| English |
Indo-European:Germanic |
ÐÐ |
| If you understand these lines, congratulations.
You master the most successful language today, simpler than latin was and yet more
widespread. So why this page? Some people may need your advice in choosing a language and
it never hurts to read the review of a restaurant where you already ate. Click
for the pop-up window "10 reasons
to learn English" |
| Introduction
- ©www.micheloud.com |
Usefulness
Definition |
This is the most
useful language in the world, no questions asked. Anyone having anything to do with other
countries, be it in science, tourism, trade, finance or culture, will be extremely well
rewarded if he masters the language decently. Most books are published in english, and
most are translated in english. The best selling movies are american, and translation is a
pain-in-the-ear. English, even bad, is the standard language of scientific
publications, aviation, tourism, finance, and diplomacy. Anyway, if you're reading this,
you are already sold to the language, so why insist? |
Beauty
What's that? |
Although this is not
the primary attraction of this language, it is easy to fall in love with its colorful
expressions, alliterative riddles, easygoing approach toward word creation or importation.
My personal reference for prose is The Economist, a
conservative british weekly with main circulation in the USA. |
Chic factor
What's that? |
Almost everybody
claims to speak english, so I wonder where people can find any chic at all in
this language. And yet. Some Germans are especially disconcerting when they show off their
english and look back at their fellow Germans with a satisfied grin. |
Speakers
What's that? |
Total number of
speakers is more than 600mio, but this figure must be qualified by the fact that most
people you will meet when travelling or meeting people from other countries will speak
english. Early in the next century, more people will speak english as a second language
than those who learned it from their mother. |
Countries
What's that? |
USA, Canada, England,
Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Belize and some other ex-british
colonies. |
Regional
variations
What's
that? |
The reference accent
seems to be that ot the american TV and movies, for the beter or worse. The heaviest
variations from this "standard english" occur, as always, in backward areas.
Rural USA is already something but try Northern England, especially among lower classe
people to get a real cultural lag. Accent notwhistanding, there are some funny differences
like flat/apartment or lift/elevator that you can master in one afternoon if you find the
right list. |
Travel
What's that? |
Unless you have a very
specific area in mind, this is THE traveller's language, earning you at list understanding
if not sympathy almost everywhere in the world. |
Culture
What's that? |
Excellent movies,
pitiful TV, a lots of excellent litterature, both contemporary and older, and the best
thing-books you can find. On almost any topic the best books are available in english,
even if they have been translated. And they are cheaper too. Pop music has its fans and
some singers deserve your understanding their lyrics. |
|
m |
| Difficulty - ©www.micheloud.com |
Phonemes
What's that? |
English uses some
difficult sounds, like those in thing or soothe. These sounds are, in my opinion, impossible to master
perfectly unless you have lived in an english-speaking environment before you turned
16-18. |
Syntax
What's that? |
Pretty logical and not
very difficult to master. Adjectives do not vary, conjugation is almost esperanto-like,
but orthograph is tricky. The problem is that with such a weak verbal system and such easy
rules to turn adjectives into verbs, the beginner may be puzzled by some phrases. Another
difficulty is that of the verbs that use a separate particle like to set
off or to pop out. I advise the learner to review
lists of common verbs to save time, because they are especially tricky to look in the
dictionary. |
Vocabulary
What's that? |
The english language
has one of the most extensive vocabulary around, with more than than 460'000 different
words in the Webster Dictionary alone. This comes from the french/german origin, and means
that you often have at least two words with almost exactly the same meaning. However, most
of the dictionary only lives in litterature and scientific publications. |
Overall
difficulty
What's
that? |
I rate this language
as ÐÐ, that is, quite easy to learn, because of its ubiquity, and grammar.
Almost everyone will tolerate a bad english if they still understand you, and anyway they
will have heard so much of it by the time you talk to them that they won't mind. In most
parts of the world, you only have to go to the cinema, open the TV or buy newspapers to
have the language imposed on you so there's really no excuse for not speaking it at least
decently. |
Time needed
What's that? |
The big question, I
think that two years of moderate study should be sufficient for all but the most lazy
people, and you can definitely learn it in 6 months. As to the number of hours, I think
that 250 hours is a safe estimation. |
|
m |
| Learning
material - ©www.micheloud.com |
Books and
tapes
What's that? |
I must confess my lack
of experience here, because I learned this language sur le tas. Anyway, this is the
biggest language learning market so I assume there are good books available. Try Pimsleur English for spanish speakers, which does not exist
for french speakers. |
Schools
What's that? |
I would go to Canada
or the USA, or in an middle or upper class english family (others have terrible accents).
There are tons of schools competing, and all I can offer here is my Advice on going abroad to learn a language. |
Links
|
Most of the internet
is written in english, so you don't need me here. Nonetheless, I cannot help but suggest this page about newspapers on the internet. |