Of course, the difficulty students

Of course, the difficulty students have with it will depend on what language or languages they already know; English is naturally going to be easier to learn if one already has knowledge of a language that has the same roots, and is therefore more closely related to it. But while the same may be said to be true of learning any language, there seems to be something about English in particular that makes it especially tricky. In this article, we look at some of the specific difficulties English poses to those learning it as a foreign language, and what you can do to overcome these problems if you’re in the throes of learning this complicated language yourself.
1. English has one of the biggest, trickiest vocabularies there is

One of the most arduous tasks when learning a language is committing to memory enough words to allow you to express yourself regardless of the situation or subject. This is no mean feat in any language, but it’s fair to say that English is one of the harder languages in this respect. Here are some of the reasons why people find it so challenging.
The sheer number of words
Image shows a large dictionary with a pair of glasses lying on top of it.

English has an unusually large and varied number of words.

English has a vast number of words – the biggest of any language, according to some scholars. It’s a particularly complex lexicon because it has many different roots and influences, including Old English and Latin, which means that there’s huge variety in how words are spelled. What’s more, there are numerous instances of words meaning essentially the same thing, but with subtle differences that are often lost on those who don’t speak English as their mother tongue. For example, the words “plump” and “fat” both mean basically the same thing, but their connotations mean that they can’t necessarily be used interchangeably (“plump” tends to imply a healthy roundness, as in a plump baby or a plump roast chicken, while “fat” has more negative connotations and could imply obesity or otherwise undesirable weight). There are also plenty of synonyms that make little sense to non-native speakers, or that appear to mean the opposite of each other; there are lots of examples in this selection of funny synonyms.
Image is a button that reads, "Browse all EFL and English Culture articles."Spelling
Image shows a sign with the word 'personnel' spelled incorrectly on it.

English spelling is hard even for native English speakers.

Idiosyncratic spellings mean that it’s often difficult to guess how to spell an English word based on how it sounds, which impedes the learning process. Although there are plenty of recurring patterns (such as words ending in “-ing”, “-tion” and so on), there’s often no substitute for learning spellings by rote, because there are plenty of exceptions to rules, meaning that logical deduction doesn’t always work. (Look at the word “pronounce” or “pronouncing”, for example, and watch what happens to it when it becomes “pronunciation”. The second “O” has disappeared, contrary to what one might have expected.) What’s more, the English language contains numerous homophones – words that are spelled and/or pronounced the same, but that mean different things – which makes it harder to learn the vocabulary and harder to ascertain the meaning from how the word sounds.
Idioms and slang
Image shows sailors with bales of rope.

“To know the ropes”, meaning “to know your way around”, is an idiom that comes from sailing.

As with most languages, spoken English tends to be more informal than written English, presenting further complexity for the student with the unenviable task of learning the language. Slang is yet another aspect of the language for learners to get to grips with, knowledge of which is necessary in order to understand informal conversation (a very basic example is “yeah”, which is slang for “yes”). English is also littered with idioms, which don’t always make sense to those learning English, but in order to speak English like a native speaker, a knowledge of idioms is essential. You’ll hear phrases such as “fat chance”, “turn a blind eye” and “call it a day” adding colour to everyday language, and it’s not just the phrases you need to learn, but their meanings and when it’s appropriate for you to use them. You can learn more about English idioms in our article on 20 English idioms and their meanings and origins.
2. English grammar is full of subtlety
Image shows a stand laden with cupcakes.

“Can I have a slice of cake?”, “Could I have a slice of cake?” and “May I have a slice of cake?” all express the same idea in differing levels of formality.

English grammar is notoriously problematic for EFL learners; its difficulty leads to a great many common mistakes, which even native speakers frequently fall foul of. But it’s not just these basic errors that EFL learners must conquer. English grammar is full of subtlety, and it’s only with experience that non-native speakers will learn to appreciate its nuances. Consider, for example, the difference between “I write” (the simple past) and “I have written” (the perfect present), to which other forms such as “I am writing” or “I had written” add even more complexity with subtly different meanings. Then there’s the tricky auxiliary verbs that many EFL learners struggle with – such as “Do you want a slice of cake?” and “She has given me a slice of cake” – and modal auxiliary verbs, which express things like likelihood or obligation (“I might join you”, for example).

