As a student of Dutch I empathize with some of these. Though it is pretty cool that, if you stick with it, your brain is capable of reshaping itself into these new forms. Even as an adult - I started learning it at around 35.
The Awful German Language (1880)
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Re: The Awful German Language (1880)
#12German has a difficult grammar (was a real pain when learning German as a kid) but at least when reading German you know how to pronounce it, English pronunciation like German gender must be learn by heart :)
Re: The Awful German Language (1880)
#13It's our revenge for the "th", my dear Englishman.
Learning the correct pronunciation of "th" was tough though. :)
Re: The Awful German Language (1880)
#14Unsurprisingly, there are many articles published about "The Awful English Language", such as: [1], [2], [3]
Some examples from [2]:
Let's face it -- English is a crazy language. Besides the above, there is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.
We tend to take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?
If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth? One goose, two geese. So one moose, two meese? One index, two indices? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it? If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
[1] - https://www.angelo.edu/faculty/kboudrea/cheap/cheap3_english...
[2] - https://neth.de/Interact/Sprachspiele/homowords.html
[3] - https://ronaldyatesbooks.com/2017/03/the-awful-english-langu...
Re: The Awful German Language (1880)
#15This has always been a favorite. I also enjoyed this one about Chinese, which my wife sent me recently: http://pinyin.info/readings/texts/moser.html
Re: The Awful German Language (1880)
#16German has a difficult grammar (was a real pain when learning German as a kid) but at least when reading German you know how to pronounce it, English pronunciation like German gender must be learn by heart :)
Alas, that isn't as true as German's tell me it is, I find.
"Weg" "Geh weg" (go away) "Der Weg ist da drüben!" (the path is over there)
Re: The Awful German Language (1880)
#17Unsurprisingly, there are many articles published about "The Awful English Language" , such as: [1], [2], [3] Some examples from [2]: Let's face it -- English is a crazy language. Besides the above, there is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet,…
If you look at an eggplant in its early stages, you will understand the name.
Re: The Awful German Language (1880)
#18It's our revenge for the "th", my dear Englishman.
Learning the correct pronunciation of "th" was tough though. :)
I can do it on individual words, but as soon as I speak in full sentences and with speed, it comes out however it wants.
Though and tough aren't a problem though, "thinking" in the middle of a sentence is real tough though.
Re: The Awful German Language (1880)
#19It's our revenge for the "th", my dear Englishman.
so, German grammarians, irritated by a defect of English, debated long among themselves as to how they could mess up their own language in revenge?
Re: The Awful German Language (1880)
#20It's our revenge for the "th", my dear Englishman.
I find it hilarious that my compatriots try so hard to learn to pronounce the th when a good many brits just use an f sound.