Why Is It More Difficult To Learn English For Some People?

SpeakMatesCom
Aug 25, 2017 · 3 min read

First of all we should indicate that there are many people who speak English very well in all countries. Regardless of the difficulty of language learning, certainly some people are able to achieve it perfectly.

Having said that, it is also considered that English learning might be relatively easier for Europeans. Especially it is more so for German, Dutch, Swedish, Danish and Norwegians speakers as English is a Germanic language like the others.

However there are also many different language families in Europe other than Germanic therefore explanation above would not be valid for why Europeans would learn more easily. So there may be some other reasons for Europeans to master English more easily.

Here are some reasons why European can learn English more easily than others;

  1. Latin Alphabet is used all over Europe and it certainly makes it easier to capture the words, remember the words easily.
  2. Similar Vocabulary, there are many similar words used commonly by many European countries, this makes it a less of a work to remember vocabulary.
  3. Majority of the European countries have very developed school systems where English is taught from early ages.
  4. It is easier for Europeans to have a study abroad experience and improve their spoken English conveniently thanks to European Union free movement of people policy and many supporting exchange programs such as Erasmus.
  5. There are a lot of social, political, business interactions between European nations, which make it a must to learn different languages.
  6. Europeans culturally are more open to try new things and explore new challenges.

When we start talking about which nations are having difficult time to learn English, there may be a lot of countries to be listed. Or even we could just say other than Europeans; everyone is having difficult time to learn English. But we could list Asian countries on the top of the list and no one would say that is not correct.

People in Asian countries such as China, Japan, Korea and Thailand could get particular attention in terms of foreign language experience. So what might be the reasons for difficulty in learning English in these countries;

  1. Although people usually know Latin alphabet in Asian countries their main alphabet is a different one.
  2. Asian nations have quite a different culture than Europeans, this cultural background makes it more difficult to understand some concepts or words.
  3. Language structure is completely different in many Asian nations compared to English structure.
  4. Although language-teaching methodologies might be different in many of the Asian countries, their common focus is more on grammar than speaking or listening.
  5. Less interaction with foreigners in daily life makes people less motivated to learn a foreign language.
  6. Asian people might be shyer than European people, which make a whole lot of difference in terms of mastering a foreign language.

You can find the original article at www.speakmates.com blog.

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