Welcome to another week of Dear Duolingo, an advice column just for learners. Catch up on past installments here.
Hi, everyone! This week’s question is one that many of our learners have been wondering about: the level of difficulty of the world’s most widely spoken language—English.
Our question this week:
We’re frequently asked whether a particular language—especially English—is “difficult.” The honest answer is: It depends. Your experience will be shaped by factors such as the language(s) you already speak, how motivated you are, and when you start(ed) learning.
That said, English does have certain characteristics that many learners find tricky, alongside others that are relatively easy to pick up. Read on to learn about the global role of English and discover which aspects of the language tend to be the most difficult and which are the most approachable for learners.
English as a global language
English is an official language in many countries across the globe, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Nigeria, the Philippines, and Jamaica, among others. It’s also the most commonly studied language by non-native speakers and the most widely spoken language globally.
Because English is used all over the world, it has become what we call a lingua franca—a shared language people with different first languages use to communicate. But why English? Is it because it’s particularly easy to learn? Not exactly. A language typically becomes a lingua franca for historical reasons, often tied to political circumstances and power dynamics.
So, back to your question, Anxious To Learn. Is English difficult? Well… yes and no. Let’s break it down.
What makes English a hard language?
Spelling ≠ pronunciation
One of the first things you’ll notice when learning to write in English—whether as a native speaker or a learner—is that English spelling can be tough! It doesn’t necessarily give clear clues about how a word is pronounced. Take the words tough, though, and through, for example. While they are spelled similarly, the “ou” is pronounced differently in each, and “gh” is either pronounced or silent.
So even though the English alphabet consists of only 26 letters, learning to use them correctly can feel difficult. The good news, however, is that, as time goes on, you’ll start to notice patterns and develop a feel for English pronunciation. Keep practicing it and watch it improve!
Dialects
Although English is spoken around the world, it doesn’t sound the same everywhere. Like all languages, it has different dialects, and because English is such a highly global language, each place that it’s spoken comes with its own history and influences. This naturally leads to variation in vocabulary, pronunciation, and even grammar. For example, the type of shoes called sneakers in the U.S. are known as trainers in the U.K. and runners in Australia. Even when the same word is used across dialects, it can sound quite different. For example, compare the pronunciation of tomato in the U.S. vs. tomato in the U.K.
Idioms
Another challenge for learners are English idioms. It’s not always enough to learn the literal meaning of words—you’ll also need to know how they’re used in fixed expressions and what those expressions mean.
You might hear people say that something happens once in a blue moon or that they have to put something on the back burner. To understand what they’re talking about, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with English idioms. They are often used in work settings to avoid having to express certain things too directly, but they are just as common in everyday conversations. Idioms can be inspired by just about anything—from sports (like to take a rain-check) to colors (like a red flag) to fruit (like to go bananas).
Word order
Many English learners struggle to understand where each word goes in a sentence, especially because English has relatively little flexibility in sentence structure compared to many other languages (including Arabic, Greek, Turkish, and Basque). English generally follows SVO order, meaning the subject comes first, then the verb, and then the object (if there is one). However, things can get much more complicated when adjectives or adverbs are added to the mix, or when you’re dealing with a question type.
Verb tenses
In English, there are three basic tenses: past, present, and future. However, this is complicated by the fact that each of these has four subtypes, so to speak. For example, you use the simple present to talk about things such as habits or general truths (like I cook every day), but the present progressive to express that something is happening right now (like I am cooking at the moment).
If an action was completed in the past but is related to the present, you use the present perfect (like I have cooked dinner already). For actions that started in the past and have just ended or are still going on, you use the present perfect progressive (like I have been cooking since this morning).
So in English, you have to pay attention not only to when an action takes place, but also whether it’s ongoing, finished, habitual, or still relevant to the present.
Loanwords
When learning English, you may notice that a lot of its vocabulary comes from other languages—especially French, but also Latin, German, and more. The difficulty with loanwords is that their pronunciation may follow the rules of their source language rather than those of English. Compare, for example, the “ch” sound in chic, which comes from French, with that of chick, stemming from Old English.
Homophones
Like all languages, English has words that are pronounced the same but have different spellings and meanings. For example, their (possessive adjective), there (adverb of place), and they’re (short for they are) sound identical for many speakers, but they’re spelled differently.
English isn’t as extreme as some other languages, like French, when it comes to different words having the same pronunciation. However, several commonly used words are homophones, so it’s definitely worth studying them carefully to avoid misunderstandings!
What makes English an easy language?
Abundance of resources
In addition to learning English through a language course like Duolingo, there are many other resources out there that can help you achieve your learning goals. If you’re looking for a change of pace, you could watch a movie in English, listen to some English-language music, switch your phone’s language to English, or find a language exchange partner.
No formality levels
Some languages, like Japanese, Spanish, and German, have different levels of formality depending on who you’re speaking to. Luckily, there is no such distinction in English grammar! Whether you’re talking to a coworker, a close friend, or even the president, you’ll use the same pronoun—you—and its corresponding verb forms in all cases!
Verb forms
Speaking of verb forms—you’ll be glad to know that English doesn’t conjugate its verbs as extensively as some other languages. Aside from the simple present, each tense generally uses the same verb form for all grammatical persons (except for was and were, the past tense forms of to be). And even in the simple present, the only change is for the third person singular, which usually adds -s.
Once you know the bare form of an English verb (like listen), along with the endings for the third person singular in the simple present (-s, like listens), the past participle (-ed, like listened), and the present participle (-ing, like listening), you already know most of the verb system. (Beware of irregular verbs, though!)
No grammatical gender
There are many languages—including, for example, Spanish, German, and Russian—that distinguish between two or more grammatical genders. English, however, isn’t one of them! So while a sweater is masculine in German (der Pullover, “the sweater”), a jacket is feminine (die Jacke, “the jacket”), and a dress is neuter (das Kleid, “the dress”), these categories do not exist in English. Phew! 😅
No noun cases
In some languages, nouns change form depending on whether they’re the subject or the object of a sentence. In English, you’ll only see this difference reflected in subject vs. object pronouns. This wasn’t always the case, though! Old English once had different forms for four noun cases, which have since been lost. Good thing you’re learning English now and not 1,000 years ago 😉
So… Should you learn English?
If you’ve already been thinking about starting to learn English, don’t let its complexities put you off! Every language comes with its own challenges, but also has its easier aspects.
Whether you find English difficult often comes down to how similar it is to the other language(s) you already speak. Since English is a Germanic language, you might have an easier time learning it if you already know a language from that language family because they tend to share certain characteristics.
Other important factors are how much time you can dedicate to learning and how consistent you are.
You got this!
Learning English is an adventurous journey that is definitely worth taking! No matter where you start—make use of the different resources available to you, practice regularly, and don’t be afraid to make mistakes.
For more answers to your language and learning questions, get in touch with us by emailing dearduolingo@duolingo.com.