Five Reasons English a Hard Language to Learn
It’s no secret that English is a hard language to learn. But why is English so challenging?
English is a difficult language to learn to read, because 14 of the 26 letters in the English alphabet make multiple sounds. Reading programs typically combine letters, and have many complicated rules in order to learn to read.
The Nardagani Reading Program is designed to eliminate the guesswork involved in reading. The program is comprised of 12 simple symbols, used below letters, that allow the reader to know which sound to make. Students learn a few symbols at a time. They memorize the symbols through exercises, games, and reading books coded with the symbols. Once students learn the first few symbols, they work on sounding out words, and increase their list of sight words.
Within eight hours of Nardagani instruction, students have learned the 12 symbols and are reading our coded practice books with ease.
Once students have gained confidence in sounding out words, the symbols will no longer be needed, and can be removed, like training wheels on a bicycle.
Here are five more reasons why English is a hard language to learn:
1: Irregular plural words in English don't have “s” at the end.
In English, ”child" becomes "children." "Person" becomes "people." "Tooth" becomes "teeth." "Foot" becomes "feet." This irregular English word list is endless.
2: The meaning of words in English can change depending on which syllable is stressed.
According to linguists, if the stress is on the second syllable, the word usually becomes a verb. For example, an address is the place where someone lives, but to address someone means to talk to them.
3: Even if you can spell a word correctly in English, you might be saying it completely wrong.
In fact, widely used pronunciations can be completely wrong. For example, "mischievous" is often pronounced "miss-chee-vee-us," but the correct pronunciation is “miss-chiv-us."
4: English is full of homographs. Homographs are words that are spelled the same, and even often pronounced the same, but mean different things.
There's tear (which means to to rip) and tear (as to cry), bass (a kind of fish) and bass (a low sound or even a type of guitar), bat (a piece of baseball equipment) and bat (a flying animal), bow (a type of knot) and bow (to bend down), just to mentions a few homographs.
5. English phrases or expressions often don’t make sense.
Why does "it's raining cats and dogs" mean that it is raining hard outside? Why is an easy thing considered "a piece of cake?" The English language is full of phrases that may confuse non-native speakers and ESL students.
Click here to learn more about the Nardagani Reading Program, take our Masterclass, and watch Narda’s TEDx talk, “A New Way to Learn to Read English.”