Add to all this the idiomatic variations and their subtleties (it’s “make a promise”, not “do a promise”, for example), to say nothing of the complexities of punctuation, and you have a tremendously demanding task to master the finer points of English grammar. While the basic aspects of English grammar must be learned by rote from the moment you start learning the language, some of the more advanced aspects won’t be picked up until you’re speaking English more confidently and are able to start fine-tuning your existing English skills by listening closely to how native speakers speak the language, and by learning from your mistakes. Nobody would expect you to be able to master all this from the word go – it’s something you pick up over many years of speaking English.
3. Pronunciation is difficult and inconsistent

Getting to grips with pronunciation can be a tall order whatever language you’re learning; even within northern European languages, the prevalent sounds can differ quite dramatically. The following issues are some of the main aspects of English pronunciation that make it even harder for those learning it as a foreign language.
Certain sounds in English are particularly tricky
Image shows three trees in the mist.

The distinction between “three” and “tree” can be hard to pronounce.

Different nationalities have problems with different aspects of English pronunciation, and there isn’t a great deal they can do about it other than practise repeatedly until they start to form the ability to create the right sounds. Many EFL learners find the “th” sound hard to pronounce, because it’s comparatively uncommon in other languages. Those who speak languages such as Japanese and most dialects of Chinese find it hard to differentiate between “r” and “l” sounds, while the distinction between “b” and “v” is problematic for speakers of many other languages, including Spanish and Arabic.

Another difference between English and some other languages is the number of consonants it’s possible to group together in a syllable – up to three; “stranger”, for instance, has three consonants (“str”) strung together before the vowel “a”. This is not possible in some other languages, and it can lead to difficulties in pronouncing it, with some students inadvertently inserting extra vowels to break up the consonants. With this, as with anything, practice makes perfect. Those struggling long-term with English pronunciation may benefit from elocution lessons, which coaches students through how to create different sounds by using the mouth, teeth and tongue in a different way.
You can’t always guess the pronunciation from the spelling
Image shows blobs of cookie dough ready for cooking.

“Dough” doesn’t rhyme with bough, cough, thorough, through or Slough.

Just as it’s not always possible to guess the spelling of a word based on how it sounds, pronunciation of already difficult sounds is made harder by the fact that it’s often hard to guess how a word is pronounced based on its spelling. Let’s look at an example to illustrate this. You’d be forgiven for thinking that because they all end in the letters “-ough”, the words “cough”, “tough”, “through”, “thorough”, “bough” and “dough” would all sound the same when spoken aloud. Not so. Each of these words is pronounced differently. The “-ough” sound in “cough” sounds like “off”; in “tough” it sounds like “uff”; in “through” it sounds like “oo”; in “bough” it sounds like “ow”; in “dough” it sounds like “oh”.

Unfortunately, there’s no substitute here for simply learning the individual pronunciations; with no hard-and-fast rules dictating the pronunciation of words ending in “-ough”, it’s a labour-intensive series of words to learn. Luckily, not all word endings are as difficult to learn as this one; words ending in “-tion”, for instance, are all pronounced “shun”. This means that for most of the standard endings, you only need to rote-learn the exceptions where pronunciation is concerned.
There are so many silent letters
Image shows two knights about to fight with a castle in the background.

A knight at a castle has a remarkable number of silent letters.

English has lots of silent letters that aren’t pronounced, which gives EFL learners even more pronunciation issues to contend with. An obvio

Kết quả (Anh) 1:

