian. However I understand you, the Italian has many grammar rules and many other things. For example in English, the definite articles (I think it's that the name O_o) has only 1 word : "The" instead in Italy we use 6 articles (Il, Lo, La, I, Gli, Le) etc. So I think it's the Italian the hardest language to learn or also Japanese (many of the languages in the pool, I don't know, so I can't choose well)
     
  12. RoxaSora2010 Nulla è reale. Tutto è lecito.

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    Yeah, I know.
    A part of the English/American that I know, I've learned with KH :D
     
  13. Serbkiller Destiny Islands Resident

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    Mandarin (I think) plus Bokmål.
    IMO are the Germanic languages easier then the Latin ones. My friend is fluent in classical Latin (Where he agrees with me that it is useless to be fluent in classical Latin)
     
  14. Bareri-San 私はポテトだ。

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    Even though I am learning it at school, I find japanese hard to learn sometimes because of all the different symbols and kanji you have to learn and the different sentence structures as well.
     
  15. Peace and War Bianca, you minx!

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    English, I’m English, and it's the only language I know. Real stupid.

    I am no linguist, my speech and voice is not suited for speaking English, while writing is easy, typing is not, I make many mistakes when typing.
    But as much as mandarin Chinese goes, I think it is pretty easy to understand, I can say a few words, but reading and writing is different.
    And once you understand one European language the rest come with ease since many use the same words.
     
  16. SoraNRikuNkairi Destiny Islands Resident

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    hmm,,I Find Italian easy but thats probably because half my blood line is Italian =S...Hmm,,Mandarin Chinese Definetly the hardest for me,,,
     
  17. jafar custom title

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    Hebrew is difficult to learn (depending on where you are from). There are the ch sounds and you read from right to left. And the letters are totally unlike most languages and the vowels aren't really vowels that English speakers think of. They are symbols underneath the letters telling you how to stress the letter.
     
  18. Xephos Neko, gamer, animelover, and artist :3 *purrs*

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    I didn't choose Korean becuae I'm Korean and I know how to write. I know very little Japanese and I cannot copy a single character in Japanese. It's crazy! It's like move here, then here, then you make a line here, then here, then here, then here, then here, then you make another line sompelace else and then you're done. Korean has less lines then Japanese does. Here are the examples:

    I love chocolate

    Korean: 사랑 초콜렛

    Japanese: 大好きチョコレート

    See the difference? It kinda looks the same but Japanese is harder because they have more characters then Korean.
     
  19. Mirai King's Apprentice

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    Ummm... I love chocolate in Japanese is: 僕はチョコレートが大好きだ。(this is just one of the many ways.) And the Korean is "나는 초콜릿을 아주 좋아하다."

    What you wrote is "Loved chocolate."

    EDIT: Well, for the writing, Korean is a lot easier. But, for grammar, Japanese is easier, I think. In Korean, you have to look at the last letter of a word to conjugate it.
     
  20. Xephos Neko, gamer, animelover, and artist :3 *purrs*

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    Oh whoops. Darn translator. XDDDDD XPPPPPPP

    Thanks for the clearup.