English is Easy

[Suki]

Originally Posted by protheus

Touche!

Me, what?

[RealJames]

yes I'm perfection too...

in other words, english is hard

[RealJames]

Originally Posted by campus

I apologize if my original statement came out a bit general, but with "easiest to learn" I meant to express something more in the sense of having the ability to communicate with it in a comparatively short amount of time after having studied it. I have few friends in France who got to the level where they can defend themselves in English quickly, thus the fact became of the motivations for my writing of this thread.

Well that changes everything!
For French people English IS way way easier than for Japanese people
Especially for French people in Canada lol ><

[Atredies]

Originally Posted by myk

I disagree. Grammar is of vital importance when it comes to learning English. English is a language full of words (and sometimes contractions) that can be easily mistaken for other words that sound just like them, but have completely different meanings.

Ex) your, you're
there, their, they're
through, threw

I think it's especially important to learn the meanings and applications of words like these early on. It's becoming very common for even native speakers to misuse words like the ones mentioned above due to laziness and general apathy towards proper usage. However, I understand that those just starting out wouldn't necessarily get these details right away, but they still need to be reinforced.

i disagree. english of today is not about grammar. it is about the ever expanding image of cultural or economic-capitalist force in a united form of speech and reading. let us try to be descriptive. english is not a language anymore it is a 100% certified commodity, a product in an infomercial.

[RealJames]

Originally Posted by Atredies

i disagree. english of today is not about grammar. it is about the ever expanding image of cultural or economic-capitalist force in a united form of speech and reading. let us try to be descriptive. english is not a language anymore it is a 100% certified commodity, a product in an infomercial.

i think you're entirely nuts and myk is entirely right

(-_-; )

[MMM]

Originally Posted by Atredies

i disagree. english of today is not about grammar. it is about the ever expanding image of cultural or economic-capitalist force in a united form of speech and reading. let us try to be descriptive. english is not a language anymore it is a 100% certified commodity, a product in an infomercial.

Are you talking about English, the language? If so, I think you are completely confused. A language isn't "about" anything.

Feel free to show any evidence to support your statement.

[Atredies]

Originally Posted by RealJames

i think you're entirely nuts and myk is entirely right

(-_-; )

have you been to china? it is a country where millions of students are awed how useful english is for their future jobs, their future careers, their fortunes, their educations, their knowledge. they are so happy to say "i learn english" "i am happy that i can take english classes" in mandarin to friends. they will gladly pay 150 american dollars to take an expensive standardized test and will hope that they pass level by level. they are very used to seeing english tutoring advertisements. they want to spread words to words how english is useful to themselves.

let us look at indonesia where i had lived for 2 years. i have seen some parents to encourage their kids to learn english only because they could possibly enter british-run schools around jakarta which are 5 times better than their indonesian schools. these parents' sole purpose to invest their kids to learn english is for a quality education.

does this make sense to you? they all want to get something economical, something that generates a solid profit. those students or parents treat themselves like consumers.

do i sound crazy? am i a fool for thinking different? thinking outside of the box? i am an economic-anthropology major and i am fascinated by this massive impression through a different perspective.

[Suki]

Originally Posted by Atredies

have you been to china? it is a country where millions of students are awed how useful english is for their future jobs, their future careers, their fortunes, their educations, their knowledge. they are so happy to say "i learn english" "i am happy that i can take english classes" in mandarin to friends. they will gladly pay 150 american dollars to take an expensive standardized test and will hope that they pass level by level. they are very used to seeing english tutoring advertisements. they want to spread words to words how english is useful to themselves.

let us look at indonesia where i had lived for 2 years. i have seen some parents to encourage their kids to learn english only because they could possibly enter british-run schools around jakarta which are 5 times better than their indonesian schools. these parents' sole purpose to invest their kids to learn english is for a quality education.

does this make sense to you? they all want to get something economical, something that generates a solid profit. those students or parents treat themselves like consumers.

do i sound crazy? am i a fool for thinking different? thinking outside of the box? i am an economic-anthropology major and i am fascinated by this massive impression through a different perspective.

That's all very fine, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't learn to use the English grammar properly.

Originally Posted by Atredies

english of today is not about grammar.

Grammar is part of learning ANY language. So there's part of learning English that surely IS about grammar.