Of course, the difficulty students have with it will depend on what language or languages they already know; English is naturally going to be easier to learn if one already has knowledge of a language that has the same roots, and is therefore more closely related to it. But while the same may be said to be true of learning any language, there seems to be something about English in particular that makes it especially tricky. In this article, we look at some of the specific difficulties in English poses to those learning it as a foreign language, and what you can do to overcome these problems if you're in the throes of learning this complicated language yourself.1. English has one of the biggest, the trickiest vocabularies there isOne of the most arduous tasks when learning a language is committing to memory enough words to allow you to express yourself regardless of the situation or subject. This is no mean feat in any language, but it's fair to say that English is one of the harder languages in this respect. Here are some of the reasons why people find it so challenging.The sheer number of wordsImage shows a large dictionary with a pair of glasses lying on top of it.English has an unusually large and varied number of words.English has a vast number of words-the biggest of any language, according to some scholars. It's a particularly complex lexicon because it has many different roots and influences, including Old English and Latin, which means that there's a huge variety in how words are spelled. What's more, there are numerous instances of words meaning essentially the same thing, but with subtle differences that are often lost on those who don't speak English as their mother tongue. For example, the words "plump" and "fat" both mean basically the same thing, but their connotations mean that they can't necessarily be used interchangeably ("plump" tends to imply a healthy roundness, as in a plump baby or a plump roast chicken, while "fat" has more negative connotations and could imply obesity or otherwise undesirable weight). There are also plenty of synonyms that make little sense to non-native speakers, or that appear to mean the opposite of each other; There are lots of examples in this selection of funny synonyms.Image is a button that reads, "Browse all EFL and English Culture articles." SpellingImage shows a sign with the word ' personnel ' spelled incorrectly on it.English spelling is hard even for native English speakers.Idiosyncratic spellings mean that it's often difficult to guess how to spell an English word based on how it sounds, which impedes the learning process. Although there are plenty of recurring patterns (such as words ending in "-ing", "-tion" and so on), there's often no substitute for learning spellings by rote, because there are plenty of exceptions to rules, meaning that logical deduction doesn't always work. (Look at the word "pronounce" or "pronouncing", for example, and watch what happens to it when it becomes "pronunciation". The second "O" has disappeared, contrary to what one might have expected.) What's more, the English language contains numerous homophones-words that are spelled and/or pronounced the same, but that mean different things-which makes it harder to learn the vocabulary and harder to ascertain the meaning from how the word sounds.Idioms and slangImage shows sailors with bales of rope."To know the ropes", meaning "to know your way around," is an idiom that comes from sailing.As with most languages, spoken English tends to be more informal than written English, presenting further complexity for the student with the unenviable task of learning the language. Slang is yet another aspect of the language for learners to get to grips with, knowledge of which is necessary in order to understand informal conversation (a very basic example is "Yes", which is slang for "yes"). English is also littered with idioms, which don't always make sense to those learning English, but in order to speak English like a native speaker, a knowledge of idioms is essential. You'll hear phrases such as "fat chance", "turn a blind eye" and "call it a day" adding colour to everyday language, and it's not just the phrases you need to learn, but their meanings and when it's appropriate for you to use them. You can learn more about English idioms in our article on 20 English idioms and their meanings and origins.2. English grammar is full of subtletyImage shows a stand laden with cupcakes."Can I have a slice of cake?", "Could I have a slice of cake?" and "May I have a slice of cake?" all express the same idea in differing levels of formality.English grammar is notoriously problematic for EFL learners; its difficulty leads to a great many common mistakes, which even native speakers frequently fall foul of. But it's not just these basic errors that EFL learners must conquer. English grammar is full of subtlety, and it's only with experience that non-native speakers will learn to appreciate its nuances. Consider, for example, the difference between "I write" (the simple past) and "I have written" (the perfect present), to which other forms such as "I am writing" or "I had written" add even more complexity with subtly different meanings. Then there's the tricky auxiliary verbs that many EFL learners struggle with – such as "Do you want a slice of cake?" and "She has given me a slice of cake"-and modal auxiliary verbs, which express things like likelihood or obligation ("I might join you", for example).Add to all this the idiomatic variations and their subtleties (it's "make a promise", not "a promise", for example), to say nothing of the complexities of punctuation, and you have a tremendously demanding task to master the finer points of English grammar. While the basic aspects of English grammar must be learned by rote from the moment you start learning the language, some of the more advanced aspects won't be picked up until you're speaking English more confidently and are able to start fine-tuning your existing English skills by listening closely to how native speakers speak the language, and by learning from your mistakes. Nobody would expect you to be able to master all this from the word go-it's something you pick up over many years of speaking English.3. The Pronunciation is difficult and inconsistentGetting to grips with pronunciation can be a tall order whatever language you're learning; even within northern European languages, the prevalent sounds can differ quite dramatically. The following issues are some of the main aspects of English pronunciation that make it even harder for those learning it as a foreign language.Certain sounds in English are particularly trickyThe image shows three trees in the mist.The distinction between "three" and "tree" can be hard to pronounce.Different nationalities have problems with different aspects of English pronunciation, and there isn’t a great deal they can do about it other than practise repeatedly until they start to form the ability to create the right sounds. Many EFL learners find the “th” sound hard to pronounce, because it’s comparatively uncommon in other languages. Those who speak languages such as Japanese and most dialects of Chinese find it hard to differentiate between “r” and “l” sounds, while the distinction between “b” and “v” is problematic for speakers of many other languages, including Spanish and Arabic.Another difference between English and some other languages is the number of consonants it’s possible to group together in a syllable – up to three; “stranger”, for instance, has three consonants (“str”) strung together before the vowel “a”. This is not possible in some other languages, and it can lead to difficulties in pronouncing it, with some students inadvertently inserting extra vowels to break up the consonants. With this, as with anything, practice makes perfect. Those struggling long-term with English pronunciation may benefit from elocution lessons, which coaches students through how to create different sounds by using the mouth, teeth and tongue in a different way.You can’t always guess the pronunciation from the spellingImage shows blobs of cookie dough ready for cooking."Dough" doesn't rhyme with bough, cough, thorough, through or Slough.Just as it's not always possible to guess at the spelling of a word based on how it sounds, pronunciation of already difficult sounds is made harder by the fact that it's often hard to guess how a word is pronounced based on its spelling. Let's look at an example to illustrate this. You'd be forgiven for thinking that because they all end in the letters "-ough", the words "cough", "tough", "through", "thorough", "bough" and "dough" would all sound the same when spoken aloud. Not so. Each of these words is pronounced differently. The "-ough" sound in "cough" sounds like "off"; in "tough" it sounds like "uff"; in "through" it sounds like "oo"; in "bough" it sounds like "ow"; in "dough," it sounds like "oh".Unfortunately, there's no substitute here for simply learning the individual pronunciations; with no hard-and-fast rules dictating the pronunciation of words ending in "-ough", it's a labour-intensive series of words to learn. Luckily, not all word endings are as difficult to learn as this one; words ending in "-tion", for instance, are all pronounced "shun". This means that for most of the standard endings, you only need to rote-learn the exceptions where pronunciation is concerned.There are so many silent lettersImage shows two knights about to fight with a castle in the background.A knight at a castle has a remarkable number of silent letters.English has lots of silent letters that aren’t pronounced, which gives EFL learners even more pronunciation issues to contend with. An obvio

