Only logged in members can reply and interact with the post.
Join SimilarWorlds for FREE »

So you think English is hard?

Arabic is so hard that native speakers can't get it right.

French ... Well, French is so hard that if you learn it and try to talk in France, they will tell you to knock it off and speak English like all the other tourists. Here is an example of French:

Attends, ta tante t'en tant tends ton temps tant, t'en a autant de taon dans la tente.

Translation: Wait, your aunt takes so much time, you have many horseflies in the tent.

This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »

SW-User

Your first sentence is a total BS. Arabic has multiple variations or dialects. A native Egyptian has no problem with his Arabic dialect where he's grown up but he could struggle with arabic versions of Algeria or Kuwait.

Even in Germany, Germans have different dialects, which they don't understand fully. Austria or Switzerland have more variations.

English is not like that. A brit, or Indian or American speak the same words but with different accents. Few words could he different but that hardly has any impact.

This makes spoken English fairly easy to grasp. Literary or academic English is a different beast which requires vast amount of knowledge.

SW-User

@SW-User He's actually right. Modern standard Arabic that unites all Arabs and is taught in schools, written in books and newspapers and heard in the news is quite difficult to master for most Arab natives. The grammar is tricky as hell and the vocabulary is HUGE and extensive. Arab students often get the lowest grades in Arabic among all subjects. Lolz. As for the spoken dialects, you are right. They vary among countries and even among cities/towns within the same country but they are not official or formal. Still all you need as an Arab is a bit of exposure. I'm from Morocco and our dialect (darija) is one of the most difficult for other arabs to get bc of lack of exposure. Arabs who visit here can do well if they stay for 1 month or so. Interestingly we usually have no trouble understanding most of the other dialects