Why is it difficult to learn english as a 2nd,3rd,4th(etc) language?

Question

How can formulate a questionnaire that will prove the above and provide definitive answers that I can use to form clear conclusions?

What is it about english that makes it especially difficult to learn when you already speak a language(native language or other)?

What types of questions can I ask in my questionnaire?

thanks for reading

=]

Answer 1

  If it's the 2nd 3rd or 4th you are pretty well beyond the language learning age and english is a tough language to learn.

Answer 2

i guess because it isnt a phonetic language so how something is spelled isnt necessarily how it sounds. for example Japanese is a phonetic language and is spelt how it is pronounced. English has a lot of words which could be hard to pronounce for people who dont speak it as a first language for example silent litters 'Knight' is said same as 'night' but some may pronounce it like 'K-night'.

you could ask questions such as:

How long have you been learning English?

Which elements of English do you find the hardest?

How have you learned English? - tutor, language software etc

Answer 3

English is hard because there are many exceptions and the words are not categorized or in a pattern to make it simpler (You would think onion and union would rhyme but they have different sounds.) Also..  most letters have more then one sound. For example (Apple and Anyone, the A's have different sounds.)  

Answer 4

I learned English as a third language, actually I've been studying it for 12 years now... and I think that the most difficult part for me was/is the grammar part. I'm not always sure which tense is appropriate. And of course there are also many foreign words, which, in my opinion, become familiar only if you learn this language as a native one. But anyway, I admire the persons who are not afraid of making mistakes when they are speaking or writing... I am :)

Answer 5

One thing that would make it hard is that there are a lot of words in the english language that sound the same when spoken but when written are spelled different and mean different things, such as:

There

Their

They're

These words are called homonyms, fyi.

Answer 6

the grammar is def. obscure with alot of words pronounced or even spelt the same but having several meanings. then sometimes words interlink, plus there are even diff. meanings in diff. regions. i get confused sometimes, and it's my ONLY language.