Kết quả (Anh) 2:

Of course, the difficulty with it will depend Students have what language or languages ​​on chúng already know; English is naturally going to be Easier to learn if one already has knowledge of a language has the same roots mà, and is therefore more Closely related to it. But while the same be said to be true garment of learning any language, there Seems to be something about English in Particular mà nó Especially tricky. In this article, look at some of the chúng specific poses to những Difficulties learning English as a foreign language it, and what you can do to Overcome These problems if you're in the throes of learning this complicated language yourself.
1. English has one of the biggest, trickiest vocabularies there is One of the Most arduous tasks learning a language is khi committing words to memory enough to allow you to express yourself regardless of the situation or subject. This is no mean feat in any language, but it's fair to say is one of the mà English languages ​​in this respect Harder. Here are some of the Reasons Why People find it so challenging. The sheer number of words Image shows a large pair of glasses with a dictionary lying on top of it. English has an unusually large and varied number of words. English has a VAST number of words - the biggest of any language, some scholars theo. It's a complex lexicon vì Particularly it has many roots and influences khác, Old English and Latin gồm mà there's huge variety vì how words are spelled print. What's more, there are Numerous instances of essentially the same thing nghĩa words, but with subtle Hiệu được often Do lost on Those Who do not speak English as mother tongue chúng. For example, the words "plump" and "fat" Basically the same thing cả mean, but mean có có connotations can not necessarily be used chúng interchangeably ("plump" tends to imply a healthy roundness, as in a plump baby or a plump roast chicken, while "fat" has negative connotations and could imply more Obesity or otherwise undesirable weight). There are plenty of synonyms am also make little sense mà to non-native speakers, or to mean the opposite có có of each other; there are lots of examples in this selection of funny synonyms. Image is a mà button reads, "Browse all articles EFL and English Culture." Spelling Image shows a sign with the word 'personnel' spelled incorrectly on it. English spelling is hard thậm for native English speakers. idiosyncratic spellings mà mean it's often Do Difficult to guess how to spell an English word based on how it sounds, mà impedes the learning process. Although there are plenty of recurring patterns (như words ending in "-ing", "-tion" and so on), there's no substitute for learning often Do spellings by rote, there are plenty of exceptions vì to rules, nghĩa mà logical deduction does not always work. (Look at the word, "Pronounce" or "pronouncing", for example, and watch What Happens to it khi Becomes "Pronunciation". The second "O" has disappeared, the contrary to what one might, have expected.) What's more, the Numerous English language contains homophones - words spelled được and / or pronounced the same, but mean khác mà things - Harder to learn nó mà the vocabulary and Harder to ascertain the nghĩa from how the word sounds. Idioms and slang Image shows sailors with bales of rope. "To know the ropes", Meaning "to know your way around", is an idiom That Comes from sailing. As with nhất languages, spoken English tends to be more informal ghi English coal, Presenting Further compLexity for the student with the unenviable task of learning the language. Slang is yet another aspect of the language for Learners to get to grips with, knowledge of mà cần để hiểu informal conversation (a very basic example is "yeah", slang mà for "yes"). English is littered with idioms cũng, do not always make sense mà to những learning English, but để speak English like a native speaker, a knowledge of idioms is essential. You'll hear Phrases như "fat chance", "turn a blind eye" and "call it a day" adding color to everyday language, and it's not just the Phrases you need to learn, but ask for their meanings and khi it's the appropriate for add you to use. You can learn more about English idioms in our article on 20 English idioms and meanings and origins chúng. 