[General] the most difficult part of english for me

[bf000777966]

I think the most difficult part of english is that it has a whole bunch of words that spell/read like the same ,some of those are (draw,drawl,drool,droll), (padel,paddle,paddle), (evanescent,efflorescence,effervescent), (carol,coral,carrel,corral) and the list go on. I was completely annoyed when I saw one . Is the same happen to the native speakers when they were learning there own language?

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Hello, BF:


We once had a president who said, "I feel your pain." Well, I do feel your pain.

How about these words:

rough
tough
through
thorough


We once had a vice-president of the United States who told a group of children to spell the vegetable as "potatoe." (I guess that he was confused by the plural "potatoes.")


My only advice to you is to get a good dictionary.

Then read widely and listen to as much English as you can.



James

 

[Rover_KE]

You don't even need to buy a dictionary, which will be out of date in a few years.

Bookmark the free OneLook site, which searches dozens of dictionaries, all of which are regularly updated. (Click on the underlined link.)

 

[SoothingDave]

Any perusal of the internet will show you that even native English speakers struggle with homophones and homonyms. "Their, there and they're" are frequently confused, to give just one example.

But "evanescent,efflorescence,effervescent" are not homophones. They are simply all longish words with some similar sounds. They are all clearly pronounced and spelled differently.

 

[Tdol]

there own language?

That should be their own language. It's an issue, but it's not a major problem. Most people have written something like here instead of hear- as long as you know the difference, it's just a typo.

 

[MikeNewYork]

The -ough combination in English has a surprising number of pronunciations. Some say 8, others say 9 or 10. Consider this sentence.

A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman rode through the streets of Scarborough; after falling into a lough, he coughed and hiccoughed and then checked his horse's hough.

 

[SoothingDave]

Speaking of hiccups, I saw someone online yesterday talking about "hick ups."

 

[MS3330]

The most difficult part of English for me is day-to-day conversations. For day-to-day conversations, I think, you just need to know simple words but you have to know how to use them in sentenses correctly . I never answer a call because I can't talk about a subject which I'm not prepared for it. I let people leave a message for me then I call them back.

When you write in English you have opportunities to think about your sentences, to correct spelling, to ask someone to edit it and to revise it. However, when you talk you do not have these opportunities.

Trying to have correct pronunciations beside correct sentences while I'm talking has made my life hell.

By the way, the pronunciation of "flower" and "flour" makes me confused when I either pronounce or hear them.

 

[SoothingDave]

"Flower" and "flour" are pronounced the same. Context would tell you which one is being talked about. One is unlikely to buy flour for one's girlfriend, or to put flowers into a cookie dough.

 

[Matthew Wai]

However, when you talk you do not have these opportunities.

However, when you say something which doesn't make sense, the person being addressed can immediately ask you to clarify.

Not a teacher.

 

[TheParser]

Trying to have correct pronunciations ... has made my life hell.

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


I remember hearing about an English learner who wished his fellow workers (all of whom were native speakers) a "Nice weekEND."

They all laughed at him.

Someone then explained that the stress comes on "week": Have a nice WEEKend."

 

[SoothingDave]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


I remember hearing about an English learner who wished his fellow workers (all of whom were native speakers) a "Nice weekEND."

They all laughed at him.

Someone then explained that the stress comes on "week": Have a nice WEEKend."

I think the BrE speaker do place the emphasis on the end of weekend.

 

[MS3330]

It's very embarrassing and makes me panic.

 

[Doctor Document]

Is the same happen to the native speakers when they were learning there own language?

I'll take this opportunity to 'reprogram' a part of your grammar. If you want to take my suggestion, type this sentence 3 times and ready it aloud slowly 3 times:
Does the same thing happen to native speakers?

By repeating that sentence over and over again, you'll build your 'sense' of correct grammar. Grammar is knowledge so internalized that it must become automatic, like something you 'sense' rather than like rules you memorize.

I agree that it's annoying when words sound the same but have different spellings and meanings. But it's important to know that you do not need to have perfect English in most situations -- only perfect focus and good intentions. Modern people know that many of the smartest professionals are the ESL professionals.

My idea about the hardest part of English: Conjugating verbs. That might be the hardest part of any language. And it's another challenge you can overcome if you listen to excellent English, read excellent English aloud, and actually practice typing sentences you find in great books or hear on television, etc.

Here is an example of a great way to practice:
You can collect great sentences, practice them, and modify them by replacing different words. (Repeat this sentence 3 times)
Now modify the sentence:
You can collect the web addresses of a few websites that offer English editing, contact them, and ask them to review your writing. (This is an example of a sentence with the same structure as the sentence above, but the words are changed to give it a different meaning).

Practice several sentence structures you like! : )

 

[MikeNewYork]

This post appears to be advertising. We do not allow that here.

 

[Doctor Document]

This post appears to be advertising. We do not allow that here.

Please, mods, nobody delete my posts! I am helping people as much as I can and contributing useful content. It's hard to find time after work to do this, so please don't delete my posts. No offense, Mike. I've enjoyed seeing your posts, and I just don't want anyone removing mine.

 

[Tdol]

It seems to be on the good side (content) to me. It's not hard to work out that there's a site behind DocDoc, but that's fair enough where there's a contribution being made to the forum IMO. It's not one of those two lines followed by a link answers.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I apologize. Evidently, I misunderstood your link. It seemed commercial to me.

 

[Tdol]

I can't see the link. I think many of the smartest professionals are the ESL professionals is OTT flattery, but no link. ;-)