As a native English speaker: Anyone who claims English isn't a stupid language either:
A.) needs to take an English class.
-or-
B.) needs to retake their English classes.
English is largely a mess thanks in large part to the French (well, Normans) who buggered up a language which used to largely make sense, but now doesn't at all due to all the inconsistencies their language getting tacked onto ours did.
Part of the reason for sure, but also don't forget that the Brits fixed the spelling halfway through the Great Vowel Shift, or that the first English printers were mostly Belgian or Dutch and spelt several words in a way that made sense to them instead (hwat -> what), or how some English felt 1/2
the need to look more classically educated so they changed the spelling of words to resemble the Latin origin more. There are multiple languages that don't pronounce an 'l' in 'salmon' (French, Turkish, Romanian), but only English nevertheless writes it with an 'l'.
English is a mess. 2/2
Anyone who thinks this makes English a shit language doesn’t understand how overwrought sentence construction is in just about every other European language.
Older grandson is in 1st grade at a Jewish day school. He just started learning Hebrew & already has a much easier time reading Hebrew than reading English…which he’s been learning from day one. Says a lot about the loony-ness of English!
This is a result of the Norman Conquest. It was a really remarkable means of uniting the Normans (French) Saxons (IGerman) and Jutes (probably Danish) into one language and one country.
The spelling / pronunciation can be a nightmare, but binning gendered nouns and case-dependent articles and pronouns, etc. makes the grammar much simpler to learn.
Its true, multiple pronunciations in English can be confusing - Italians are always telling me this whenever I tell them that Italian grammar is difficult.
Any of you ever tried to learn another language? Ever seen a language where every verb depends on 6 differsnt subjects? Ever learned a language that doesn't have the word "have"?
Teaching myself Japanese and I was like why tf do I need a counter ? Why can’t I just say yon ringo if I wanna say 4 apples? And then I remembered that we have numbers like “eleven” “twelve” and sometimes instead of 12 we use dozen, but only for like eggs or donuts otherwise it’s hyperbolic 🤣
English is special like this. Kinda like how There, Their and They're all use the same pronunciation but mean completely different things based off context.
I don't agree that this makes English a shit language. Sure, for every rule you have to remember five exceptions but that makes the language dynamic and allows for all sorts of word play and ambiguity.
Is there some rule that the letters in initialisms need to be pronounced the same as in their corresponding words? Because if there is, I’m going to ignore it and keep saying gif (like the brand of peanut butter).
Comments
A.) needs to take an English class.
-or-
B.) needs to retake their English classes.
English is a mess. 2/2
https://youtu.be/50jkO2s4Sp0
(Disclaimer, I'm one of them.)
Sorry
*opens Chinese dictionary*
*17,000 different meanings for the same sound AND tone*
>:(