Most Difficult Languages To Learn For English Speakers

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Throughout high school and college, I mainly focused on learning how to speak Japanese as my second language. Unlike English, Japanese is a fairly phonetic language. Two of its three writing systems, hiragana and katakana, are phonetic. This makes it easy for foreigners to learn because each syllable, also known as sound clusters in some circles, is almost always said exactly how it is spelled. The third writing system, kanji, is not and, as such, is much more difficult for foreigners to learn because kanji are essentially pictures that describe their meaning. They are much more difficult to learn and use in everyday speech. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Nicole H. Please note that...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences A global language is a language spoken internationally, the most popular one being English. It is learned by many people as a second language. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Damian B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. A big part of the lexical units in the English language was taken from German, Latin, French, and other European countries. People think that languages have a strong relation between dominance and cultural power. Also read: What to Watch Out for Before Signing Your TEFL Contract in China To have a common language is important because it's one of the main ways to communicate and interact with other people...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas There are many different types of peculiarities when concerning the English language, and this essay is aimed at the difficulties in teaching those peculiarities to learners that are not fluent in the English language. It can be difficult for native English speakers to progressively learn the subtle nuances as children graduating to young adults and navigating complexities of the language as adults; deciphering whether or not these peculiarities warrant further investigation or retention based on usage and context. These oddities of the English language can be exponentially more difficult for those attempting to learn the English language as a second language, having fully grasped the complexities of their own...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Japan is a country with a long history, deep tradition, and vibrant culture. Within this culture sits the Japanese language. At first, being a spoken language and then adopting the Chinese Writing System, Japanese has grown and changed into what it is today. If you look at all languages, most Western languages originate from a set family, such as Romance Languages (which became today’s Spanish, French, Italian, etc). But Japanese (as most Asian languages) was formed from entirely different roots. These fundamental differences mean that the method of learning these languages has a lot to do with memorization and repetitive practice of the Chinese symbols and the words they represent. Which means it is...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences I have moved to the Czech Republic with my girlfriend who is Czech after we met in New Zealand, where I am from. Teaching English here was a business idea that she came up with because she taught English here before for 8 years. In Czech people are more interested in taking English lessons from a native speaker and they also like New Zealand over here. So from this perspective, it makes a lot of sense for me to do this course. Since I am going to be teaching in Czech to begin with, I have already started to see some issues with the language learning that I will be faced with. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Patrick A. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas In my experience teaching elementary and junior high school level English in Japan, several different pronunciation problems appear frequently. The Japanese phonemic inventory is smaller than English’s phonemic inventory, and the sounds present in each language differ from each other quite dramatically. Because of this, it can be difficult for native Japanese speakers to learn and master English pronunciation, but there are a few teaching techniques that can help students overcome this difficulty. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Vladlena H. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Several consonants are difficult for native Japanese...  [Read more]

Jon ITTT Alumni Experiences Difficulty with pronunciation is likely something that every EFL teacher will face at one point or another in their career. Every language in the world has different ways of pronouncing different words/ letters. In addition to this, most speakers of other languages have heavy accents that can make pronouncing English words very difficult. This can be a challenge when teaching English as a foreign language. It can be especially challenging because not all learners around the world will face the same problems. Students in Vietnam will likely have different pronunciation problems than students in Kenya and students in Brazil will likely have different pronunciation problems than students in Morocco. For this essay, I will...  [Read more]

