Don't fret. I've seen people with English as their primary language have worse grammar than that.

The English language is like three kids under a trench coat trying to pass off as an adult.

Plummybo said:

Don't fret. I've seen people with English as their primary language have worse grammar than that.

The English language is like three kids under a trench coat trying to pass off as an adult.

And 3 is actually a generous estimate.
That thing is so complicated, languages like Chinese and Japanese are nothing in comparison.

If you don't think so?
Try remembering what kind of rule in English that doesn't have exception and what kind of the same writing doesn't have at least 2 different kind of pronounciation to it?
That's because the language is a mixture of so many languages that it's a nightmare to master.

Demundo said:

And 3 is actually a generous estimate.
That thing is so complicated, languages like Chinese and Japanese are nothing in comparison.

If you don't think so?
Try remembering what kind of rule in English that doesn't have exception and what kind of the same writing doesn't have at least 2 different kind of pronounciation to it?
That's because the language is a mixture of so many languages that it's a nightmare to master.

...Being literate in Chinese requires you to know around 8000 characters. Being able to speak it requires you be able to both speak and pick up on phonemic tones.

Japanese requires around 3000 characters to learn, many of which have multiple readings. There's also further complications, like basically having multiple sets of vocabulary and an arcane system of courtesy for deciding when it's appropriate to use them.

English? Orthography is inconsistent.

I think you're confusing the difficulty inherent in learning any new language with English somehow being especially hard.

Kaktus_Lata said:

Japanese requires around 3000 characters to learn, many of which have multiple readings. There's also further complications, like basically having multiple sets of vocabulary and an arcane system of courtesy for deciding when it's appropriate to use them.

I remember that one japanese word had at least 12 or something different meanings which at least I consider english ok rather than dealing with learning on another language that involves with too many alternate meanings.

Demundo said:

And 3 is actually a generous estimate.
That thing is so complicated, languages like Chinese and Japanese are nothing in comparison.

*Maniacally laughs in Spanish (where verb conjugation aside, any word has a different meaning or context depending on the country is spoken to)*

Chilean being the most difficult Spanish.

Kaktus_Lata said:

...Being literate in Chinese requires you to know around 8000 characters. Being able to speak it requires you be able to both speak and pick up on phonemic tones.

Japanese requires around 3000 characters to learn, many of which have multiple readings. There's also further complications, like basically having multiple sets of vocabulary and an arcane system of courtesy for deciding when it's appropriate to use them.

English? Orthography is inconsistent.

I think you're confusing the difficulty inherent in learning any new language with English somehow being especially hard.

Not just orthography, but words don't always go into each other.
Or every rule got exceptions.
Or things that sshould be related are described by entirely different words, not just how they are written, but also by origin.

And 3000~8000 single words are hard?
As someone who learned English, Chinese and Japanese, I find myself having more problem with English than with Japanese and Chinese.
And by my own experience, English is easier to get into, but then gets so much harder when it gets to more advanced rules.
Compare that to Japanese where you have rules to go about and little to no exceptions, I'd still say English is hella lot harder.
Of course, learning a foreign language itself is already hard, especially if you are in the western hemisphere where languages share a lot with each other and learn eastern languages. The same applies to speakers of eastern languages trying to learn western ones.
Admittedly, bringing my own experience into a discussion, or debate or what you might call this is irrelevant, but I don't think there is much to debate about these given the complexity of English as a language.

And don't forget the original point we are talking about: English is a mixture of several languages.
Which is true and to my knowledge, it's not just 3 but a quite a bunch.

Yet, you guys seem to not like it when I'm saying English is harder than Chinese or Japanese to master.

rom_collector said:

*Maniacally laughs in Spanish (where verb conjugation aside, any word has a different meaning or context depending on the country is spoken to)*

Chilean being the most difficult Spanish.

Spanish is diffcult for a different reason, as far as I know it, but I get what you mean.

T34-38 said:

I remember that one japanese word had at least 12 or something different meanings which at least I consider english ok rather than dealing with learning on another language that involves with too many alternate meanings.

Well, it's like the possible meaning of "set" or "run", which is listed to have over a hundred of them.
I'd say most languages have words like that.

All these people talking of learning languages with 8000 letters. Meanwhile I tried to learn around five languages and I'm still only fluent in two of them.
I rarely felt so massively inadequate. If anyone's looking for me, I'll be crying in the bathtub.

FRien said:

All these people talking of learning languages with 8000 letters. Meanwhile I tried to learn around five languages and I'm still only fluent in two of them.
I rarely felt so massively inadequate. If anyone's looking for me, I'll be crying in the bathtub.

Don't give up, and keep practicing. Language acquisition is all about steady practice.

And don't let yourself get intimidated. I talk about how hard Japanese is, but I'm still trying to learn it.

FRien said:

All these people talking of learning languages with 8000 letters. Meanwhile I tried to learn around five languages and I'm still only fluent in two of them.
I rarely felt so massively inadequate. If anyone's looking for me, I'll be crying in the bathtub.

You don't have to feel bad about any of it.
As Kaktus said, it's all about practice and how much you are used to the language.
You are just not fluent, yet.