Newsgroups: sci.lang
From: andre@shappski.demon.co.uk (Andre Shapps)
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!das-news2.harvard.edu!news2.near.net!news.mathworks.com!news.alpha.net!uwm.edu!math.ohio-state.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!news.sprintlink.net!pipex!peernews.demon.co.uk!shappski.demon.co.uk!andre
Subject: Re: Is Turkish a new language?
References: <D3q22K.42H@news.dlr.de> <1995Feb16.012953.15511@Princeton.EDU> <D4Hr7t.MC9@midway.uchicago.edu> <3il14u$ll7@sarasvati.umiacs.umd.edu> <D4MDKL.K96@midway.uchicago.edu>
Organization: The Soundfile
Reply-To: andre@shappski.demon.co.uk
X-Newsreader: Newswin Alpha 0.7
Lines:  26
X-Posting-Host: shappski.demon.co.uk
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 1995 11:21:07 +0000
Message-ID: <734831017wnr@shappski.demon.co.uk>
Sender: usenet@demon.co.uk

In article: <D4MDKL.K96@midway.uchicago.edu>  deb5@ellis.uchicago.edu (Daniel 
von Brighoff) writes:
> Comparing one language to 
> others, though, is difficult, because the single most important factor
> for determining how difficult a language is to learn is how it compares
> to your own.  It was easier for me to learn German than Korean because
> I'm a native speaker of English; for a Japanese, the opposite would be
> true.  Sinitic speakers, for instance, have much less trouble with
> most SEAsian languages than anything on the continent of Europe.

That's sounds like it should be obvious, but I wonder if it's true for all 
learners of languages. I have found Russian easier to learn than langauges 
closer to English for a variety of reasons, but I strongly believe that it is 
partly because it is so different to English (well, not compared to Japanese 
or Tai, but compared to French or German, say). It means that I have never 
been tempted to think in my native tongue, although I do accept that part of 
the reason for this is the apalling teaching of languages in British schools, 
where I spent 5 years learning French and German and came out bearly being 
able to speak either.

Is the teaching that bad in other English speaking countries?
-- 
Andre Shapps