Laura Payne Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Authentic materials are media that native speakers of a language encounter in their everyday lives, which are not specifically created for language students. TV programs, newspaper articles, books, songs, YouTube videos, and more all fall under this term. Incorporating authentic materials into ESL classrooms has numerous merits, but the high language level required to understand these materials often causes teachers to rarely or never include them in classes below an intermediate language level. However, the difficulty of language in authentic materials does not necessarily mean that they have no place in lower-level classes. With some research, planning, and creativity, any teacher...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences When you think of a TEFL teacher you immediately expect it to be a native speaker, but I think it will be surprisingly interesting to have a non-native speaker as a teacher. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Reem A. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. English is not their first language so in order to become fluent they would have had to go through the process of learning the language. This means that they have done the exact same thing their students are doing. They will understand how the students are feeling, what problems they may be having and how to keep them interested and motivated to learn. Having a non-native speaker...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Learning a second language can be difficult, and this is especially true when the learners L1 and their target language are completely different in structure, sound, and tones. An English as a second language student who speaks French, German, or any other European language will have an easier task than one who speaks a language that is not of European origins. One such language is Mandarin Chinese. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ashley L. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The areas that native Mandarin speakers most often run into difficulty are pronunciation, tones, tenses, and sentence structure. A Chinese speaker might...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences The ability to speak more than one language broadens a person’s worldview, from job opportunities to the ability to relate with people from different cultures. It is no secret that learning English as a foreign language has become popular across many non-English speaking countries and Russia is no different. The English language has slowly been incorporated into the Russian educational system and many English language learning centers have been established all over the country. As much as most Russians are motivated enough to learn English, it is not as easy as one would hope due to dissimilarities between the two language systems especially the lettering systems, cases, pronunciations, and other factors....  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The process of learning a foreign language is not an easy one because they are expected to cover various aspects, and the challenges faced could cause a learner to take a longer time to learn the new language. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Payton P. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. One of the difficulties that learners face is their attitude towards learning the language. An individuals' attitude relates to how they feel about something. Some of the learners have to learn English for job purposes and their reaction towards the language may be negative. Their negative attitude may arise from stress, fear, or even anxiety....  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences As a non-native English speaker, I was very scared of teaching English or even thinking about teaching English at the beginning of my teaching career. But some months later I realized that I have a huge advantage compared to the native speakers: I still remember the difficulties of learning English and I know what might cause problems to my students. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Gabriella S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. So I can always emphasize and slow down when it is needed without being impatient. Learning English requires time, and learning to speak well requires even more time and patience from both the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Learning a second language can be difficult and depending on the learner’s mother tongue, it can present challenges unique to a certain group of people. More specifically, there are several unique challenges for Japanese native speakers who are learning English and vice versa. English can be difficult for Japanese native speakers for various reasons such as difficulty distinguishing certain sounds, the use of katakana to teach English words, and drastically different sentence structure. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Justin W. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. When speaking English, it is vital to be able to distinguish...  [Read more]

  This is Chantelle’s video diary entry after completing unit 16 of her online TEFL course. Unit 16 covers conditionals and reported speech. Both language points can cause difficulty for English language learners and teachers alike. The unit outlines the structure and use of the conditionals and also provides some useful teaching ideas that can be used in your own classes. It also goes into detail about when we use reported speech and the changes that occur when changing direct speech into reported speech. You will also find teaching ideas to help you understand how this language point can be taught in the classroom. Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I did not realize how difficult English is until I became fluent in Spanish. I am currently studying French and I am pretty good at French. I have a basic knowledge of Esperanto. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Wayne K. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. I will just touch on each of these since a book could be written about each of these. Also Read: Teaching Young Learners vs. Adult Learners - The Differences You Can Expect I have found many poems(1) and articles on the internet discussing the insane way English is spelled and pronounced. On the previously sited website(ibid) an English instructor states that he has very often...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences TEFL/TESOL stands for Teaching English as a foreign language, whether you are a native speaker which means you are born in an English-speaking country or a non-native speaker which means you are not, you can get a TEFL certificate to be a certified English teacher. It's a certificate for those who wish to teach English as a second language with minimal or no teaching experience. Students who wish to learn English as a second language are known as ELLs which stands for English Language learners. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Semih S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The number of people who wish to learn English is...  [Read more]

Jon ITTT Alumni Experiences For the native English speaker, English is easy. It is only when learning another language do L1 English speakers begin to see peculiarities in their own language. It is then compounded when beginning to teach English as a foreign language. Although the English language has commonalities with other languages, especially since English is derived from other languages, there are plenty of unusual aspects of English that can cause difficulties when learning and teaching the language. For example, English spelling, grammar, and pronunciation all contain such peculiarities. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Tanya L. Learning to read and write English is no easy task since English is one of the least...  [Read more]

