|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2005 8:00 pm
Welcome to the English General Discussion! This is where we discuss everything related to the English language, including, but not limited to:
-asking specific questions about English vocabulary and grammar (people who can speak English fluently [which is most of us here] are encouraged to answer others' questions)
-recommendations for English dictionaries, websites, etc
-and everything else about the beautiful langauge of England/America/Canada! 3nodding
Please note that although the students here may not know much English, you are encouraged to use as much English as you possibly can.
Let's start off with a few facts about the English language:
Spoken in: United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, and others.
Total number of speakers: First language: about 380 million
Second language: at least 600 million effectively; as many as 2,000 million, or about one-third of the world population, can speak some English.
Language Family: Germanic (along with German, Swedish, Icelandic, and others)
Regulated by: n/a
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2005 8:04 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2005 8:05 pm
DICTIONARIES/GRAMMAR BOOKS ETC
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2005 8:07 pm
If anyone here has any other reccommendations for websites/dictionaries/grammar books etc, please feel free to tell us about them in this thread.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Spanish Nerd Vice Captain
|
Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2005 4:12 pm
Wow, I was under the impression English was a romance language because of all the cognates in spanish and others!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2005 4:15 pm
spanishnerd99 Wow, I was under the impression English was a romance language because of all the cognates in spanish and others! Well... more than 50% of words in English are either from French or Latin xd But it's considered a Germanic language because simple words (such as the pronouns, basic verbs, numbers, colours, etc) are still of Germanic roots ninja
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Spanish Nerd Vice Captain
|
Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2005 4:16 pm
Proudly_Jewish spanishnerd99 Wow, I was under the impression English was a romance language because of all the cognates in spanish and others! Well... more than 50% of words in English are either from French or Latin xd But it's considered a Germanic language because simple words (such as the pronouns, basic verbs, numbers, colours, etc) are still of Germanic roots ninja Gotcha.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 5:20 pm
English is actually the most difficult language to learn because it has 22 vowel sounds, 6 dipthongs, and too many consonants. Which is why German is easier to speak... less aggrivation
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 5:36 pm
Die_Fledermaus English is actually the most difficult language to learn because it has 22 vowel sounds, 6 dipthongs, and too many consonants. Which is why German is easier to speak... less aggrivation MOST difficult??(!) I remember I came to America, I was thrown into 3rd grade, knowing the letters, numbers, some greetings and some other stuff.. I was talking like a normal 3rd grader by the end of the year xP All the Asian languages seem the hardest to me though..
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 5:44 pm
Die_Fledermaus English is actually the most difficult language to learn because it has 22 vowel sounds, 6 dipthongs, and too many consonants. Which is why German is easier to speak... less aggrivation English being the hardest language to learn is a matter of opinion. You know noun declensions? Hungarian has 24 different classes of 'em (nominative, genetive, accusative, ablative, dative, locative, and 18 others).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 8:09 pm
Proudly_Jewish Die_Fledermaus English is actually the most difficult language to learn because it has 22 vowel sounds, 6 dipthongs, and too many consonants. Which is why German is easier to speak... less aggrivation English being the hardest language to learn is a matter of opinion. You know noun declensions? Hungarian has 24 different classes of 'em (nominative, genetive, accusative, ablative, dative, locative, and 18 others). I read it in a book. Yes I know that books aren't always right... I know that the book is probably out of date too... 1980...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 8:11 pm
Proudly_Jewish Die_Fledermaus English is actually the most difficult language to learn because it has 22 vowel sounds, 6 dipthongs, and too many consonants. Which is why German is easier to speak... less aggrivation English being the hardest language to learn is a matter of opinion. You know noun declensions? Hungarian has 24 different classes of 'em (nominative, genetive, accusative, ablative, dative, locative, and 18 others). I read it in a book. Yes I know that books aren't always right... I know that the book is probably out of date too... 1980...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 11:55 am
KibiT Die_Fledermaus English is actually the most difficult language to learn because it has 22 vowel sounds, 6 dipthongs, and too many consonants. Which is why German is easier to speak... less aggrivation MOST difficult??(!) I remember I came to America, I was thrown into 3rd grade, knowing the letters, numbers, some greetings and some other stuff.. I was talking like a normal 3rd grader by the end of the year xP All the Asian languages seem the hardest to me though.. I suppose it depends upon what you are used to. While I write very well, I'm horrendous when I speak because I combine the English accent with my Japanese accent ro I wind up adding and losing syllables every second word or so. I do think that the English alphabet is a bit crocked though. It's not really a system so much as a loose guide.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 12:47 pm
Last Word KibiT Die_Fledermaus English is actually the most difficult language to learn because it has 22 vowel sounds, 6 dipthongs, and too many consonants. Which is why German is easier to speak... less aggrivation MOST difficult??(!) I remember I came to America, I was thrown into 3rd grade, knowing the letters, numbers, some greetings and some other stuff.. I was talking like a normal 3rd grader by the end of the year xP All the Asian languages seem the hardest to me though.. I suppose it depends upon what you are used to. While I write very well, I'm horrendous when I speak because I combine the English accent with my Japanese accent ro I wind up adding and losing syllables every second word or so. I do think that the English alphabet is a bit crocked though. It's not really a system so much as a loose guide. Well, the main reason English is so hard for non-english speakers to learn is because of the grammer....There is not one rule that does not have an exception! And asian would seem hardest becasue it's so different from other languages.there's not similar groung like in most languages.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 12:50 pm
I'm learning Japanese, and I actually find it pretty easy surprised
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