2. English grammar is full of subtlety Image shows a stand laden with cupcakes. "Can I have a slice of cake?", "Could I have a slice of cake?" and "May I have a slice of cake?" all express the same Differing levels of formality idea print. English grammar is notoriously problematic for EFL Learners; its difficulty leads to a great many common mistakes, mà thậm fall foul of native speakers Frequently. But it's not just basic errors này có phải conquer EFL Learners. English grammar is full of subtlety, and it's only with non-native speakers That experience will learn to appreciate its nuances. Nên, for example, the difference between "I write" (the simple past) and "I Have Written" (the perfect present), to other forms mà như "I am writing" or "I Had Written speaker" add more thậm compLexity khác with subtly meanings. Then there's the tricky auxiliary verbs mà many EFL Learners Struggle with - như "Do you want a slice of cake?" And "She has given me a slice of cake" - and modal auxiliary verbs, mà express things like likelihood or Obligation ( "I might, join you", for example). Add to all this the Idiomatic variations and ask for their subtleties (it's "make a promise", not "by a promise", for example), to say nothing of the complexities of punctuation, and you have a task to master demanding Tremendously the finer points of English grammar. While the basic aspects of English grammar by rote Phải Learned from the moment you start learning the language, some of the more advanced aspects will not be picked up off until you're speaking English more confidently and are fine-tuning thể start ngôn existing English skills by listening to how native speakers Closely speak the language, and by learning khỏi mistakes. Nobody would expect you to master all this thể from the word go - it's something you pick up over many years of speaking English. 3. Pronunciation is khó and Inconsistent Getting to grips with a tall order Pronunciation can be whatever language you're learning; thậm trong northern European languages, the prevalent sounds differs quite dramatically intervention. Những issues are some of the main aspects of English Pronunciation mà make it Harder for những thậm it as a foreign language learning. Certain sounds in English are Particularly tricky Image shows three trees in the mist. The Distinction between "three" and "tree "can be hard to Pronounce. Different nationalities have problems with aspects of English Pronunciation khác, and there is not a great deal can do about it other chúng PRACTISE lặp lại coal to form an until chúng start the ability to create the right sounds. Many EFL Learners find the "th" sound hard to Pronounce, it's comparatively uncommon print vì other languages. Those who speak Japanese như languages ​​and dialects of Chinese nhất find it hard to differentiate between "r" and "l" sounds, while the Distinction between "b" and "v" is problematic for speakers of many other languages, Spanish and gồm Arabic. Another difference the between English and some other languages ​​is the number of consonants it's im possible to group together in a syllable - up to three; "Stranger", for instance, has three consonants ("str") strung together is before the vowel "a". This is not possible The print some other languages, and it can lead to Difficulties print pronouncing it, with some extra Students inadvertently inserting vowels to break up the consonants. With this, as with anything, practice Makes perfect. Those struggling with English Pronunciation Long-term Benefit from elocution lessons unfortunately, mà coaches how to create khác Students through sounds by using the mouth, teeth and tongue print a different way. You can not always guess the Pronunciation from the spelling Image shows blobs of cookie dough ready for cooking. "Dough" does not rhyme with bough, cough, thorough, through or Slough. Just as it's not always possible The to guess the spelling of a word based on how it sounds, Pronunciation of sounds is already khó Harder made ​​by the fact it's often Do mà hard to guess how a word is pronounced based on its spelling. Let's look at an example to illustrate this. You'd be forgiven for thinking mà vì chúng all end in the letters "-ough", the words "cough", "tough", "through", "thorough", "bough" and "dough" would all sound the same khi spoken aloud. Not so. Each of These Words Differently is pronounced. The "-ough" sound in "cough" sounds like "off"; in "tough" it sounds like "uff"; print "through" it sounds like "oo"; print "bough" it sounds like "ow"; print "dough" it sounds like "oh". tại, there's no substitute here for simply learning the pronunciations of the individual; with no hard-and-fast rules dictating the Pronunciation of words ending in "-ough", it's a Labour-intensive series of words to learn. Luckily, not all endings are as khó word to learn as this one; words ending in "-tion", for instance, are all pronounced "shun". This vì Most of the standard for endings, you only need to rote-learn the exceptions where Pronunciation is Concerned. There are so many silent letters Image shows two knights about to fight with a castle in the background. A knight at a castle has a number of silent letters Remarkable. English has lots of silent letters That Are Not pronounced, mà EFL Learners Gives more even level to contend with issues Pronunciation. An obvio