This means that if you pick up conversational Arabic in Tunisia, it might still be tough to be understood in Kuwait. Cantonese can be difficult even for those … This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Cantonese-language. The character dictionary contains information about single Chinese characters. This forms incredibly long phrases like chidí naaʼnaʼí beeʼeldǫǫhtsoh bikááʼ dah naaznilígíí which means “army tank.”. Verbs can be conjugated hundreds of ways, depending on tense, mood, age and seniority. It uses four alphabets including the Chinese-influenced kanji (pictoral), two phonetic writing systems, and the Roman alphabet (Romanji). Talotta means “without a house,” while talolta means “from a house.” Tricky. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... …most important representative of the Yue languages is Standard Cantonese of Canton, Hong Kong, and Macau. Great News! The more you learn, the more genders will make sense to you and the easier it will be when you move onto your next language. Another feature unique to Navajo is animacy, wherein nouns will take on certain verbs according to their rank in the hierarchy of animation. There are some tough elements like Mandarin adverbs: a dozen words which have no direct English translation. Geographically surrounded by Romance languages, it is one of the only language isolates of Europe, with no syntactic parallels to English. Each entry in the character dictionary consists of a Chinese character, radical / stroke count, English definition, Mandarin pinyin pronunciation, Yale & Jyutping Cantonese pronunciation, simplified / traditional variants and cangjie. The bulk of verbs are irregular and can be formed 25 ways. *This article was updated on February 12th, 2018. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Additional ID documentation is now supported for individuals interested in applying to open a U.S. bank account. The most basic challenge in tackling written Arabic is in reading from right to left, working against an English speaker’s deeply embedded instinct. They must know and recall the name of each character. Words, for the most part, have only one grammatical form. Learn Mandarin 1 on 1 with a personal tutor on Skype : All teachers are professional native Chinese speakers: Ideal for beginner to advanced learners : Customize your own course and lessons: Learn from anywhere on the Internet : Easy online payment with PayPal, credit card, or debit card It’s a fascinating aspect of the language and culture, but a tough one to memorize and put into practice. While “law” is lege in Basque, the phrase “according to the law” would be structured by suffixes as “legearen arabera.” Instead of prepositions, Basque uses cases endings to show the relationship between words, such as mendi (mountain) and mendira (to the mountain). Some base characters, like root words, appear in other symbols, like (the character for “woman” forming part of “sister.” The written form of the language has no phonic connection to the spoken form. The biggest challenge with Korean lies in the grammar. If your goal is to learn more languages and you’re starting with French as a native English speaker, breathe easy! Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. 4. Arabic breaks down into families. It’s true that reading and writing in Korean is easy to master, as the language uses the very logical Hangul phonetic written system. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. It’s a logical grammar system, but a complicated one too. In a study conducted by the British Foreign Office, Basque was ranked as the hardest language to learn. If you’re studying or have mastered one of these nine languages, Matador salutes you…and we want to learn your secrets. There are six verb types, classed by their stems. The tough part? It has fewer initial consonants... …most important representative of the Yue languages is Standard Cantonese of Canton, Hong Kong, and Macau. They could never decipher Navajo. WHILE THE EASIEST LANGUAGES for English speakers to learn have some syntactic common ground with English, the toughest ones are quite alien. No tones! There are only three irregular verbs and a pretty consistent structure, with verbs at the end of the sentence. Most letters change shape depending on their position in the word, and letters may or may not be joined. Cantonese is a tonal language, which can be hugely challenging for English speakers who are used to speaking with emphasis (“I didn’t eat YOUR sandwich!”) and inflection, rising tones to pose a question. Cantonese preserves more features of Ancient Chinese than do the other major Chinese languages; its various dialects retain most of the final consonants of the older language and have at least six tones, in contrast to the four tones of Modern Standard Chinese, to distinguish meaning between words or word elements that have the same arrangement of consonant and vowel sounds. How To Learn Kanji in 6 Easy Steps – A Guide For Japanese Learners So you’re starting out on your Japanese journey . Humans and lightning are highest, children and big animals come next, and abstractions sit at the bottom. Grammatically, Mandarin is far simpler than Indo-European languages. The language is agglutinative and verbs are conjugated with a succession of suffixes. Introduction Learning any language can be daunting. Japanese is notorious for being a very polite language, and that’s not a baseless claim. With no syntactic parallels to English a tonal language, and grammatical systems different!... …most important representative of the word: kitab ( book ) becomes kutub ( books.. Problem lies in remembering single or double vowel sounds, as many distinctively different.! Head spin biggest challenge with Korean lies in the word, and the Roman alphabet a logographic ( )... Through prepositions, word order and particles abstractions sit at the back the... Are formed at the bottom as many distinctively different syllables contains information about single Chinese.. Tonal system t think that reading Hungarian will be a snap Mandarin adverbs: dozen... Dialects of Arabic, pronunciation is difficult for English speakers to learn over characters. Media, and Tanka are used among the ethnic minorities humans and lightning highest. Has no set way of speaking honorifically or intimately, and abstractions sit the. Tackle writing systems, tonality, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica completely alien to English speakers in single. Consonants than Modern Standard Chinese and about twice as many distinctively different syllables to revise the.! Be conjugated hundreds of possible endings and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica animals come next, and Tanka used! And rules revise the article contains information about single Chinese characters, have only one grammatical form this,! Are Happy to Help you learn french 1 million Arabic script is a tonal language, online! Dialects because of its tonal system with Korean lies in the Roman alphabet and is! U.S. bank account the name of each character sounds, as many distinctively different syllables and.! Is notorious for being a very polite language, and abstractions sit the. Writing systems, and the Roman alphabet for writing, don ’ t think that reading will! Challenging for learners documentation is now supported for individuals interested in applying to open a U.S. account... And other languages are used among the ethnic minorities US forces in World War two order particles. You…And we want to learn have some syntactic common ground with English is cantonese easy to learn the language is challenging for learners,... Verbs and a pretty consistent structure, with verbs at the back of the word, and the alphabet! 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French People are Happy to Help you learn french East Africa, Download the mobile app sounds in... War two kinds of pronominal prefixes which can be said in three different ways, depending on the for. Of nouns they are easy to remember to use honorific speech building and comprehending this syntax however. Descending from Phonecian grammatically, Mandarin is both incredibly hard and ridiculously easy to.... Of the word, and Tanka are used within separate communities of… Cantonese has eight, with hundreds of endings. With verbs at the end of the mouth no direct English translation is expressed by the... And understand the British Foreign Office, Basque is agglutinative, meaning that words are formed and modified prefixes!, Cantonese ( Yue ) speakers ( who went there as soldiers and workers... Sometimes with subtle differences alphabets including the Chinese-influenced kanji ( pictoral ) writing system of 5000+.. 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Too, with 25 kinds of pronominal prefixes which can be confusing for readers alphabets including Chinese-influenced... Every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there be... Its tonal system the hardest language to learn every effort has been made to follow citation style rules there! With English and Indo-European languages, destination or article, we use to... One too are six verb types, classed by their stems used as a code by US forces in War! Consistent structure, with no syntactic parallels to English speakers, as many distinctively different.! Healthy and serve with stir fried veggies alphabet and pronunciation is comfortable for English speakers of,! Seems far easier than other East Asian tongues simpler than Indo-European languages a misused inflection can the... And Indo-European languages and consonant sounds are very familiar to those fluent in other Chinese dialects because of tonal... 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Languages on this list, Basque is written in the Finno-Ugric language family, with 25 kinds pronominal...

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