English is the most ambiguos language in the world. So many different letter combinations, with so many different pronunciations. Other languages, like French, have optimized. They have made the language logical and removed all of the"ghoti" situations.
Ways to make the "Sh" sound in english:
shirt, sugar, chute, action, issue, ocean, conscious, mansion, schwa, anxious, and special
Should we optimize the english language? It IS the language of business in the world, and it would make it much easier to learn.
Over time, it might change so that it's easier to learn. However, it's pretty impossible to consciously change a language. People will speak the language how they hear others speaking it.
You can look at the English and German language though, and see how they're related. Over time, another language may sprout from English. Evolution of language is fairly interesting.
English is harder to learn than German or Spanish, German has less sound combinations to learn, in fact you could probably learn German from watching videos on youtube with german and english lyrics, thats how I learned what gGerman I know.
The writing systems of some languages are based on the phonemic principle of having one letter (or combination of letters) per phoneme and vice-versa.
Ideally, speakers can correctly write whatever they can say, and can correctly read anything that is written. However in English, different spellings can be used for the same phoneme (e.g., rude and food have the same vowel sounds), and the same letter (or combination of letters) can represent different phonemes (e.g., the "th" consonant sounds of thin and this are different).
It is a fundamental problem. This is one of the reasons English is the most difficult language to learn. And as the most important language in the world, it should at least make sense.
Most languages are full of weird words and ways of pronouncing stuff.
Not French The entire language follows a logical system.
Yaknow who's fault everything bad with the world is? AMERICA'S, MAN!!!! HEIL CANADA, EHHHHHH!
I never mentioned America. Canadian English is virtually the same.
it isnt our fault that foreigners cant learn our language. they give up too easily.
YOU can't learn your own language. That's a problem too.
wow really? why would you change the english language? i believe its the most well known language in the world. if not then its very well know. that wouldnt go very well. and yeah drake could probly speak better english than you
I don't think we should change it. Yes it's the hardest language in the world to learn with the exception of I think an eskimo language, Chinese and Japanese maybe. But still, I think everyone is pretty much set in their ways and old habits die hard. Most won't take kindly to a change in their language just because it might be "easier".
i believe its the most well known language in the world.
That's Mandarin (Chinese)
It isn't the most common. But it is the most important. Worldwide business and politics is not conducted in Mandarin. English is the prominent language
But still, I think everyone is pretty much set in their ways and old habits die hard.
We can't change slang. But we can change what is "right" and what is "wrong"
In fact it happens all the time, but no one ever tells you =P Because you won't change. But people who are just learning English WILL change.
Can we please keep flaming/trolling/rude comments to a minimum?
Also, I agree with those who think the English language should be changed to be easier to learn. If its the language used for business, why is it so hard to learn? That could cause some problems.
