Valeroso

I've never learnt any of these languages, but I have read alittle bit about them, and the hardest languages I'd choose would be between Basque (Euskara), Hungarian (Magyar), or for Westerners, any Asian languages.

Here are some hard elements in some of the current languages I know or am learning:

1. English
English is pretty difficult because the grammar can vary from logical, to just plain illogical due to the amount of irregularities. Also, the spelling of words would be difficult for most people as English is definitely not a phonetic language; i.e it doesn't sound like it is written. E.g Psychology has a silent P, the CH is a K, and the Y changes its sound twice. Phrasal verbs in English are also quite difficult for foreigners; who would expect "tie the knot" means to get married? Also, English has a HUGE vocabulary, which makes the likelihood of coming across a new and unknown word all the more likely! (But this happens to first speakers also, so it's not really a problem!)

English is also an easy language however! The fact that it has no gender (masculine/feminine/neutar) nouns makes speaking it all the more easy! It only has one or two cases, and one BIG contributor to its easiness is the fact that it's basically everywhere around the world now, so it's hard to NOT observe at least some of it! Plus, English speakers are quite tolerant of other people speaking English, so we don't bark on other people for making mistakes, as I've realised that a lot of those learning English make mistakes. This would be different for Italian, Greek, or any other language for that matter, as I've realised those speakers tend to really get frustrated and feel a need to correct peoples mistakes all the time! :D

2. Greek
Greek is a very difficult language for many, because it has three genders (masculine, feminine, and neutar), and for EACH of these genders, you have 18 separate articles and words. Example:

O andras = The man (Nominative Masculine Singular),
Oi andres = The men (Nominative Masculine Plural),
H karekla = The Chair (Nominative Feminine Singular)
Oi karekles = The chairs (Nominative Feminine Plural)
To dentro = The tree (Nominative Neutar Singular)
Ta dentra = The trees (Nominative Neutar Plural)

BUT, it doesn't stop there! You also have 2 more cases, which means yet again, the word AS WELL as the article change to accomodate the CASE, the TENSE, and the GENDER.

Aside from that, Greek is also SLIGHTLY difficult because you have to learn a new alphabet, however it's not too hard as the language has SOME similarities to the Latin alphabet, but then again, it also has its differences. Greek is also unique in that it has an accent on every single word, to indicate where the stress lies in the word! Greek spelling is sometimes also not very phonetic, as it has two sounds for O (W and O), four sounds for I (H, I, including the diphthongs OI, EI), 2 sounds for E (E, and the diphthong AI), and you just have to learn where they go. Sometimes it's easier to predict they might go, for instance Oi is usually for plurals, whereas all Verbs end in W.

Word structure is fairly similar to English, however there are just some tiny differences, such as: "Maria mou", which means "My Maria", literally translates to "Maria My". But all in all, it has it's pretty hard factors!

3. Finnish
Now I've been learning this language last year, and I've heard people call it the hardest language in Europe! As a highly agglutinative language with 15 cases, with very different grammar to many other European languages, it can seem quite daunting to most people! But personally, I think it's what I said before; different! It's grammar is fairly logical, and not even that hard if you really put your mind to it!

Plus, it makes up for these hard elements in GREAT ways! For instance, it has NO genders, and NO articles (An, A, The) which is great because the 15 cases apply for EVERY noun without having a separate case depending on its gender.

Unlike other languages such as English, and French, Finnish is also a phonetic language! So each letter represents one sound in that language! This is fairly straightforward, and makes it more user-friendly for those trying to learn it, but it can also have its difficulties. Example, the word Laki (law) and Lakki (cap/hat) are two different words that sound different! Laki is fairly straightforward, but Lakki is pronounced more like Lak-ki, with a little pause in the middle. These double-consonants happen everywhere, such as Antti (Ant-ti, not Anti), Kissa (Kis-sa, not Kisa) and so on! This also happens in vowels also. Example: Tuli (fire) and Tuuli (wind). Both sound different, which can be quite tricky for an English speaker! I struggled with those in the first weeks, but now I think I'm fairly successful with them! Actually, English speakers have them also! We just don't know we have them! Exampe: The Finnish A is the English U in Cup. Whereas the Finnish AA, is the English A in After!

