Quote:
Originally Posted by jesselt
To be fair, the general rule for local (American) newspapers is that they should be written so that 5th graders can read them. Things like the New York Times are intended for adult readers, but still use pretty simple language so that anyone could read them. My understanding of Japanese newspapers is that they are much more difficult on the local level than English newspapers. I might be wrong, but I think it would be much more difficult for the average Japanese 5th grader to read a newspaper than the Average American 5th grader, specifically because of Kanji.
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This may be true of 5th graders, but I don't think it would necessarily be true of 12th graders.
It's easy to quantify the sheer volume of kanji that needs to be learned, but it is difficult to quantify to volume of rules and exceptions that must be perfected to comprehend English. The fact that it is difficult to quantify the volume of exceptions in grammar and spelling that must be learned is testimony to English's difficulty.
A 5th grader can function in society without being able to read a newspaper. That's not nearly as true when one is 18 years old.