Sabrina Segal Alumni Experiences Language skills begin in the womb when a fetus's hearing first develops, they begin to listen to the language of their mother. Once the baby is born they recognize their mother tongue. Though, a baby is born with the ability to learn any language and multiple languages. When babies hear a word repeatedly their brain forms neural connections, which is a step towards their speech. The brain of a child is like a sponge. It retains so much information that by the time a child reaches 3 years of age, their brain has formed double the amount of connections that adults have. Young children learn language through simple exposure. It is possible to learn a language later on in life but the process is slower and more...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Alumni Experiences Second language acquisition in native English speakers from the United States is one aspect of American culture that is not widely discussed and seemingly overlooked in terms of its importance. Many factors contribute to the United States’ largely monolingual culture despite have a “melting pot” of sorts with a population comprised of multiple ethnicities and nationalities. This culture of English speakers points to strong geographic features of its continental location and debatably its position in the world’s economic index and political landscape. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Adam L. Comparatively, Europe is comprised of multiple countries with strong national identities and...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Foreign language experience is complexed on so many different levels, it is a window into a different culture, often a different country and even a different paradigm of thinking. There is a multitude of language experiences people can have, each with their own intricacies and uniqueness. As a native English speaker from South Africa, living in China has provided me with extraordinary foreign language experience. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Marlan S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Mandarin, the national language of the People’s Republic of China, as many would attest to is extremely challenging. One could argue...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Learning another language is one of the most powerful tools for connecting people around the world from different cultures. Opening an immeasurable amount of opportunities, learning English has many benefits including but not limited to expanding career options, exercising another part of the brain, and improving the ease of traveling to a foreign country. However, particularly for natives of Eastern countries, learning English may be very difficult due to the exoticism of sounds, writing, pronunciation, and structure. While Japan is unique in a sense, having a booming influence of Western culture after World War II, native Japanese learners face difficulties in learning English due to phonology differences,...  [Read more]

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Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences In this blog post, I plan to examine why English may be such a challenging language for Chinese speakers to master, namely in comparison to their European peers. For the purpose of this examination, I will focus on four main aspects, from quite glaring differences to other aspects that some may not initially consider: written language, grammar, vocabulary, and language exposure. These points are drawn from my own experience of living and teaching English in China, from learning Chinese myself and from conversations with my students. I will be focusing on those who have not had experience in learning other languages before English, as I feel this constitutes the largest proportion of Chinese learners. This by no...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Teaching Ideas English is increasingly becoming a ubiquitous language. Whether written or spoken, you can see the presence of English even in the most remote parts of our world. Its overwhelming presence does English essentially means it is a lingua franca. It is the standard for global diplomacy, trade, communication, and business. It was not always the case, the French language used to be the preferred language of global diplomacy and trade. As a result of the British colonization of large parts of the world, English has become the lingua franca for all of the former colonies once the British left. Globalization in the last century only made English even more ubiquitous. With the spread of neoliberal economic policies of the...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences Learning a second language is never easy but the problems that each learner faces are not all the same. Sometimes the grammar of your first language is completely different from your second language. There might be sounds you do not know how to make because your first language does not have them. You might have limited access to fluent speakers of the language you are learning. All of these are true for Lao learners trying to acquire English as a second language. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Mary A. The national language in Laos is called Lao. It is missing many of the sounds that native English speakers take for granted. They have no “r” sound, no blended consonants such as...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences There are many similarities, but also many differences, in teaching English as a foreign language and teaching English as a second language. Teaching English as a foreign language is when you teach English in a country that does not have English as an official language. Teaching English as a second language is when you teach English to someone who speaks another language as their first language, normally in a country where English is the official language. I have taught both English as a foreign language (EFL) and English as a second language (ESL) and these two experiences had quite a few similarities and quite a few differences. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Alexandria M. In the past,...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas There is no doubt that most people have no idea what is involved in becoming a teacher. I think this is particularly true of native English speakers imagining they can teach English to foreign students. I fell into this category until I started the course. What became apparent straight away is that teaching techniques have varied greatly over time, with some methods being more successful than others. The relatively recent ESL method incorporates some previous teaching strategies but succeeds above them all in effectiveness because it gives teachers the best chance to teach, whilst giving students the desired motivation to learn. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Fiona M. Please note that...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Native English speakers sometimes take the requirements of the language for granted. English is part of the European language family and most of its words come from Ancient Greek and Latin, which are common in other languages spoken in Europe. However, for students learning the language, English is very hard to learn. It is even more surprising the fact that other countries made English their second language, such as Singapore, Norway, Finland, and Denmark to name a few. In many parts of the world, English is spoken more fluently compared to American and British speakers. To give a few examples of how confusing, contradicting, and difficult English is, many foreign speakers learning the language always question:...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas In Vietnam, it is so important and popular that English becomes a compulsory subject for students at schools and universities. Working people also need to learn English for their job, to talk to English speakers or get a new well-paid job. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Huyen N. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Generally, verbs and nouns are pronounced differently although they are written the same. There are too many students in every class and the schools don’t have standard classrooms for language classes. The students mostly study read and grammatical rules. They don’t have lots of chances to practice speaking and...  [Read more]