One major problem though which I came across in Finnish wasn't with its grammar, but dealing with the fact that it seperates into formal language (spoken by news people, seen in books, etc) and an informal spoken language (spoken colloquially). Example: Minä (which means I) is the formal word for it, however most Finns in colloquial speech say Mä. Same happens to Sinä (Sä), and even in Nouns such as Punainen (Red), into Punane! Not to mention the fact that there is also a concept known as "Consonant Gradation", where a certain letter (P, K, or T) must drop off or change itself into another sound. Example: To say "Mikko's house" in Finnish would be "Mikon talo"! Notice how one K has dropped off? (And the N case is the equivalent of the English 's)

Now one thing that frustrates me in Finnish is the partitive case, but that's another story altogether! :D I won't bore you any longer!

Valeroso

This is a great poem, which gives a little indication for how tricky both English pronunciation, grammar, spelling and plain structure can be for foreigners! :D All those exceptions really make it seem so llogical and difficult!

The English Lesson

We'll begin with box, and the plural is boxes,
But the plural of ox should be oxen, not oxes.
Then one fowl is goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a whole lot of mice,
But the plural of house is houses, not hice.
If the plural of man is always called men,
Why shouldn't the plural of pan be pen?
The cow in the plural may be cows or kine,
But the plural of vow is vows, not vine.
And I speak of a foot, and you show me your feet,
But I give a boot...would a pair be beet?
If one is a tooth, and a whole set is teeth,
Why shouldn't the plural of booth be beeth?
If the singular is this, and the plural is these,
Why shouldn't the plural of kiss be kese?
Then one may be that, and three be those,
Yet the plural of hat would never be hose.
We speak of a brother, and also of brethren,
But though we say mother, we never say methren.
The masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine she, shis, and shim.
So our English, I think you will agree,
Is the trickiest language you ever did see.

I take it you already know
of tough, and bough and cough and dough?
Others may stumble, but not you
on hiccough, through, slough and though.
Well done! And now you wish, perhaps
To learn of less familiar traps?
Beware of heard, a dreadful word
That looks like beard and sounds like bird.
And dead; it's said like bed, not bead!
For goodness sake, don't call it deed!
Watch out for meat and great and threat,
(They rhyme with suite and straight and debt)
A moth is not a moth in mother,
Nor both in bother, broth in brother.
And here is not a match for there,
Nor dear and fear for bear and pear,
And then there's dose and rose and lose --
Just look them up -- and goose and choose,
And cork and work and card and ward
And font and front and word and sword.
And do and go, then thwart and cart.
Come, come, I've hardly made a start.
A dreadful language: Why, man alive,
I'd learned to talk when I was five.
And yet to write it, the more I tried,
I hadn't learned it at fifty-five.

[An alternative version quotes the final couplet as:
And yet to write it, the more I sigh,
I'll not learn how 'til the day I die.]

Norman

I think japanese.

Prof Ookami

To those languages that I had learned or tried to learn, I would like to rank them as follows:

Most difficult: Chinese [Written without any guiding pronunciations and tone markers and has a lot of meanings in words when used in a combination]

2nd most difficult: Arabic [Written without vowels, except long vowels and has a long list of conjugations]

3rd most difficult: Russian [Gender-specific; long strings of consonnants, and has a trouble some conjugation]

What I heard was: The most difficult one is Finnish !

The easiest that I have learned: Malay [what is written is what is pronounced like Italian; no gender; no conjugations of words; no tenses; no disclensions; no tones; easy to write in Roman letters...]

Thats my opinion.

__________________
Anything that I don't know is not a fact

@dmin

Long list of conjugations? Not as much as in English, no? There is nothing as "past continuous" and "present continuous" in Arabic, you just add some time expressions or verbs, and that's pretty much it!

So, you're Malysian?

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Speak Moroccan - Parlez marocain
Moroccan Vocabulary - Vocabulaire Marocain

Clara_P

My 3 are:


1-Basque! it's almost impossible
This is a script:

Gipuzkoako ibaiek ibilbide laburra eta arro txikia dute, iturburuen mendiak itsasotik hurbil baitaude. Emari handiko eta iraunkorrekoak dira, euri asko eta sarri egiten baitu.

2- Finnish
A Finnish script:

Kieltenväliset ja muualle osoittavat linkit ovat erivärisiä kuin wikinsisäiset linkit eikä niistä näe, onko sivua olemassa. Mikäli kieltenvälinen linkki ei noudata syntaksiaan, se tulkitaan wikinsisäiseksi linkiksi, joten sivua muokkaavan pitäisi huomata kirjoitusvirheensä helposti. Älä luo sivua pelkästään kootaksesi sinne kieltenvälisiä linkkejä tai tee kieltenvälistä linkkiä olemattomaan sivuun.

3- Arabic

Very difficult pronunce, and difficult alphabet.

loode

I am sorry to hear that,because i am a Chinese boy.
if there any body want to learn Chinese language ,i think i can help you