Why do a lot of students find the English language a difficult language to learn what are the reasons?

Answer 1

For the most part, the English language is very inconsistent. There are parts of it that people say, "that makes perfect sense!" But for the most part, there are too many inconsistencies and rules for people to learn.

For example:

"I before E, except after C or when sounding like A as in neighbor and weigh."

There are several other exceptions, such as: seize, either, weird, height, foreign, leisure, science, conscience, counterfeit, forfeit, neither, species, their and sufficient.

But that's only one. Then we've got all those weird plurals. Not all plurals end in -s. Such as geese, moose, children, people, mice and deer.

The reasons for English's inconsistency stem from the Renaissance in England. Educators wanted to use Latin and Greek texts, but the common people couldn't read Latin or Greek. So they translated these texts into English. As they translated, they realized that English vocabulary was inadequate to translate some words. So the translators borrowed. That's where we get words like atmosphere, test, and kindergarten. That is also why our spelling is so inconsistent. Many words come from other languages.

I do speak some Spanish, French and even a little Italian, and I know that they have odd rules and exceptions as well. But most of the languages in the world have the same grammatical rules as each other. English, Chinese and Japanese all have their own rules. But the majority of other languages have the same rules, just different words.

_____________________________

The above is good information. English is difficult to pronounce and to spell, especially for native speakers of languages like Spanish, because Spanish spelling and pronunciation are much more regular and predictable than they are in English. This is connected not only to the Rennaissance desire to use Greek texts but also to the fact that many languages have contributed to the vocabulary and to the grammar of English. English is a creolized language. That is one reason we have so many synonyms. Written language follows spoken language, and it was a struggle getting all the differences and subtleties to work together. Ultimately, they work together by exposure and by rote memory in most cases. The basic structure and grammar of English are not so different from other languages.

Another important reason that some students who are not native speakers of English might have trouble was pointed out to me by an experienced teacher of ESL. Sometimes the basic, standard grammar and vocabulary of the student's native language have not been mastered. The student then flounders, trying to grasp the parts of speech, the subtle use of different verb tenses, voices and moods, and putting together phrases and clauses.

Maybe a good way to advance the learning of English for those students would be to expose them to a lot of face to face verbal practice, and at the same time to assess their knowledge of their native language. Strengthen those skills, if necessary, before exposing them to a more formal instruction in English grammar.

English may be hard to learn because of all the rules of grammar and such.

Answer 2

Some students find English difficult due to its complex grammar rules, irregular spellings, and the vast number of exceptions to rules. Additionally, English has a wide range of vocabulary and idiomatic expressions that can be challenging to master. The language's pronunciation can also vary greatly from its written form, adding another layer of difficulty for learners.