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Essay

What's the most difficult language?

Ever since I was a child, I've been interested in languages. Perhaps it's because I was born in Canada -- a bilingual country. Or perhaps it's because I love mysteries, and language is one of the biggest mysteries of all.

I grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia, and was lucky to have a mother who spoke fluent French. As a child, I remember spying on her weekly French conversation group, listening to her friends speak in French and wondering, "What are they saying? I can't understand a word. It must be a secret language. I have to break the code!"

As a university student, I majored in linguistics. Now I speak nine languages: French, German, Japanese, Arabic, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, Korean and English.

As a linguist, one common question I often get asked is, "Which language is the most difficult?" For me, there are five answers.

The first answer is that the most difficult languages are those most different from your mother tongue. English and Japanese are linguistically distant, so English can seem difficult for Japanese speakers. In contrast, English and German are linguistically quite close, so Germans can learn English relatively easily.

The second answer is that the most difficult languages are those with a complex linguistic structure. Russian, for example, has a complicated grammatical system with complex verb cases, word endings and sound combinations. In contrast, Swahili has a relatively simple structure, which makes it easier to learn.

The third answer is that all languages are equally difficult. They just hide their difficulties in different places. Russian keeps its difficulties in its grammar and pronunciation. Japanese hides its difficulties in its writing system and honorifics. In other words, all languages are difficult. They're just difficult in different ways.

The fourth answer is that all languages are equally easy. Here's why. Imagine that we give a new-born baby girl to an Arab family. If we visit her 10 years later, we'll find she speaks fluent Arabic. Give the same baby to a family in China. After 10 years she'll speak fluent Chinese. It doesn't matter what kind of family we leave her with. In each case, she'll learn to speak their language fluently in the same amount of time. For babies, all languages are equally easy!

The final answer is that languages -- like other things -- are easy if you love them. If you love mountain climbing, you climb mountains even if they're difficult because you enjoy the challenge. In the same way, if you love a language, then studying it is a joy and you come to enjoy the difficulties.

What can we learn from this? First, that some questions have multiple answers. Second, that if you love languages, they can be easy. Motivation is everything!

Shukan ST: March 04, 2011

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Essay What's the most difficult language? By Kip Cates Ever since I was a child, I've been interested in languages. Perhaps it's because I was born in Canada -- a bilingual country. Or perhaps it's because I love mysteries, and language is one of the biggest mysteries of all. I grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia, and was lucky to have a mother who spoke fluent French. As a child, I remember spying on her weekly French conversation group, listening to her friends speak in French and wondering, "What are they saying? I can't understand a word. It must be a secret language. I have to break the code!" As a university student, I majored in linguistics. Now I speak nine languages: French, German, Japanese, Arabic, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, Korean and English. As a linguist, one common question I often get asked is, "Which language is the most difficult?" For me, there are five answers. The first answer is that the most difficult languages are those most different from your mother tongue. English and Japanese are linguistically distant, so English can seem difficult for Japanese speakers. In contrast, English and German are linguistically quite close, so Germans can learn English relatively easily. The second answer is that the most difficult languages are those with a complex linguistic structure. Russian, for example, has a complicated grammatical system with complex verb cases, word endings and sound combinations. In contrast, Swahili has a relatively simple structure, which makes it easier to learn. The third answer is that all languages are equally difficult. They just hide their difficulties in different places. Russian keeps its difficulties in its grammar and pronunciation. Japanese hides its difficulties in its writing system and honorifics. In other words, all languages are difficult. They're just difficult in different ways. The fourth answer is that all languages are equally easy. Here's why. Imagine that we give a new-born baby girl to an Arab family. If we visit her 10 years later, we'll find she speaks fluent Arabic. Give the same baby to a family in China. After 10 years she'll speak fluent Chinese. It doesn't matter what kind of family we leave her with. In each case, she'll learn to speak their language fluently in the same amount of time. For babies, all languages are equally easy! The final answer is that languages -- like other things -- are easy if you love them. If you love mountain climbing, you climb mountains even if they're difficult because you enjoy the challenge. In the same way, if you love a language, then studying it is a joy and you come to enjoy the difficulties. What can we learn from this? First, that some questions have multiple answers. Second, that if you love languages, they can be easy. Motivation is everything! Shukan ST: March 04, 2011 (C) All rights reserved